Expect to queue for a long time if you go to a main post office (Post Office Counters)

Member Name: norton501

Product:	Post Office Counters
Date:	02/08/09 (28 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: its necessary for parcel posting, airmail, car tax... other services

Disadvantages: queuing, slowness, lack of branches and stamp machines

As a lot of Post Offices have closed in the past few years you may now have to travel further to get to a post office and when you get to one of the main post offices in your town or city you may now need to queue for even longer.

Out main post office was closed and you now have to go into the basement of WH Smiths and queue for around 45 minutes on average to post anything needing weighed. The irony is the WH Smiths the post office is inside of does not sell stamps- they tell you to go and queue. Nor is there a stam machine where you could fill it with 2ps and press a button and buy one stam if that is all you needed.

Fortunately, you can now buy postage stamps in places like Superdrug and supermarkets so you should only need to venture to a post office branch if you need to get your car tax sorted (main post offices will do this only- a lot of the smaller ones will tell you to go to the main post office in your town or city), if you need to send off a passport application or pick up forms for a driving license, passport, lost item of mail or if you need to post a parcel or get something weighed.

It has turned into a dread thing (like going to the dentist)- I will now only go to the main post office as a last resort / if I absolutely have to as I know i'm going to be in there for the majority of my lunch break, I'm going to be in a queue and when I get to the counter the person serving is more often than not going so slowly if they went any slower they would stop. I say this from experience, I have lost many many hours queuing in these places!

On the plus side, you can now pay at the counter with a card- they accept card payments. There is Girobank and National Savings accounts you can deal with in branch (but it means queuing). For the sheer range of services they do or have forms for you to sort and for their car tax issuing role and parcel and airmail posting ... The post office is a necessity, but don't expect going there to always be a pleasant thing.

Summary: Like going to the dentist. You go there is you absolutely have to.