Post Office Locals could mean bigger queues, warns UK watchdog

A widespread conversion of UK sub-post offices into Post Office Local branches could see full-size post offices “swamped” with customers forced to travel further to access the services they need. That was the warning from Consumer Focus today, the UK consumer watchdog having surveyed customers using the 45 locations where Post Office Local branches are currently being piloted.

As many as one in five dedicated sub-post offices set to close from 2014, transferring services to other retail outlets, for example convenience stores, supermarkets or refuelling stations.

Consumer Focus said customers were pleased that these Post Office Locals offer longer opening hours, although it was not always clear to customers which branches had longer opening hours.

More than half of the Locals customers were having to use alternate post offices to access services such as passports and licensing, bill payment and banking and international mail over 5kg in weight, the research said.

That would mean bigger queues and poorer customer service, it suggested.

Only half of customers surveyed thought the product range offered by their Post Office Local was good.

The watchdog said its research even uncovered some branches that were not offering full parcel services “even though they are supposed to”.

Suggesting that a lack of space within Post Office Locals could restrict capacity for dealing with parcels, the report called it a “major missed opportunity” given the increasingly competitive parcels market.

Not only was it inconvenient to customers, it also threatened the long-term health of the post office network said Consumer Focus postal expert, and one of the report’s authors, Andy Burrows.

“To make the network sustainable they must also be able to benefit from future revenue streams including banking transactions and the lucrative market for parcel drop-off and collection, which is being fuelled by online shopping,” he said.

Overall, 61% of those surveyed said that their overall experience of using a Post Office Local was good. A significant chunk of customers complained at not having enough privacy to carry out financial transactions at Post Office Locals, and there were some questions about the knowledge and experience of staff, since services are provided by staff from the main store counter rather than a dedicated post office employee.

The UK government announced in November that 2,000 sub post offices, mainly in suburban and rural areas, would be converted into Post Office Locals.

The third restructuring of the Post Office network in only eight years, ministers said it was the only “realistic” way of sustaining the network given the changes in the postal market.

“Downgrading”

The Communications Workers Union said today that the Consumer Focus report had highlighted a “downgrading” of postal services in the government’s Post Office Local Plan.

Billy Hayes, CWU general secretary, said: “It’s clear that providing post offices on the cheap means downgrading services, even to the extent that posting parcels is not available.

“Locals are failing. Government and the Post Office need to listen to customers about what works and what doesn’t. We’re told that financial services will play a growing role in Post Office revenue, but Locals clearly can’t deliver that.

“While customers welcome extended opening hours, there’s little point in offering them if the office can’t provide services which people want to use,” added Hayes.