Written evidence from Graham Neal
It was very interesting to note from your article
in the press that you are looking for comments as to how the Royal
Mail Group could expand its services when our Post Office in this
village was closed about eighteen months ago. The current provision
being totally unsatisfactory.
Before the closure, at a public meeting in the village,
we were addressed by [a Royal Mail employee] who at best could
be described as condescending. She tried to explain that closure
was necessary due to a fall in customer numbers.
As many of the services had been removed from Post
Offices such as payment of pensions, benefits, TV licence renewal
and with other services such as payment of utility bills, incurring
such horrendous charges, it guaranteed that customers would be
using other methods for payment leading to falling numbers at
the counters.
We were promised a mobile unit which would replace
the Post Office which would have all the facilities including
waiting space for a number of customers.
In reality, we have a small LDV van for a very limited
number of hours and with no waiting space which affords any privacy
for customer's transactions. Waiting outside the van for service
in winter in North East Scotland is no joke.
So, the only sensible suggestion can be the re-instatement
of a permanent service with the full range of facilities that
we all enjoyed some years ago and putting "SERVICE"
back into the equation. These sentiments I am sure will be echoed
in many communities small and large throughout the U.K.
19 November 2010
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