Post Office Closures

cremeegg

Registered User
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An Post plans to close a large number of post offices. It seems that my local PO is likely to be among those affected.

It will certainly be an inconvenience to me if the PO is closed. However it has been run for at least 2 generations by the same family and while they are nice people they are useless business people. They have not done anything in 30 years to enhance the service they offer. Many POs are like this.

We often hear that a PO is the heart of the community, a social focal point. Well why do few or none sell tea or coffee.

Rather than close the POs An Post should put them out to competitive tender every few years. And award the franchise to the most innovative business plans.
 
There have been significant population shifts in the last 40 years and many Post Offices are no longer located where the population centers are. That's part of the problem. They should be in shops and petrol stations, places like that.

There is already a massive subsidy by people in towns and cities of people in rural areas. How much more do they want?!
 
An Post is in the dark ages when it comes to servicing customers. I use Parcel Motel quite a lot. An Post has launched a competiting offerring. Except in An Post's case it invloves going in to a Post Office to collect the parcel. The last time I was in a Post Office I queued for 45 minutes. The AddressPal FAQ says it all:

If An Post was the innovator here I'd say something if a competitor copied and made improvements, but to think that the details below come from someone entering the market is just insane!

https://addresspal.anpost.ie/Home/FAQ

You will be provided with a card containing a unique address code, your AddressPal address, which is to be used whenever you use the service.
So presumably if you want to change your pick-up Post Office you have to get a new card? And also it's another card to be carrying around..

An Post will notify you by e-mail that your AddressPal item is available for collection. SMS notification is also available.
Email first and SMS "available" ! Sounds like SMS is a special feature! Dear God!

You go to your selected Post Office, with photo ID and your AddressPal card, pay the delivery charge and collect your item
Sounds like going to the airport. Alternatively I can go to a Parcel Motel locker that's open 24x7 and I'm done in seconds.

Your AddressPal item will usually be delivered to your selected Post Office within an estimated 3 to 4 working days of receipt to our UK Address
3 or 4 working days!! I track my packages from Amazon to Parcel Motel and have never waited more than 2 days, including weekends

A charge of €25 will apply for oversized items.
Parcel Motel charge €7 for oversized items. That's a steal. I'm doing up my house at the moment and have brought everything from radiators to light fittings to even hedging (I kid you not!) via Parcel Motel for €7 a pop.

How do I apply for a card
Simply complete an online application at AddressPal.
We will post your AddressPal Card to you when we have processed your application.


Simply? Simply would mean that it's all done online.

How can I pay
Payment must be made at the Post Office when you collect your items. Cash or Debit Card will be accepted.


Wow. With Parcel Motel I can either top up or register my card. An Post want me to either carry cash or to use a POS. All to facilitate online purchases!

Can I get the item delivered to my home address
No. You can only collect items from your selected Post Office.

A parcel delivery system by the national post office that won't deliver to your house!!!! With Parcel Motel I can get oversized items delivered to my home. Which kinda makes sense if you think about it!

Can I track my item online
AddressPal items cannot be tracked online

No words for this!

Can I nominate another person to collect my AddressPal item
Yes you can nominate another person (an agent) to go to the Post Office to collect your AddressPal item. They must have

The AddressPal collection confirmation e-mail.
Their own photo identification (such as a Passport / Driving Licence / Employer photo ID / Student photo ID from a third level college).
The Agent Authorisation form which you must sign.


Wow. That's some effort. I'm surprised someone from Customs doesn't need to be there!

I presume the logic by An Post is along the lines of: "let's get them into Post Offices", but really they should be asking what would their customers really want. Parcel Motel works a treat and if An Post wanted they could easily replicate. God knows they already have the expensive bit (distribution) in place...
 
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Firefly you should check out ParcelWizard as an alternative to ParcelMotel - same idea but you can get it delivered to your home and the size restrictions are not as bad. Might be handy if you don't want to have to go to collect from ParcelMotel locations (I know ParcelMotel is handier for those who can't take delivery during the day, just pointing out an alternative).
Agree with you on the AnPost offering - very clunky solution when really there is no reason for it to be so cumbersome. They really could have set this up to be the best of both ParcelMotel and ParcelWizards offerings to gain an advantage over both!
 
The furore over closing post offices is typical. The people who complain are the same people who complain about closure of the village shop or petrol station. They want these open but still go to the big town or city for their shopping
 
Very good point, Vanessa. I covered it in a previous thread regarding the situations of buying a holiday home in Ireland.
 
local post office/mace shop here had 40 old age pensioners collecting 3 years ago . they now have 6 that collect = nuff said .
 
local post office/mace shop here had 40 old age pensioners collecting 3 years ago . they now have 6 that collect = nuff said .

But why is this. It seems unlikely that the number dying exceeds the number newly retired by so much. Could it be that the PO is so badly run that people are choosing other options to collect their pensions.
 
But why is this. It seems unlikely that the number dying exceeds the number newly retired by so much. Could it be that the PO is so badly run that people are choosing other options to collect their pensions.
You can have it paid directly into your bank or post office account. Why would anyone go and queue up to collect it?
 
You can have it paid directly into your bank or post office account. Why would anyone go and queue up to collect it?

Because the Post Office is the "heart of the community", "it affords a chance for people to get together", "its the lynch pin of rural Ireland".

It also offers a broad range or services that attract people in for other reasons.

Or perhaps its a dinghy room with a floor that hasn't been swept in years.
 
Because the Post Office is the "heart of the community", "it affords a chance for people to get together", "its the lynch pin of rural Ireland".

It also offers a broad range or services that attract people in for other reasons.

Or perhaps its a dinghy room with a floor that hasn't been swept in years.
That's the Pub you're thinking of.
 
cremeegg.

I think most people forget {the power of one} and believe their pension won,t make much difference.
 
You can have it paid directly into your bank or post office account. Why would anyone go and queue up to collect it?

My 90 yr old mother still queues up to get it. She's not capable of using an ATM due to arthritis and she's get's treated like a civilized human being in her post office as opposed to being treated like a nuisance by Bank of Ireland.

Also, especially with banks closing offices, a lot of people in rural Ireland simply don't have access to either a bank or an ATM (nearest one to my home village is 6 miles away) and as for trying to do online banking in rural Ireland with the standard of broadband we have, it would be faster to walk to town.
 
My 90 yr old mother still queues up to get it. She's not capable of using an ATM due to arthritis and she's get's treated like a civilized human being in her post office as opposed to being treated like a nuisance by Bank of Ireland.

Also, especially with banks closing offices, a lot of people in rural Ireland simply don't have access to either a bank or an ATM (nearest one to my home village is 6 miles away) and as for trying to do online banking in rural Ireland with the standard of broadband we have, it would be faster to walk to town.
The State can't be responsible for providing access to a high level of services for everyone living in sparsely populated areas of rural Ireland. The cost per head of providing what is there at the moment is already massive (remember the figure that there is €90 spent on local services per head of population in Leitrim for every €1 spent in Dublin?).
As for access to ATM's, it would be cheaper for the State to subsidise the provision of ATM's in local shops than keep Post Offices open. The bottom line is that fewer and fewer people need Post Offices and therefore the provision of them is getting more and more expensive.
Would it be cheaper to provide a minibus service for people like your mother which can bring then into a local town or village one of two days a week so that they can access services, go to the shops etc?

My own Grandmother, who lived in Dublin, found if difficult to get to the shops etc so family members took turns to look after her. We could hardly expect the State to do that now, could we?
 
The State can't be responsible for providing access to a high level of services for everyone living in sparsely populated areas of rural Ireland. The cost per head of providing what is there at the moment is already massive (remember the figure that there is €90 spent on local services per head of population in Leitrim for every €1 spent in Dublin?).
As for access to ATM's, it would be cheaper for the State to subsidise the provision of ATM's in local shops than keep Post Offices open. The bottom line is that fewer and fewer people need Post Offices and therefore the provision of them is getting more and more expensive.
Would it be cheaper to provide a minibus service for people like your mother which can bring then into a local town or village one of two days a week so that they can access services, go to the shops etc?

My own Grandmother, who lived in Dublin, found if difficult to get to the shops etc so family members took turns to look after her. We could hardly expect the State to do that now, could we?

Ah, let's all move everyone to Dublin and the big towns where it easier and cheaper to provide services- the old Ceaucescu collectivization argument :). That worked out well. Maybe instead we should be encouraging people to move out of the cities to reduce demand for expensive housing and transport infrastructure and that would then reduce the cost of providing services in the Leitrims of this world. After all, a hundred local houses in Leitrim would be far cheaper then in Dun Laoighre.

The Post Offices are actually providing more and more services, most of the banks for example now allow people to lodge and pay bills at the Post Office and the banks have used this to partially justify branch closures. Maybe part of the issue here is that some Post Offices are just not very good at marketing their business to their local customers.

The local Post Office also facilitates local enterprise, through my work with the LEO's I can think of a couple of small start ups who would have additional challenges and costs if their local post office closed.


And as for looking after the elderly, my mother has the free bus pass but can't use it as there are no buses.
 
Ah, let's all move everyone to Dublin and the big towns where it easier and cheaper to provide services- the old Ceaucescu collectivization argument :). That worked out well. Maybe instead we should be encouraging people to move out of the cities to reduce demand for expensive housing and transport infrastructure and that would then reduce the cost of providing services in the Leitrims of this world. After all, a hundred local houses in Leitrim would be far cheaper then in Dun Laoighre.
No that would be a bad idea. We should be encouraging people to live in and within walking distance of villages and we should stop ribbon development, even if it's a family member building on the family farm. The reason our villages are dying is because people want to live in big houses with a big garden at the same cost as a small semi-D in a city and they want someone else to pay for Broadband and sewage and a road up to their front door and electricity and phone coverage. Then they whinge about how long it takes to get to a hospital and how bad the bus service is. This isn't about Dublin and rural Ireland; it's about Rural Ireland screwing itself up. Go to England and look at how little ribbon development there is there. If you want your villages to survive then live in them.

The Post Offices are actually providing more and more services, most of the banks for example now allow people to lodge and pay bills at the Post Office and the banks have used this to partially justify branch closures. Maybe part of the issue here is that some Post Offices are just not very good at marketing their business to their local customers.

The local Post Office also facilitates local enterprise, through my work with the LEO's I can think of a couple of small start ups who would have additional challenges and costs if their local post office closed.
Great, the rest of us just have to keep subsidising them until they decide to stop being incompetent so.


And as for looking after the elderly, my mother has the free bus pass but can't use it as there are no buses.
Them's the breaks when you live in a sparsely populated area. It's also why I suggested that it could be cheaper to provide a minibus service a few times a week. That is if there is no family willing to help her.
 
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