Monthly Archives: September 2006

Postal update

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Interesting discussion in the Post Office the other day (we are traditional types and take all our mail to our local sub post office for despatch):

Apparently the new postal charges which Royal Mail imposed on 21st August have led to a massive reduction in the amount of packets being sent. Although this is anecdotal at this stage, it appears that some eBay sellers (and buyers, presumably) are simply not able to get their heads round the new tariffs and have stopped trading completely, at least for the time being.

The knock-on effect is of course a loss of revenue for Royal Mail and in particular, the local post office network. Sub postmasters/mistresses are usually franchise holders and only get paid according to how much money crosses their counter.

In the short term this is bad news for Royal Mail (serves them right) but for the people who run our local post offices, it’s a complete disaster. Here in Harrow, we lost 6 sub offices last year. The fear is, that more will follow as postmasters/mistresses give up the struggle to make a profit.

We at Snorestore suspect that this was part of Royal Mail’s plan all along. Post Office Counters is the loss-making arm of the service. Put up prices, confuse the customers, see a drop in trade, close lots more sub offices by default. For Royal Mail this would be a result. For the communities served by these outlets, it’s a tragedy.

Why we especially love YOU

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We love our customers. After all, without people like you coming here we wouldn’t have a business. We try hard to be fair (as a minimum), honest (always) and exceed your expectations (we check out our products, package them well and get them in the post fast). If, sometimes, the Blog seems a bit grumpy that’s only because the occasional customer is a cheeky pixie. Once in a while someone is simply dishonest. I’m sure all businesses come up against this, but our customers (as a group) are such a great bunch of people that it still surprises us when someone behaves outrageously. You make us smile much more often. And, we love it when you do. Thanks for your orders.

Operator error?

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We have noticed a worrying trend over the last year or so (and it’s not just us – other web and mail order retailers report similar experiences) for some people to behave like spoilt kids when things go wrong.

Take the man who threatened to report us (who to we wonder?) for failing to send him emails confirming his order and payment status. When we pointed out that he has to put his own – correct – email address on the order form for this to happen, he went a bit quiet and eventually, conceded that the error was his.

Or the woman who ordered earplugs and chose Next Working Day delivery at 4pm on a Friday afternoon. Then complained that they didn’t arrive the next day. Which was a Saturday. And not, therefore, a working day. She hadn’t read the shipping information, or the terms and conditions, and then she proceeded to claim that her order had never arrived at all. Except we know it did as we have a her signature from Royal Mail to prove it. She threatened to report us too.

Then there was the woman who emailed us asking for a free sample. We get these requests very frequently and sometimes we do send samples out, particularly if we detect that the caller is in genuine need. This woman, however, wanted a full set of earplugs, no beating about the bush. When we asked why she should get something for nothing when everyone else has to pay, well boy did she go off on one.

Oh and then there’s the woman who phones up after using her earplugs for five weeks, claiming they don’t work. Er, how come you didn’t phone right away love? She wants her money back. Except, it turns out that she didn’t pay for the order, someone else did. No matter, she wants the money. We refuse. Instead we’ll send the earplugs back to the manufacturer to see if they can find a fault with them. They won’t, believe me.

What all these people have in common is their belief that we are stupid. We are not. The biggest lesson we’ve learned in the last five years is, the customer is not always right.