Here is our beloved postwoman who has found a gap in the pavement between the thousands - literally - of tourists currently swarming around in groups of 100+ as they go from one attraction to another.
In the old days, postmen were either surly and miserable or irritatingly chirpy as they walked up your garden path at 6 in the morning - trilling like Roger Whitaker - to stuff a bundle of brown envelopes through your letterbox. This girl is delightful. She even meets me halfway up the stairs if something needs to be signed for.
Royal Mail was first set up here in Bath, initially serving all places between Bristol and London and safeguarding its passengers, parcels and letters from the many highwaymen who lined the route where it ran through desolate and unpopulated patches of heath and down. These days it is run by a bunch of highwaymen.
The rot began to set in when they split Royal Mail in two by forming 'Post Office Counters' to deal with the public at large. Then they created yet another brand which borrowed the prestige of Royal protection - Parcel Force. Of all the delivery companies which now exist, Parcel Force is the second worst. Only 'Yodel' can beat them in the areas of incompetence and inefficiency.
The main Bath branch of the Post Office has recently closed down and relocated in a branch of W.H. Smith. The men in suits who run Royal Mail have made a very strange deal with W.H. Smith and are in the process of moving all British town and city Post Offices into the failing business, even though the post office was always crammed with customers who had to queue for around 15 minutes to send a parcel. W.H. Smith - a stationer and newsagent - was always empty and under-staffed.
W.H. Smith is now the only stationer in Bath, and its stock of paper, envelopes and pens is very limited and of poor quality. Up until a few months ago there was a very good one called Wood and Co. which was forced to close because of high rent and business rates. It had been on the same premises for 175 years - since there were genuine highwaymen on the roads, waiting to intercept the post.
Now perhaps you have a better understanding of my reasons for last night's mini-rant.
The demise of the post office is a sad one. It is complicated for just a comment but I agree with you. The government is currently telling post offices to make more money from banking at the same time as Work and Pensions are telling us not to use Post Office banking because post offices are closing. I could go on. I believe Parcel Force is owned by Royal Mail. The sell off, split from the post office, was also a debacle when Vince Cable took.advice from bankers who then fleeced him and the Post Office.
ReplyDeleteParcel Force are a 'sister company' of Royal Mail until something goes wrong, then they are a separate company. Our basic services and utilities are being run for the benefit of foreign shareholders who will milk until dry and then move on. It will get much messier than this in the coming months.
DeleteThe Post Office has been deliberately run into the ground for years now. Village post offices are no longer viable unless they diversify. We have one on the outskirts which is also a fish and chip shop.
DeleteThe Post Offices here move from one shop to another, it becomes difficult to keep up with where to find one. In two years time I doubt there will be any left at all. On the one hand the Government says it will help them and on the other they are telling people to do Post Office business on-line. Once Royal Mail was sold off it was as if the Government had no interest in what was left, the Post Office.
DeleteLooks like it's just you and me now. Maybe I'll do a gardening blog.
ReplyDeleteClose your eyes, relax, lie down quietly and sod the lot of them is my advice.
ReplyDeleteI wish.
DeleteI trace the beginning of the end of our world to the rise of Bezos. And I thought it terrible when I thought he simply owned all the computing power in the world. Mind you, I still shop Amazon.
ReplyDeleteMost of our biggest providers run their businesses from the USA, and most of them are based in the little enclave of Silicon Valley. I try not to use them, but most of us cannot afford not to buy Chinese stuff.
DeleteBezos sells more Chinese stuff than the Chinese. Straight from China to our doorstep. Check the tracking tape.
DeleteThe P O in central Brighton has cleverly been based in the ground floor of W H Smith for the last 20 years or more. I had to queue for ages to send Christmas cards (you can tell how long ago this was). Previously I'd gone to a tiny sub P O that was run by an Indian family, where I'd be dealt with within seconds!
ReplyDeleteThey would not want to employ extra staff because the wage bill would eat into their profits. They would rather you spent half an hour waiting to give them money.
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