The Post Office
OK, how hard can it be? All you need to do is provide some kind of reasonable customer service, you know, maybe arrange your company in a way that suits your customers, not just your employees...
OK, the back-story.. I've been waiting for some vouchers to get delivered that I'd received as a present. I'm going to use them to buy a Playstation Portable, as I might be doing some travelling soon and it'd help kill a few plane journeys.. So anyway, the company sending the vouchers let me know that they were dispatched and will be delivered on Tuesday.
So Tuesday, I head home from work early, thinking that I'll grab the vouchers then head into town to get a PSP, giving me something to spend the evening playing with. I get home, and rather than a letter, there's one of those annoying red cards that may as well say "Well, you weren't here when we came to deliver your letter, so we've decided to inconvenience you as much possible by forcing you to go to the middle of nowhere to pick it up". Admittedly, it's fair enough cos it was sent special delivery, and they need to be signed for.
Fortunately, where I live the main Post Office is a short walk away, rather than in the middle of nowhere, so I decide to pop around and grab my letter. Since I've left work early, it's 4:30. Plenty of time because the Post-Office doesn't shut until 5:15 and Dixons until 5:30.
So I get to the Post-Office's pickup point, and the shutters are closed. No worries, I'll ring the bell. Then I see The Sign. The Sign. The Fucking Sign.
"Effective January 6th, our new opening hours will be 7am - 2pm"
What? So I can't get my letter today? OK, no worries, I'll head round to the Post Office counter bit so they can get it for me - makes sense, they've done something really cool and extended their hours so that from 7am-9am you can get packages and letters from the serving hatch, and from 2pm-5:15pm you can get them from the front office. Makes sense. Nicely done, Mr Post Office man.
So I head round to the front, and get in the queue. There's 5 people in front of me, and 3 people serving, so obviously it takes close to 15 minutes to get served, but as we all know that's part and parcel of the Post Office Experience. I'm checking my watch, as it'll be 20 minutes to Dixons by car, longer the more we get into rush hour.
I get to the counter eventually, and hand over my card.
"Oh, sorry sir", the counter jockey says. "There seems to be some confusion. You collect these at the hatch at the side of the building. This always happens. We need better signs."
"I know", I reply. "But that's shut, so I need to collect it here."
"Oh no, you can't do that", he minces. "You can only collect from the side hatch and they've started shutting at 2 in the afternoon now."
"What? Surely you can go and get it?"
"No sir, we can't. Next?"
"Hang on. You're always going into the back to get things, why can't you just go and get my letter?"
"We just can't sir. The office is open at 7am if you'd like to come early tomorrow. Next?"
So I sloped off. And here's my problem.
When I get something delivered by Special Delivery, it's for one of two reasons - it's a high value item, or the day it gets delivered matters. If, like most people in this country, I am at work during the day, or at school, and they deliver it during the day, I NEED TO BE ABLE TO GET THE POST-OFFICE TO PICK IT UP THAT DAY YOU FUCKING NUMBSKULLS! It's not that complicated!
It got delivered at 8am, I was at work. I got back at 4:30pm, very early for me. And I can't get my letter the same day? How the hell does this improve customer service? How does this make it easier for anyone? Parents needing to get kids to school and then go to work can't go early, as they'll need to be packing their kids off and getting to work. Or in my case, I just got up at stupid o'clock to go. Of course, there's no parking there so I had to stop on double yellows.
Oh, lunchtime? Couldn't I have gone then? Of course I'm happy to go then, with EVERYONE ELSE WHO HAS A JOB and stand the the queue for a minimum 45 minutes! Jesus fucking Christ, it's not that hard to provide decent customer service!
Special Delivery? Special my fat arse.
And don't get me started on those cunts at Dixons.
OK, the back-story.. I've been waiting for some vouchers to get delivered that I'd received as a present. I'm going to use them to buy a Playstation Portable, as I might be doing some travelling soon and it'd help kill a few plane journeys.. So anyway, the company sending the vouchers let me know that they were dispatched and will be delivered on Tuesday.
So Tuesday, I head home from work early, thinking that I'll grab the vouchers then head into town to get a PSP, giving me something to spend the evening playing with. I get home, and rather than a letter, there's one of those annoying red cards that may as well say "Well, you weren't here when we came to deliver your letter, so we've decided to inconvenience you as much possible by forcing you to go to the middle of nowhere to pick it up". Admittedly, it's fair enough cos it was sent special delivery, and they need to be signed for.
Fortunately, where I live the main Post Office is a short walk away, rather than in the middle of nowhere, so I decide to pop around and grab my letter. Since I've left work early, it's 4:30. Plenty of time because the Post-Office doesn't shut until 5:15 and Dixons until 5:30.
So I get to the Post-Office's pickup point, and the shutters are closed. No worries, I'll ring the bell. Then I see The Sign. The Sign. The Fucking Sign.
"Effective January 6th, our new opening hours will be 7am - 2pm"
What? So I can't get my letter today? OK, no worries, I'll head round to the Post Office counter bit so they can get it for me - makes sense, they've done something really cool and extended their hours so that from 7am-9am you can get packages and letters from the serving hatch, and from 2pm-5:15pm you can get them from the front office. Makes sense. Nicely done, Mr Post Office man.
So I head round to the front, and get in the queue. There's 5 people in front of me, and 3 people serving, so obviously it takes close to 15 minutes to get served, but as we all know that's part and parcel of the Post Office Experience. I'm checking my watch, as it'll be 20 minutes to Dixons by car, longer the more we get into rush hour.
I get to the counter eventually, and hand over my card.
"Oh, sorry sir", the counter jockey says. "There seems to be some confusion. You collect these at the hatch at the side of the building. This always happens. We need better signs."
"I know", I reply. "But that's shut, so I need to collect it here."
"Oh no, you can't do that", he minces. "You can only collect from the side hatch and they've started shutting at 2 in the afternoon now."
"What? Surely you can go and get it?"
"No sir, we can't. Next?"
"Hang on. You're always going into the back to get things, why can't you just go and get my letter?"
"We just can't sir. The office is open at 7am if you'd like to come early tomorrow. Next?"
So I sloped off. And here's my problem.
When I get something delivered by Special Delivery, it's for one of two reasons - it's a high value item, or the day it gets delivered matters. If, like most people in this country, I am at work during the day, or at school, and they deliver it during the day, I NEED TO BE ABLE TO GET THE POST-OFFICE TO PICK IT UP THAT DAY YOU FUCKING NUMBSKULLS! It's not that complicated!
It got delivered at 8am, I was at work. I got back at 4:30pm, very early for me. And I can't get my letter the same day? How the hell does this improve customer service? How does this make it easier for anyone? Parents needing to get kids to school and then go to work can't go early, as they'll need to be packing their kids off and getting to work. Or in my case, I just got up at stupid o'clock to go. Of course, there's no parking there so I had to stop on double yellows.
Oh, lunchtime? Couldn't I have gone then? Of course I'm happy to go then, with EVERYONE ELSE WHO HAS A JOB and stand the the queue for a minimum 45 minutes! Jesus fucking Christ, it's not that hard to provide decent customer service!
Special Delivery? Special my fat arse.
And don't get me started on those cunts at Dixons.
posted by Paul C at 2:38 AM
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