To think corner shops with Post Offices resent Post Office customers

[GivenchyDahhling]

Whilst on maternity leave I’ve been selling a lot of clothes on eBay. I use eBay’s postage label service then drop the parcels off at the Post Office. I normally go into town and use the main Post Office in the WHSmith but occasionally use the Post Office in walking distance (think it’s in a Londis or similar).

I have always found the couple who run this rude, unsmiling and unhelpful and they act like providing any Post Office service is the biggest inconvenience to them, but things came to a head today when I was told they would no longer be accepting my pre-paid labels because “they’re Royal Mail, not Post Office” (??)

I argued about this as I think if they’re using Post Office branding they have no right to do this. They claim it’s because of the space; but when I’ve used them it’s never more than 3 or 4 small parcels (ie containing a dress or a top) as I only use this branch when I’m walking. After a bit of research it looks like the real reason is because they don’t make any money for accepting these pre-paid labels, whereas if I bought postage there they would get a percentage.

Anyway; I started thinking about other Post Offices and again since I’ve been using eBay I’ve used four other similar corner shop outlets (just based on where I’ve happened to be) and all of them have been pretty unfriendly.

So AIBU to think that these shops resent providing (non profit making) postal services? And to think that if they are so unhappy about it they shouldn’t be a Post Office franchise?

@ouch321Royal Mail = Postmen/women and the delivery service. Post Office = the place you go to buy postage (plus all the other services, driving licence, pay bills, broadband, credit card etc).

It sounds like they have a bad attitude. Though I think I'd have a bad attitude if i had to work for free. The system is at fault - whether its RM or PO - the collectors should get paid for their part in the postageness.

Ebay keeps telling me things will cost 2.90 to post, but when I take them to the post office they say its £3 - turns out you save 10p doing it online.

would it kill you to buy a pint of milk or a Mars Bar or something while you are there

I have two convenience stores near me, one with post office. If I don't need anything when I using the PO part I don't buy anything. But if they are pissy with me for using a service they chose to provide, then I'll probably remember that when I do need bread/milk/dinner and go elsewhere.

Being a PO customer and a shop customer are not mutually exclusive.

(I've found it more with local place that does the courier pick ups. They clearly hate it and aren't shy about letting you know)

But it's better than the 'self service' counters at WHSmith which are an absolute joke.

What's wrong with them? I've used them tons and only had issues when they were brand new and kept breaking.

Although the employee who couldn't stop hovering round me like a fly recently did piss me off. I knew exactly what I was doing and it was clearly all working fine. After a while I had to ask her what she wanted!

The guy who runs our corner shop/PO is lovely, and super helpful. I had no idea about the Royal Mail labels.

Our local shop is meant to be the Collect+ outlet for our area. The owner clearly hates doing it and bullshits 'the system is down' nine times out of ten to the point where I refuse to do a return via Collect+. There are dozens of bad reviews online reporting similar.

He can't be making that much money off it, especially as he hardly ever accepts the packages.

@BuzzShitbagBobbly Agree. Before eBaying I would very occasionally use this shop, mainly for stationary items, but also Post Office services that weren’t pre-paid. However, their attitude has always been atrocious that I wouldn’t do so again (and obviously won’t be going back there now). They’re shooting themselves in the foot by providing a bad service because it will obviously make people less inclined to shop there.

At our WHSmith no one is 'allowed' to go to the counter service without first going via self service. My last visit none of the prepaid postage labels would scan on the machines (but did work at their special staff scanner) and when I tried to buy 50xstamps was told it would print each one individually and take ages so was then diverted to counter anyway!

Out of interest, this is how it's sold to shopkeepers:
runapostoffice.co.uk/benefits-services

Pay for your postage in the shop. Post master gets a bigger cut. I suspect it's the pre paid label that's making him twitchy.

It shouldn't be like this, but it often is. I pay over the counter, yes it's 10p more for a small parcel as opposed to buying online but I figure use it or lose it. (I'm not convinced I'm even saving 10p what with the costs of running a printer)

sorry OP, crossposted with you there. Maybe he's just an arse then.

Post Office Counters are a different company to The Royal Mail.
There is currently an agreement that CROWN (not corner shop type) post offices will take pre-paid parcels. Corner shop post office counters do not have to.

Your local sorting office will take them. There are also new post boxes being set up that will take small pre paid parcels precisely because so many post office counters will not accept them.

My worst experience was when they claimed to be unable to sell me a stamp to the Republic of Ireland because they weren’t trained and the only trained person was on lunch. Don’t advertise services you aren’t willing to provide! Their post office opening hours werent listed as closed for lunch.

YANBU

You’re using a service they’ve chosen to offer. It might not make any money for them but that’s not your fault, that’s an issue with the franchise.

@riv That’s interesting, I had no idea and if what you’re saying is accurate I suppose that does make me unreasonable in expecting them to carry this out as a service. But I doubt many people are aware of this and would be surprised to know that these shops don’t have to take pre-paid labels so I think it needs to be made clearer on the eBay postage page/shop websites with returns information.

I've never come across resentment from shops with post offices in them.

Me neither. The couple that run the one nearest to me are lovely.

No one is putting a gun to their head

Actually, sadly Post Offices are^ prone to attacks from armed raiders........

The people saying they have helpful, friendly Post Offices - are you all in lovely leafy villages? Am wondering if maybe my problem is M25 proximity and the decline in service/people being nice in general.

Nope. I'm in an massive, industrial city.

Hmm. Forget that theory then!

The PO near work is like this. I have bought a chocolate bar/a bag of crisps/some biscuits for the office before but the crisps and chocolate were out of date. When I bought the biscuits (having wised up to the dates) I had to rummage for some that were in date. They’re rude and to have such poor stock rotation, it just screams they don’t give a shit. I really try to avoid going to that PO now, even if I have to go back out in an evening and into our village.

Our village has a PO in the shop and they’re actually helpful and polite. I’ve never bought from that shop but they have a wide selection and I would consider them if I needed something. A couple of the shops have Hermes or click and collect facilities. I’ve found these shops to be helpful too, even when I don’t buy something. For me the main difference I saw was that the PO near work was family run, the others all employ employees and a manager.

My friend’s parents run a shop and PO, he said it’s bloody hard work though running a PO (he helps his parents out) and it isn’t worth the hours you put into it. However, it does bring in income that the shop would have to close without.

Our nearest post office is about six miles away in a small village. The postmaster/shop owner could not be more charming or helpful.
Whenever we take free forces parcels he always checks the weight and if it’s under (which it inevitably is) he asks to open it and top it up with a few treats from his shelves. He’s done that every time and always asks after our son if we’re there doing something else.
He’s really patient with the real oldies.

It looked as if the staff at our local Post Office were making the rules up as they went along as to what they could and couldn't accept especially pre paid items even though I had checked Royal Mail website to see what was acceptable, prices etc. After the third time of them refusing to accept and/or pricing errors and speaking to me as if I was stupid I phoned complaints at Royal Mail and explained it all to them. They were appalled and told me that they would be contacting the office involved to see that these matters were rectified immediately. We have had no problems since.

My local shop gets pissed off and the owners huff and puff when people buy lottery tickets and glare at you. The shop has been open for years, they’ve been running it for about 2 or 3 and they only introduced it in the last 3 or 4 months so it’s not like they inherited it from the previous owners - the decision was (I assume) their own

Local sorting office? The one where undelivered parcels and recorded delivery letters are taken to? You mean take 4 buses, then walk through a deserted, unlit lane on the furthest reaches of an industrial estate, past a large travellers' site (which is not bad in itself, my point is that councils stick sites in the most isolated, poorly served and frankly, inhospitable places they have), then through several derelict industrial units' car park to get to their counter - and then walk back the country mile and a half, cross a dual carriageway where there is no pedestrian crossing (which takes me back to my point about how utterly shit the area is for the people who live on the site, they can't even get to anywhere such as a bloody shop safely without owning a car) and then wait for the first of four buses back, thus costing somewhere in the region of £6-12, depending on whether the buses all turn up and get to the next connection within an hour?

Considering I live in London, you'd think it would be slightly more accessible than that to be called the 'local' Sorting Office. But, no.

Having said that, the local PO within a shop is great. The wife gets to sit safely behind a screen where the kids are within sight whilst her husband and brother get to deal with the local drunks, smackheads and other shoplifters that have been banned from Tesco's, issue free tea, milks and snacks to the people they know who are genuinely homeless/in need and only have to consider the possibility of an armed robbery daily.

I buy stamps for my Ebay parcels because I don't want any more Post offices to close.

I moved a while back and the small PO counter was in the newsagent opposite. Until I moved in a few weeks after taking the house, when I discovered that it had closed and all that was left was a gap in the shop where the counter used to be, the Post box outside and the sign still up.

I found I had a half hour walk to the next village for the nearest one, which was OK apart from the steep hill on the way back. It was fine until it was robbed one day and the staff tied up. Soon afterwards it closed. Left me with nowhere to post my stuff. I value a Post Office as the options of Hermes, Yodel etc. are not good.

Have moved again and support the small one rather than the main one.

I buy the stamps, and stick them on at home which avoids being 'upsold' a service I don't want.