It’s probably that big moment of transformation for a marketplace seller: when you stop queuing at the post office and improve your fulfilment logistics. But when do you make that big step forward?
Needless to say there are other options. Print your postage online with Royal Mail or embrace the The Post Office – Drop & Go service and don’t forget all those couriers out there. The marketplace for couriers and carriers is big, huge and developing. There are plenty of options.
But, if you’re still cautious that you can’t justify adopting a new service, perhaps the amount of time you could spend at the local PO branch will shock you.
You could be losing a day a year
This ‘just-for-fun’ infographic from Parcel2Go does illustrate the amount of time that you might be spending in those queues. They say, after a survey of 1000 people, that on average a post office queue takes five and half minutes every time. And tot it up: 5.5-minute queue X 260 working days in a typical year = 1,430 minutes / 60 = 23.83 hours.
7 Responses
The average for the main post office in town, since it moved into Smiths with fewer windows, is 20 minutes at peak time. No automated tills available and surly staff trying to tell you that a first class recorded item posted on Friday morning won’t even arrive by Monday. They’re on bonuses to push Special D presumably.
I now mostly travel five miles out of town, buy some locally grown produce and use a village post office in the shop where there are no queues.
Alternatively, if its a large item, we use Collect Plus and can drop it in seconds at our local filling station, saving a small fortune compared to RM. What’s not to like?
To the Post Office and RM, customers are treated worse than cattle. Remember the much vaunted extension of opening hours and services at RM delivery offices? Sounded great. Here in Wales, the hours have actually been cut and they still won’t accept scanable items as promised. So the little shop benefits – presumably they managed to come up with the 4 grand a month independent income demanded by the Post Office to stay open.
its the self important jobs worths behind the counters with pernickety attitudes ,
that cause the problem
you can drop off a truck load of parcels at our local news agent for my hermes
and their delighted,
you go with one parcel to the postoffice and their weighing it ,shoving it thru templates ,wittering on about content and value,
If you spend £15k or more on Royal Mail franking per annum you can get a daily business collection. If you spend under that amount – you can pay £787 per year for a weekday collection.
If you frank your mail – you can drop off (pre-sorted according to size/delivery class) at any post office and be on your way.
Why anybody would waste their time queuing at a post office is beyond me.
Five and half minutes in the queue! Not here in London. Add another 20 odd mins to that. Last time I was there I counted 17 people in front of me at 1.15pm. 3 out of 7 counters open with one specifically for money changing, bill paying & driving licences etc the other two for posting. Every time someone asks how much is it to post a letter they are told £6.45 & we have to listen to the shock horror & complaints & wait for them to say “but signed delivery is £1.75” Then I shout it’s 65p for a stamp which the customer says “thanks, I’ll take the stamp”. All this hard selling holds up the queues. In London there are many visitors & old folk who they try to steer into buying an unnecessary expensive service. Unfortunately this is how the entire world operates now. Customer service will abuse your lack of knowledge…especially if you are old, stupid or foreign. They prey on the vulnerable. It never used to be like this 20 years ago.