To loose my temper in post office?

[irritablesally]

So yesterday I get to my local post office.
It's a busy city centre branch.
They have 5 on the counters and 4 "self serve machines"
I go through and do my parcel but at the end it comes up with "please wait for host" who basically confirms you've done it correctly.
All 4 machines were stuck on "please wait for host"and lots of people waiting behind.
The lady who was working (or supposed to be working ) on self serve was going around attaching 50th birthday balloons to everyone's desk and the post office.
I stood for 6 minutes (along with the other 3) waiting for her ..she looked over and continued fannying on with balloons.
I lost my temper and said "instead of messing about with that can you actually help us"
Then she came over ..
Was aibu to say this?
I felt guilty after ..

I don't think the OP was in the wrong . Good on her for speaking up .

I work in a big retail store. We are not allowed to "jump on till" at certain points of the day due to the lack of staff elsewhere instore. We are told only 1 member of staff on customer service so sometimes there's a big queue waiting to be served and obviously they think we are avoiding doing our job but we are listening to management.

We can't win ! We get moaned at by customers then moaned at by management . Big stores are putting minimal staff on to save money but pushing loyal customers away .
We have a massive store in a big shopping centre and a tiny kiosk giving away pepsi outside our store had more staff on the other morning than we did in our big store !!!

Our main post office has moved all the forms behind the counter so you have to get in the stupid ticketed queuing system to get them. I had to wait 10mins to get a replacement passport form and when I asked for it she was really arsey about the fact that was all I wanted and I didn't want to pay for anything.
It was really annoying as I only needed a bloody form because the passport office fucked up and sent an incorrect passport and are making us apply again although they are 'graciously' not charging us again (mind you they aren't reimbursing is for new photos either)

I avoid self-checkouts because they make me want to smash them up.

Yes and when you've been on tills you get told off for not getting your other jobs done

Ugh don't get me started on this. The MANAGER (yes you Sandra) at my local supermarket is the worst for this. I know she's the Manager, she's been there for over 10 years because once upon a time I worked there part time. But she is the worst offender for standing there having a conversation with 3 staff and ignoring the ever growing queue of people glaring at them. And no, they aren't sorting shifts, they are just 'chatting'.

I would have lost my temper too op, ridiculous! My local PO is really annoying too - there is a counter for paying for stationery, sweets, cards etc and then the actual PO counters are separate. There's always huge queues for the PO bit but never for the other counter. It winds me up that they don't sell stamps at the sweets counter so you if want envelopes you have to queue at one to pay for the envelopes and the other to just pay for stamps, which takes absolutely ages due to the massive queues. There should be a book of bloody stamps in the sweetie counter till!

I did something similar once whilst waiting in a supermarket queue. There was only one till open and a long queue and you stand there waiting patiently expecting the assistant to call for someone else to open another till, she did not. In my frustration I eventually shouted from my place several people down for her to get the other till open. Thankfully she did and I am not one for usually getting irate.

This would have irritated me too but I would have just called her over politely.

Yanbu. I don’t think I’ve ever been in a post office and thought ‘that was good service.’ There seems to be some strange culture of working slowly and not really caring about customers

she looked over and continued fannying on with balloons

This made me laugh out loud for some reason, sorry

On a more serious note, you were right to be angry. What does the woman think she's there for, if not to serve customers?

I sincerely hope she steps up her act before the Christmas rush!!!

I won't use self service tills if there's a human option.

If everyone stopped using them eventually the big companies would get the message.

No, they won't. And some people like the self-serve. I generally do. It's quick and easy and I don't need to talk to anyone.

I've done business cases for banks looking at how to reduce their fixed costs - branches cost a huge amount of money to run, but if their advisors are occupied doing menial admin tasks then they aren't getting in enough money and aren't actually adding value to the customer.

If I need to get money out or pay money in, then I can do it myself, no added value from someone doing it for me. Same with a transfert - I can do it online, whenever I want, and there is no added value to an advisor doing it for me.

What is added value is decent advice, e.g. sorting out a mortgage. That is what advisors should be focusing on.

In the end, the banks have generally decided (in France) not to close down branches because they are useful for advertising and being an entry point for customers ("pavement presence"). However, the use of branches has been dramatically declining over the last 10 years so it's totally reasonable for banks to look at closing/merging them.

You were rude! No need

You weren't wrong to say something but you weren't exactly polite in what you said. An 'excuse me' abd then 'i think these people are waiting too' after a couple of minutes would've been sufficient

The Post Office is the worst for 'assistants visible behind counters doing something which is More Important than serving the seething queue'. If you're not available, pull a blind down so we can't see you sorting paperclips! Last time I was in, there were five people behind the screens, plus two randos wandering around with mail sacks, but only two of them were assisting customers. Go and do it in the back, Marjorie!

@RollerJed Havent you read the news???

www.thedailymash.co.uk/news/society/dictionaries-give-up-and-add-second-o-to-lose-20180413147246

OP I would have lost my shit. And to PP that compared bank staff to ornaments, brilliant. So stealing that one...

.

So you're inconveniencing and delaying other customers who are unable to use the self service tills. That's nice of you!

😂😂 Oh, do fuck off. The self service machine at Sainsbury’s this morning was inconveniencing me when it kept telling me to wait for an assistant. With a basketful of shop it happened 3 frigging times. If there has been a checkout open for baskets, I would have used that as I always do.
The people who are unable to use self service checkouts are no more in a rush than I am.

'If everyone stopped using them eventually the big companies would get the message.'

I find self service tills in most shops a lot quicker and more convenient than waiting in a long queue of people who wait until the very last second to take out their wallet and then spend an age counting out their change, slowly packing etc.

Just because you don't like them, doesn't mean everyone else doesn't.

There was only one till open and a long queue and you stand there waiting patiently expecting the assistant to call for someone else to open another till, she did not. In my frustration I eventually shouted from my place several people down for her to get the other till open

That's because it's not her role to manage ques. She is there to manage her own till/ self-scan. It was useless and rude to shout at her. You shouted at someone in front of other people and made her feel shit for something that's not even her job. Well done you

OP I don't know what the balloon woman was doing, it does sound like it could have waited, but you could have asked politely, you didn't need to be rude. You can tell a lot about a person by how they treat retail staff.

The Post Office is the worst for 'assistants visible behind counters doing something which is More Important than serving the seething queue'

The kind of people who apply to work at the PO are the people who are very good at making themselves look busy whatever job they do.

'If everyone stopped using them eventually the big companies would get the message.'

Down with the gutenberg press!!

You were rude! No need
But the woman faffing with balloons was ruder.

YANBU.
@Shatnerswig. They do that in RBS. It incenses me. I'm talking about queues near the doors after a bank holiday and staff smiling, asking how they can help and then telling you that you need to wait in the queue. I never once thought of saying what you said and I wonder if I was brave enough whether they would do as I asked!

@Frouby. It never crossed my mind that dyslexic people would have difficulties. That's a shame. At night in Sainsbury, sometimes I have done a big shop and there is no option but to use self serve. Literally no cashiers on a regular till!

'If everyone stopped using them eventually the big companies would get the message.'

Actually, more likely would be that the branch would close because it would be too expensive to run. Self service tills cut costs and make branches more viable. I'd rather have a bank or post office with self service tills than yet another closed down empty building.