Trying to post “Avalon’s Guide”: a frustrating day.
I have just sent this email to NZ Post – hopefully I will get a nice result. It’s usually really easy to post our books out – but not yesterday. BTW – if you bought the book – it IS on its way to you – we posted it today 
I would like to relate a very frustrating day I had yesterday, trying to do a rather simple thing: buy 2 prepaid Worldwide A4 padded envelopes.
First off, i should tell you that this is a regular thing, as I sell a book mainly to UK or US buyers. My normal Post Shop is Carterton, where I have absolutely no problems. I live rurally, so I pay a little bit extra to get the pre-paid bag, so when an order comes in – I can post the book in my own box, rather than having to traipse 14km into town, buy postage and post it there and traipse 14km back. The extra cost far outweighs the time and petrol costs of going into town to post a standard padded bag.
I started the morning in Greytown, on my way to Wellington (theres a shortcut that bypasses Carterton – my first mistake as it turned out). I went into the post shop, and saw that they only had Large envelopes. There were no other customers, so I asked the lady behind the counter if they had any of the smaller ones in stock. I was rather brusquely told “No!” I was a bit taken aback, but she then waved in the general direction of the PostBags and said – thats all we’ve got. I think I must have looked a bit upset at the way she spoke, becuase she then told me that the “grey ones” were cheaper. I was surprised, becuase we’ve checked this at Carterton, and its only been about 50c difference. So I asked how much cheaper. She then (again, brusquely) said “I don’t know – you’ll have to weigh it”.
At which point I gave up and worked out, figuring id find some pre-pay bags in wellington later, which would save having to be spoken to like that.
I had a lot to do in Wellington, so it was quite late in the day before i found a Post Shop that didn’t have a huge queue, and went to the new one on Manners St. There were two staff and one customer. I went to the back of the shop, picked up the two Worldwide postbags i wanted, and went to the counter. I put them on the counter. The man behind the counter just stood there with his arms by his side and stared at me. He did not pick the bags up. Then as i was getting my purse out of my bag, he asked me what I was sending. I was a bit concerned at this point as he still hadn’t picked the bags up, and was still stood back from the counter starting at me. I told him at was for a book. He then demanded to know if I had the book with me. I told him no, and was now getting annoyed. By the time he then asked my where I was sending it (uh – worldwide?) I had had enough. I told him not to bother, picked up he Postbags (which he had still not made a move to scan and sell to me, and put them back on the racks. As I did, he called out to me that “the grey ones are cheaper”. I called back to him to tell him that no, they weren’t.
By this point, I an exceedingly frustrated, upset, and getting angry. All I want to do is buy some prepaid postbags.SO I can post a book to a client in the morning from home.
On our way home, we decided on one last ditch attempt to buy some postage from a postshop, and took a detour to Lower Hutt Westfield. I just couldn’t face being told by anymore staff that for whether reason I was not going to get my postbags, so I sent my Husband in. I figured at this point I was starting out grumpy, and I didn’t want to be rude to anyone. Not that such consideration entered into the heads of the staff I had dealt with so far.
But the EftPos machine wasn’t working – cash only. Now while thats not the fault of the staff in the shop – it really did make the whole thing take on a tinge of farce, and was a rather fitting end to a bad day in New Zealand Post Shops.
So what did we end up doing?
Well, as we had had to make a detour, we popped into Warehouse Stationary in Upper Hutt. We were asked if we needed any help, and had a discussion about what we needed to do (rather than being rudely told what I had to do). We bought at Padded Plastic A5 envelope of the kind i wanted, for $1.39. I got home, packed up the book, and later on today – i need to make a 28km round trip to pay for the postage to actually send it. Because I cant just walk to the end of the drive and stick it in the postbox in a PostagePaid bag.
So, given my day yesterday, could i please make the following requests of your company?
1/ Could you please train your staff and business owners and explain to them that some of their customers may be looking for items that they have already costed as being the most cost effective solution for themselves and their businesses.
2/ Could you also train your staff that telling people “the grey ones are cheaper” is firstly, not always true as it depends on the weight, and secondly is not a useful conversation. At no point was I ever asked if I had considered using the gray bags,or if i would like to check if they were a better option – I was just told they were. When they in fact are not.
3/ Could you specifically explain to the staff in the Manners St shop that not picking up the goods someone has passed over the counter, and staring at them while keeping your arms at your side is truly bizarre behavior, and comes across as exceedingly rude and confrontational. And demanding to know what they are postings and where just makes the situation worse.
4/ Could you also explain to all your staff that a lot of New Zealanders do not in fact live near a Post Shop, and there is a reason why you sell pre-paid bags, and also explain the concept of Rural Post services. Just because I was buying in Wellington or Greytown does not mean I am a five minute walk away and can bring items into post everyday.
5/ Finally, given that I had to waste a great deal of time and petrol running round trying to post something that should have been straightforward, would you please send me a couple of A4 PrePaid Worldwide PostBags to make up this?
Thank you very much for your time.
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Comments
2 Comments on Trying to post “Avalon’s Guide”: a frustrating day.
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Avalon on
Tue, 13th Apr 2010 10:55 pm
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Avalon on
Wed, 14th Apr 2010 1:20 pm
I got a partial response this morning:
Thank you for your inquiry regarding New Zealand Post Products and Services.
On behalf of New Zealand Post I apologise for the incidents raised and the inconvenience this matter has caused you.
I have sent a fault report through to the Regional Sales Manager. Once we have received a reply, you will be contacted by one of our investigators via email.
Not sure why it takes a regional Sales Manager to agree to send me a couple of PostBags as an apology, but at least they haven’t ignored it completely.
I got my post bags today, with a lovely apology – so one up to the Post Office
Thank you very much – it was greatly appreciated.
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