Slow people at the post office

yep, because the customer is always right

 

If you see me comin', better step aside,
A lotta men didn't, a lotta men died.
One fist of iron, the other of steel,
If the right one don't a-get you, then the left one will.
You load sixteen tons, what do you get?
Another day older and deeper in debt,
Saint Peter don't you call me 'cause I can't go,
I owe my soul to the company store...
Where the customer is always right,
So long as they can afford your prices!
Merel Travis​

 

Woolworths, our second biggest grocery chain ( completely different in name to Woolworths in the US or UK) had a nationwide meltdown the other day with their self checkout machines, none of them would work, and of course the usual mere 2 human cashiers couldnt keep up with them load, so many of the stores, across the whole country just shut early. Would have cost them a bucketload.

With things like that, plus the actual cost of the things, servicing and IT on the backend. I really question whether they are that cost effective.

I hate the things, forced me to shop at Aldi, I'm not privvy to the actual numbers, what the cost difference is, between human and machine cashiers, but I do know Aldi's market share has increased the last couple of years, without a single self checkout machine.

If the self checkout machines are so great, how has one company that doesnt use them increased its market share

I noticed both Kmart and Officeworks have increased the number of human cashiers compared to when they first rolled out the self serve checkouts

I suspect, as is the case often in private corporations, some twit in head office crunches the numbers in the short term, thinks they are a good idea, but doesnt factor in depreciation and ongoing maintenance. And actually working out how many customers or sales you are losing is near impossible. If self checkout machines cause 30% of your customers to buy on average 20% less items because they dont want to fuck around with the self checkout machines - near impossible to get a reliable figure just through market research


Same with online grocery shopping, I dont see how thats too cost effective. For an $11 charge here, they have to pay the picker instore, plus the delivery person. With online shopping the buyer is more likely go for the specials. Which is the only time I do it, if my brand of coffee is 1/2 price, I'll buy 1/2 dozen large jars plus a bunch of other non perishables that are on special. How is that making more money for them than before I had that option?

But the short version is, self checkout machines arent that fucking fantastic, they dont really speed things up, they dont make ones groceries cheaper, there is the stuck in a queue behind the idiot factor, and of course it means more bored unemployed teens roaming the streets

 

I cant remember the last time I had to post something to someone.....use the post office for anything for that matter

If its a gift, I just order it online, if its a Happy Birthday message, well Whatsapp, sending cards is for old farts

 

Our new ATMs have a bill payment service. The problem is the time it takes to get through about 6 stages to open the screen, enter who you want to pay, how much, add a payment reference, confirm the transaction and then wait while it completes and emails me a receipt. If I want to pay a second bill, I have to go all through the menu again, just to get back to the bill payment screen.
Despite the fact that I am familiar with the steps, paying 3 bills still takes about 12 minutes. To someone using it for the first time, it would probably have taken them 20.
Needless to say, I use the service at a quiet time and at the main branch of the bank that has 3 ATMs outside.

The modernized interior of the bank looks more like the 'slots' hall at a casino, with machines to scan cheques and pay cash into your account. Their are no cashiers.

Considering that a lot of heart surgery now includes valves being replaced by the valve being inserted trans-catheter, via a small incision in your groin and robots are now being tested to carry out the procedure, cardio-thoracic surgeons will now be joining the bank staff in the line of people looking for a job.

The future for mankind is grim.

 

I agree with you fully. I have never used a self service checkout and never will.

Last year the banks PDQ network went down at midday and half the shops in south west London were forced to close for the afternoon

Aldi are are a good company and here in the UK they also have franchised small shops that are proving very popular. They trade as 'Nisa' and staff are not allowed to tell customers that they are owned by Aldi.
Did you know that Aldi and Lidl were founded by two brothers who could not agree and work together when they decided to open a shop.?

 

Whoa you guys have Kmart there? I thought Kmart was a dying breed. We have one of the few remaining Kmarts in the area in walkng distance to my house. I love it, its like WalMart but with waayyy less people. It soothes my misanthropic soul. Plus their clothes are actually kind of cute.

The one here doesnt have self check out but all the cashiers are slow as molasses. I really dont understand why, its like a requirement to be a turtle to work there. But I don't mind, it still beats WalMart any day

 

all the places with self checkout still have cashiers too, so it's not like they don't give you the option. i just prefer self checkout because it's way faster as long as you're not behind an idiot. i've never come across a cashier that wasn't awful at their job.

 

An executive order is needed to ban quick and competent USPS customers until the White House can figure out later what is going on. Such customers are in conflict with the traditional postal customers and domestic markets that conduct business the old fashion way.

A return to the good old days is needed when packages had hand-printed labels, were tied with strings, and were transported by horse carriages and steam trains fueled by beautiful, clean coal. It was an industry that China stole from the U.S. via its high-tech Made In China 2025 initiative. That initiative now needs to be thwarted by imposing tariffs justified by a Section 232 Trade Expansion Act of 1962 investigation which shows that the domestic string, horse carriage, and coal-powered train industries have been crippled by the new technology which has led to a loss of jobs and an inability of the military to meet its national security requirements.

 

The K-Mart stores have been steadily closing but there are still 9 stores within a 50 mile radius

 

impatient people make life unhappy for everyone.
of course its understandable that life is only just so long,
but impatience causes more delays then it prevents.

 

hedge funds are murdering capitalism. but nothing is being allowed to take its place.

 

...and this is why i like my small town

no line ups...and the post lady knows me well enough i dont even have to put return address she just fills out the form by memory

 

yuck, the last thing i would want is for customer service people to know me.

if standing in line at the post office is the worst thing about living in a place where there's stuff to do and everyone doesn't know you and shove their nose in your business constantly, i think it's worth it.

 

Yeah and it wasn’t all that long ago in small town USA that someone could simply pick up their receiver and listen into the most intimate personal phone conversations.
A precursor to the internet chatroom?

 

I Love Customer Service Peeps Knowing Me.......Last Friday I Was Back Of The Queue At The Bank And

One Of The Tellers Was Standing Nearby......She Walked Up To Me And Asked What My Business Was

Today And Then Said Follow Me.......She Reached Through Into The Teller Cage......Dragged Out What Was Needed

And Sent Me On My Way In About 45 Seconds Flat......You Should Have Seen Some Of The Dirty Looks

A Few Of The Waiting Customers Gave Me....If Looks Could Kill I'd Be Very Sick.....LOL......



Cheers Glen.

 

You sure is wasnt because you were naked?

 

Back to the thread at hand, while we are at it, who the fuck needs to ask directions anymore?

I still see tourists in the city that have brought paper maps asking directions, and not old farts either, Gen Y-ers

 

I can't recall the last time I was in a post office.