Post office closing

[cromwell]

The Post Office we always use, in the next village is closing next week. It is being moved to a counter inside a local shop. It's such a shame; it's about the last traditional post office around here. The people there have time for you, they help elderly people with their queries and if they have a problem with their pensions or savings accounts or packages. I'm not sure they will get that level of service in the new place, where access is up steps (access to the current PO is flat) and the shop interior is tiny to begin with. Imo the shop owners will want them in and out asap.
The Post Office was always a social sort of place; a benefit to the village. It will be missed.

[Osc]

When we retired, the post office moved to the convenience store up the street. I know An Post (they run the postal service here) prefer post offices in shops these days for security reasons. I am surprised about the steps though, are there no rules for accessibility into shops in the UK? Believe me, people will get used to the location very soon.

[saundra]

Our post office was relocated into a spa shop it's no different service plus it's open till 9at night so for me it's better plus we have one in Mc colls newspaper shop think the idea like osc said is to put them in shops

[cromwell]

There are rules Osc and the problems with access were mentioned repeatedly in the consultation that was held.
In the end I think it came down to the PO being in the shop or no PO in the village at all. The new site is worse for parking too but it's all going ahead.

[saundra]

Nobody seems to care these days about customers same as the banks it's just profit at one time every one used the post office now it's all oneline banking my boys laugh at me because I don't bank one line I'm old fashioned they say well maybe I am

[cromwell]

MrsC and I don't bank on line either Saundra.

[Workingman]

Two local ones merged with their nearest Co-ops and those are fine. A third turned into a convenience store with a PO counter, and that is OK for stamps and things.

I suppose that in the modern world there is not so much call for a dedicated local PO "shop" so teaming up is not such a bad idea.

At least we have not lost the services they provide.

[TheOstrich]

Horses for courses, in a way. We have a "main" post office in the Hight Street and a "branch" post office in the local one-stop store. As Saundra says, the latter is open the same time as the shop - very early to very late, and you can post parcels and pay your bills by giro there, etc. The main one seems to suffer from staffing problems and you can often find it inexplicably closed, but you have to use it for more esoteric transactions like paying your road tax. We use both.

I'd be glad you've got some provision at least, Crommers, far better than now't.

Back in Sutton Coldfield, the main PO in the town centre always had it's own building and large queues, despite up to 6 counters being open at times. So they inexplicably closed it, and moved it into the back of the local WH Smiths, where it only had 4 counters, and the queues used to stretch all around the shop floor. So I stopped using it and went elsewhere. That's what they obviously call progress ….

We don't bank online either, despite regular financial inducements offered by our bank …...

[cruiser2]

The main post office in the centre of town is closing. Has ben there since post offices first opened. It has a ramp and steps.
Don't know where it is going.
Use two local post offices which are in shops. Can do most things at both, including taxing cars and renewing pass ports as well as banking.

Don't use internet banking. Like going into the bank and getting cash and talking to the staff. Even talked to one of the staff to renew our house insurance which was due on 1st June.

[JoM]

Ossie, you could've described the situation with Cannock's main Post Office there. Even with 15 windows the queue often stretched up the street, then they moved to the back of WH Smith's and have just four counters and a foreign currency window. In their wisdom, Smith's didn't reduce the amount of stock that they have on the shop floor to accommodate the post office, the just shoved everything closer together so not only do you have to deal with people queuing for the PO but there's also stock piled everywhere. It's a horrible shop now, and the old PO still stands empty five or so years later. At one point it was going to be opened as a drug advisory centre and needle exchange but that's all gone quiet now.

In this village the post office was already in McColls when we moved here but it had its own counter at the back of the store and opening times were limited (it closed at 12.30pm on Saturdays, didn't open on Sundays and was open 9-5.30 on weekdays). After the shop was refurbished, that counter was removed and relocated as part of the main counter and it works really well IMO. It's now open 7 days a week from 6am until 10pm.