What is happening to the Post office?

Our PO is in a small grocery shop in a SW market town. This replaces a larger PO now closed. Seems to work well. Our nearest PO that does passports is about 10 miles away in W H Smiths - also seems OK.

More worrisome is the unpredictable Royal Mail delivery service which is outperformed by most private carriers.

PS. But when I can no longer drive, heaven knows how I am going to get there.....

We have no post for days, then two or three letters come all at once. In a rubber band.
Birthday cards sent locally can take a week or longer to arrive. Given how expensive it is to post something now it’s unsatisfactory and disappointing.

I’m another who hasn’t set foot in a post office for years. I only use a few stamps and buy those with the cards. A friend has told me where my nearest is, should I need it.

We have a Co-op witha PO - but instead of being open 9-5 it is 10.45-4.

Our PO still works fine, thank goodness (outer SW London). I send any parcels via Click and Drop, and the postman collects, or I take them to the parcel postbox in town if I’m going anyway.
🤞that system has always worked very well so far.

Parcels - don't forget your parcels can be collected by the postman! You just have to weigh and measure to get the right postage and pay online (I prefer Pay Pal for small purchases). You don't even need to print a label. The postman collects on the chosen day and puts the label on for you.

Our P.O. in Sherwood used to be so good. Pleasant helpful staff good service. Since it was taken over by another family it's going downhill fast. Long queue only one person serving not very helpful sometimes rude. They've also boarded up the outside cash machine . We have no bank in Sherwood any longer either. Arnold P.O. isn't much better more like a gift shop with the P.O. as an after thought.

Callistemon21

After the dreadful scandal when post office operators were wrongly prosecuted, some committing suicide, others going to prison and not all receiving compensation as yet, I'm surprised anyone wants to do the job.

The most dreadful miscarriage of justice and no-one yet held accountable. The wrong people went to prison.

Quite so, would you really want to work for the post office now, knowing what the management did.

I live 30 mins drive away from our nearest PO, it is a joke lucky I can drive, what about others who cannot, they would have to catch a bus into the town centre! and I live in a big town in the South of UK

Our best service is the Post Office van which travels around several villages in Richmondshire and Hambleton. We get about an hour, 4 days a week - they can do all that a normal PO does. Friendly, helpful member of staff. You meet all your friends and neighbours in the queue!

Our post office closed in April was told it was re opening on Monday it didn't now told don't know when Nearest one is 7 miles away

It varies here in the north east of Scotland. The “main” Post Office in the town I live in seems to have erratic opening hours, sun Post Offices too. Those in shops are better. We only get post every few days …

I'm in a very isolated rural tourist town in Devon. Our PO will shut permanently tomorrow. Our only mobile bank will stop coming here after Christmas. The Drs surgery is under threat. Will the last one out please turn off the lights..

amazonia

I'm in a very isolated rural tourist town in Devon. Our PO will shut permanently tomorrow. Our only mobile bank will stop coming here after Christmas. The Drs surgery is under threat. Will the last one out please turn off the lights..

That is terrible!

Must be quite scary, especially for residents with no transport etc.

It seems like the situation in my town isn't unique then.

Our main P.O. closed (leaving a large empty building in the town centre) and has a facility in the Stationery store. Inconvenient and always long queues. Luckily I have found a branch of Morrisons in a small local store, that also has a counter and parking!! Even my mail is delivered by someone in a 'private car' rather than red van.

Curtaintwitcher

I live in a large town in the North and am struggling to find a Post Office. My local one is now only open three days a week and when it is open, there is only one counter and a long queue. It is the same in the centre of town.

Is this happening all over the country or is it just in my local area?

The Post Office provides a public service; is there not a government body to step in and demand that they do the job properly?

I find all of the post office staff to be rude. I have 2 different POs I go to & wish I didn't have to. I no longer use Royal mail for parcels. They are far too expensive & luckily I have never had any issues with my local drop off/collection points. The PO have been done over with the stealing accusations & I imagine they are all peed off with how they are treated. However, there's no excuse for rudeness in my opinion. They are slowly killing themselves off probably unknowingly!

We are in the North West, and have a local Post Office within Spar supermarket in the village.

They open at 8am and work six days a week. All staff are friendly, professional and helpful.

We would be lost without them.

I also live up north and our post office is in Asda I think post offices started to disappear after the post office scandal that was the start of them disappearing. I’ve just had a couple of parcels picked up from home for the post office. They even brought the labels to stick on parcels. Didn’t have to leave my house lol

Ours in Coop and other wee local shops. Only 1 main PO now in our large town too. Im in Scotland

I haven't used a post office for years, what do people use them for?
Usually for sending post but it could also be for passports, foreign money etc
We have a main one in WHSmith with two ‘do it yourself’ machines and two counter staff seems to work ok There are also three or four other p o s dotted around the town in Spar shops etc

Our post now comes on an average every 3 days. I had a hospital appointment 5th December - the hospital letter, which was dated 30th November, arrived 6th December!
Christmas cards have arrived in bunches - no time to send one if you’ve forgotten. A neighbour went in person to our local sorting office to complain, did it make any difference, not a jot. Short-staffed was the excuse.
Credit card statements arriving a week later than usual. Twice now I’ve had to phone the company and request a duplicate.

What is a post office, I have not seen one since they started closing them down a few years ago. I now buy stamps online and if I order goods online and need to return them if they are faulty, I organise a collection, it is cheaper than paying for a taxi to take me to the nearest parcel drop off centre. Same when I need cash, if I am in an area where there is a supermarket, I pop in and use their ATM machine apart from that I always do online banking and grocery shopping.

Granless

Our post now comes on an average every 3 days. I had a hospital appointment 5th December - the hospital letter, which was dated 30th November, arrived 6th December!
Christmas cards have arrived in bunches - no time to send one if you’ve forgotten. A neighbour went in person to our local sorting office to complain, did it make any difference, not a jot. Short-staffed was the excuse.
Credit card statements arriving a week later than usual. Twice now I’ve had to phone the company and request a duplicate.

According to a postman I know the aim is to become a parcels only delivery service which is why they are prioritising parcels over mail. Letters etc are put to one side with no distinction between first and second class hence the delays and delivery in batches. There doesn’t seem to be any plan for who will deliver mail in the future. Probably another privatised company. There doesn’t seem to be any point in buying first class stamps anymore.