Alternatives to using the Post Office?

[BeagleMum2024]

I just think they are the most disgusting organisation. I've just read another news article detailing the appalling treatment of the sub post masters and it just feels me with disgust and rage. I need to send a letter that contains important documents so I must ensure it is delivered securely. Help me out here...are there any alternatives I can use?

Pay for postage on royal mail website and put it in a postbox

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5a7c9465e5274a0bb7cb7fe6/bis-13-756-royal-mail-myth-busters-revised-sep12-2013.pdf

A courier company?

I despair at the level of stupid sometimes

Care to explain?

I used to work for the post office and I'm in agreement with you that they really haven't helped themselves. BUT by boycotting them all you are doing is punishing the sub postmasters who are trying to make a living, they're the ones who will suffer by losing the sales, not the post office.

The Post Office and Royal Mail are different companies.

It's like saying you have a moral objection to Asda and you're going to boycott Tesco to prove that point

I agree with your point about sub post masters and I would not want to see any financial harm come to them, however the Post Office is a disgrace and I think it should be closed down. It provides banking and insurance products to the public and this concerns me. Its lack of ethics over the treatment of its staff and the utter incompetence.

Do you not see the complete contradiction you have just made? IF the post office was closed down then ALL the sub post masters would come to financial harm. You honestly don't seem to know enough about the subject to make such sweeping statements.

And busycm is correct. Post office and royal mail are 2 separate companies. You can buy postage direct from royal mail and leave the post office out of the loop, however doing so yet again will affect the sub postmasters you are so appalled for.

I wouldn't send any important documents by normal post now. I live in a city. Birthday cards regularly arrive with the money removed. My on laws now send birthday cards inside normal A4 envelopes so they don't look like birthday cards. The last 2 letters I sent first class took over a week to arrive. I sent some very important documents through the service where they had to be signed for. They never arrived. The last parcel I went to collect from the sorting office because I was out and it couldn't be delivered, turned out to have been emptied of it's contents. (The person behind me in the sorting office queue said the same thing had happened to him.) When I pointed this out to the worker at the sorting office, they refused to do anything and said I had to complain online. It turns out to be pretty difficult to find out how to complain and also you can't complain if you are the person receiving the post, only the person who sends it.

Whilst I would not want the sub post masters to come to any financial harm, I do think the Post Office should be closed down, as it is just too toxic and damaged. I think a shut down and a reset is needed. That way, the sub post masters do not lose out. There needs to be serious reflection at the top and consideration of ethics going forward. It needs to function properly and ethically.

If you close down the Post Office then the sub post masters absolutely would shut down - you’d be closing down their businesses

What was your experience like, working for them?

I think, 'Haven't really helped themselves' is a bit of an understatement.

I work for the Post Office, employed by a sub-postmaster.

If people boycott the Post Offices run by Sub-Postmasters, you will find there will be no Post Offices. There are main branch Post Offices that are owned by the Post Office so if you wanted to boycott any, do it to those. Sub-Postmasters are the victims of the scandal and many didn't have a Post Office at the time of the scandal.

We are trained to the same level as a cashier at a bank. We are trained to the same level as someone who works at DVLA. We do all of those jobs, on usually minimum wage. We also have regular, monthly exams in order to continue helping our customers with the services we provide. We have to have individual financial checks on ourselves to even get a login.

We do not work for Royal Mail. They are two different companies. Royal Mail privatised a few years ago, hence the allowance for mail pricing to increase so much.

If you want to send things securely, use Royal Mail Special Delivery.

If you are SO shocked about the Post Office scandal, why on earth would you stop using them?

It's not the staff of Post Offices who caused this, it was the Post Office bosses and Fujitsu who brought out the Horizon system.

Use Post Offices or don't, that's your call. But when Post Offices have to close because of uninformed people boycotting the places who need customers and who are the victims of this ridiculous and cruel scandal, there will be nowhere local to deposit your money and cheques, get the help you need for your passport application, nowhere to take your returned shopping, nowhere to hold the deliveries you've missed.

We aren't the Post Office bosses. We are genuine people, trying to feed and house our own families. And at the same time, we are hives of knowledge in many different areas and we help so many people. My Post Office luckily is still very busy, others, not.

And it's because of this scandal. Use your Post Office before you lose it.