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 ..

If you tell them you can't manage to use the machines, the floor walker will usually take you to a machine and do it for you. I did this when I was so sleep deprived I honestly could not manage to figure out how to use it.

I work In retail, generally we have shit loads to do but if we are not busy we will clean but as soon as a customer comes that is first priority. I hate staff that don’t do this especially with what you described. Party balloons is not a priority as is nothing to do with customers needs. I know for sure that the customer is not always right and some can be patronising, idiotic and just plain stupid. A bit of sarcasm and a smile manage to get me through them. Ywdnu

The fact though that some of you have time not only to wait at the post office but also to come on here and moan about it tells me that you need to get a job or get a proper one.

Says the person with time to whinge on here... 😂

Our WHSmith where the post office is has an amazing older woman who seems to have the ability to work with all 4 counters at a time on the self serve bit . She is brilliant and I've told her so many times ! Yanbu!

The fact though that some of you have time not only to wait at the post office but also to come on here and moan about it tells me that you need to get a job or get a proper one. You will be “those parents” at school too.

There is such a thing as a lunch hour and coffee break time you know. Might astonish you but it is true

And you can protest as much as you like but that’s because you know it’s true.

Bollocks. I wait at the post office as I can't go elsewhere! It's not like there is an alternative. So I use my lunch hour to go there and back and have to watch the staff go about there business with no sense of urgency at all while my break time ticks away.

Cagey. We dont WANT to wait at the post office. We havent got that time spare. Thats why its so bloody irritating to have our precious time stolen by balloon hangers. And if you work for the PO with an attitude like that, dont be surprised when management returns it to you.

Cagey - you work for the PO ..you get paid to do a job so do it.

I hope the post office can keep up with the Christmas rush then!

Our post office staff are absolutely lovely, but the training seems to be lacking. They get particularly confused about some of the international mail for some reason. I live in a backwater fyi.

inchoccyheaven I love my local post office. They're invaluable in rural areas and I try to use all the small branches near me as often as possible, so they get footfall. Can't fault the service in any of them.

I only get grumpy in the post offices in bigger towns where the open plan design means you can see everyone, regardless of what they're doing. I understand that there's other stuff to be done, but if there was a screen, or if the other work took place out of sight, then it wouldn't be so annoying for the customers, who have no idea why more counters can't be opened when staff seem available.

I don’t understand why some of you think that just because someone is working in a retail establishment, that they are only there to serve? Suggesting they do those jobs out of sight to make it easier on the customer?
Surely it’s obvious that there are other jobs to be done?

Surely it’s obvious that there are other jobs to be done?

I'm sure there's plenty of time in the day when there aren't queues of people waiting to be served. When there are long queues, all possible staff should be serving them, not faffing about. No shop will be so busy that there are long queues all the time!

Cabochard. If you work in a service industry, dealing face to face with the customers who pay your wages, their needs and wants are more important than yours and should take first place. We arent interested in whats happening behind the scenes, it doesnt concern us nor should it. The customer is always right and I say this as someone who's been on both sides of the fence.

😂😂😂

longway
Wow! You sound extraordinarily entitled!
I can’t imagine you worked in retail for very long,if you are struggling with the concept of other jobs( apart from serving) in a retail setting!
You are aware that if all trained to serve staff did you’d have nothing to buy right?
Would you like us to wear a tabard explaining what our role is at that very moment in time?
Management/ team leaders are the only people that dictate what an employee should be doing during their shift.

Surely it’s obvious that there are other jobs to be done?

Of course but you expect staff to be aware of what us going on around them and be flexible enough to jump on a till when a queue builds up and then back to their task once it gets quieter.

"Fannying on with balloons"

when queues of frustrated customers are building up is just asking for trouble IMO.

Cabochard. You havent grasped it. Your customer IS entitled. Good luck with your retail career.

I can’t imagine you worked in retail for very long,if you are struggling with the concept of other jobs( apart from serving) in a retail setting!

Contrarily, I'd agree with Longwayoff. I worked in retail for over 20 years in our family convenience store, often on my own, from aged early teens. I know exactly what else needs doing, from checking/ordering stock, taking in deliveries and putting it on shelves, going to wholesalers, checking tills, banking the takings and book-keeping, sorting out staffing, etc. Whatever else there was to do, actually serving customers was always #1 priority. We had a buzzer system where we called for "help" from our flat above as soon as we got more than a couple of customers at the counter. There was plenty of time in the day to do other things when there were no customers waiting to be served. If you're not going to look after your customers when they're there, you're wasting your time doing the other stuff as there'll be no customers left.

Pacer, very good explanation of customer service, and the level of service which we are all entitled to expect as customers.

I actually give extremely good customer service. I am not always customer facing. I am also only paid to certain time- l can’t leave those jobs to do after l officially clock off! However, other departments can’t just choose to jump on tills( either) if they see it may be busy. They have responsibilities and demands too. Like l said, stick all those stacking on tills and see how you enjoy shopping minus any products!

pacer that sounds like it was your own family business.
Big difference. Makes it worthwhile to make sure your nest egg is protected.
Some of us work for big names, and no mater how much one sacrifices themselves- they will only ever be a number.
The amount of colleagues l know that have been off work through stress is alarming.
Most of that stress caused by abuse from the general public.
That’s a massive shame and we have to protect ourselves from being destroyed.

I am not talking about people not doing their jobs obviously. I’m not like that and not are my close colleagues. We wouldn’t get away with it.

you expect staff to be aware of what us going on around them and be flexible enough to jump on a till when a queue builds up and then back to their task once it gets quieter

This. When I worked in a customer facing environment, you served customers first. All other jobs came second.

sat you must have had excellent overtime rates.
Or no children to collect etc...
If ( for some of my shift) l only prioritised customers, l would never get my reports done!
That’s why there are an ample colleagues in my department to do the serving.
However, that of course, is still not enough for some people - who continue to give me filthy looks and shuffle noisily on their feet!
Sometimes they only need to wait a minute or two.

OP here’s a suggestion for you. Use the mailbox on the street or wait for a postman to come.

Erm, you can't put Asos packages in the mailbox, you need proof it was sent. And since does a 'postman' come to collect parcels, especially Asos ones?

Havaina
That poster must live in the US ?
You can do that there.
Or maybe there are other places too?