Post office

Paid £10.50 to verify a copy of my driving license. It was not accepted by the financial company i sent it to as the Post Office Counter Staff had not entered her christian name - just an initial. Just an initial is not enough to verify documents. Obviously the staff don't know what they are doing.

I have recently tried to post a Large Letter under 100gm at Portishead PO. I had previously done my homework by looking up the prices online. The Post Office were advertising - and still are there.

that under 100 gm this letter goes for £1.79 2nd cl signed for and £2.00 1st cl signed for.

So I fronted up with my £1.79 to be told that I would be charged £1.83 for the priveledge. When I asked why I was given a brochure put out on 31st Mar 2014 with Royal Mail logo on it which indeed stated that the price was £1.83. After several lengthy phone calls it transpires that although the Post Office and Royal Mail have rather incestuous complaints procedures, they are quick to tell you that they are in fact separate businesses.

I raised a compliant No: 1-3129545485 with the Post Office, specifically Andrea Delea in St Helens on 26-8-14 pointing out that they were 'misrepresenting' the price of their supplier's product, the supplier here being Royal Mail, for all signed for letters in all weight classes. She sounded doubtfull so I gave them the URL of the webpage which had the incorrect prices and told them what the prices should actually be. I informed them that these prices had most likely been out of date, as in not updated, since the RM price rise in April 2014.

I was asuured a call back regarding the complaint but it was not forthcoming, so I rang them again and was told that the prices had been checked and found to be correct. I spoke again to Gordon at St Helens who displayed a similar lack of interest again assuring me that a manager would be in touch when he had the time. I am still awaiting this call.

I made the point to both organisations, that if the PO were incompetent and incapable of correctly representing the Royal Mail prices then they should delete them from their website and simply have one version - the correct one - maintained by the Royal Mail. Again the PO seemed completely and utterly disinterested. So I can only say, if you are looking for UK postal prices DO NOT use the Post Office website use the Royal Mail website in preference. I have to say that the person I spoke to at The Royal Mail was friendly, on the ball, and realised the significance of what I was reporting.

I also made the point that both websites are far too complicated for the simple task of displaying prices. This can be done in 16 rows and 9 columns in and excel spreadsheet and it is far easier to compare prices by size in this way. Additionally price increases can be simply achieved by indexing all prices by the desired %age ensuring that none are overlooked.

THIS IS THE COMPLAINT THAT I JUST SENT TO THE CUSTOMER SERVICE DEPT. AT POST OFFICE COUNTERS LTD.:-

======================================================================

ACCORDING TO THE POST OFFICE WEBSITE:-

IT SAYS THAT:-

'LETTER' CLASS = FOR ALL ENVELOPES UP TO

240 mm X 165 mm

NO THICKER THAN 5 mm

NO HEAVIER THAN 100 g

'LARGE LETTER' CLASS = FOR ALL ENVELOPES UP TO

353 mm X 250 mm

NO THICKER THAN 25 mm

NO HEAVIER THAN 750 g

I ORDERED A PACK OF 500 C5-SIZE ENVELOPES FROM EUROFFICE ON THURSDAY 26TH JULY 2012, AND THEY ARRIVED THIS MORNING (MONDAY 30TH JULY 2012).

ACCORDING TO THE EUROFFICE WEBSITE FOR THE 500 C5-SIZE ENVELOPES:-

IT SAYS THAT THE ENVELOPES (5 STAR ENVELOPES POCKET PEEL AND SEAL 100 gsm WHITE C5 [PACK OF 500], EUROFFICE PRODUCT CODE 906616) ARE:-

229 mm X 162 mm

ACCORDING TO MY RULER, THE ENVELOPES MEASURE:-

230.5 mm X 161 mm

WHICH MEANS THAT THE C5 ENVELOPES SHOULD BE CLASSED AS 'LETTER' CLASS.

I HAD THESE TWO LETTERS, ONE WAS GOING TO A WATFORD ADDRESS (BY RECORDED FIRST CLASS) AND THE OTHER WAS GOING TO AN ENFIELD ADDRESS (ALSO BY RECORDED FIRST CLASS).

THE WATFORD LETTER WEIGHED 77 g, AND THE ENFIELD LETTER WEIGHED 56 g, WHICH MEANS THAT I SHOULD PAY 'LETTER' CLASS RATES FOR BOTH LETTERS, I.E. £0.60 FIRST CLASS POSTAGE AND £0.95 RECORDED SIGNED FOR DELIVERY CHARGE.

THAT MEANS I SHOULD PAY £1.55 FOR EACH LETTER ALTOGETHER, AND THE TOTAL COST OF THE TWO LETTERS SHOULD COME TO £3.10.

BUT INSTEAD OF EXPECTING TO PAY £1.55 FOR EACH LETTER AND INSTEAD OF EXPECTING TO PAY £3.10 FOR THE TWO LETTERS, AMERSHAM POST OFFICE CHARGED ME £1.85 FOR EACH LETTER, AND £3.70 FOR THE TWO LETTERS ALTOGETHER.

SHE FAILED TO MEASURE THE TWO LETTERS WHEN WEIGHING THEM, AND PUT GOLD '1LG' STAMPS ON THEM INSTEAD OF 'LET' (OR WHATEVER POST OFFICE COUNTERS LTD. USE FOR 'LETTER' CLASS MAIL).

THAT MEANS I PAID 60 P FAR TOO MUCH.

I AM FUMING, VERY ANGRY AND VERY DIGUSTED.

I WANT MY 60 P BACK!!!

=========================================================================

I LEFT MY NAME AND ADDRESS IN THE COMPLAINT FOR THE POST OFFICE TO SEND THE 60 P TO ME.

DO NOT EVER BUY ANYTHING FROM THEM NOR POST ANYTHING THROUGH THEM!!!

The post office has that many services it is unreal in Stockton post office there have this system of who gets called and when.

COUNTER SERVICE 4TH PRIORITY BUT EXPRESS MAILS WHAT ARE THE SAME ARE PUSHED IN FRONT OF PEOPLE WHO ARE SENDING SECOND CLASS LETTERS

But at a Local post office there are in villages or small towns there have no ques at all how do there get away with it also a major town Darlington Post office there have machinery that you can print franking labels what are a lot quicker!!

Not using the post office no longer using private carriers now :(

Ordered my euros from the post office as well as sending 3 letters which were stamped up accordingly. I was dealt with in a courteous way by the staff and they listened to me as i was trying to exchange my old dollars to euros as well. All in all postage was acceptable (although price is constantly going up generally). Layout of the shop was a bit dated.

This review is of the main head office customer

services.

I found helpful,courteous and a quick response

to my query about a post office issue.

reviewed from experience

I found that the Post Office had the cheapest deal with the phone that I wanted, and they were friendly and helpful. However, they did not know much about the phone, and what was on it, eg. how much credit it came with.

The best thing to do is to go there if you know what you want, and all the details already and you are just shopping around for a cheap price.