Musings from the Merse
Thursday, September 18, 2008
Post Orifice under fire
As foreshadowed in yesterday's post( even in this context npi) the saga of the fuss over the proposed closure of the three Berwickshire post offices, Eccles, Greenlaw and Hutton, occupies quite a large chunk of the latest on-line Berwickshire. If you have time and patience read about it here Sadly I doubt that all this activity will make a whit's* worth of difference. In the wide world of the Post Office its the Big Picture which is important and a few frustrated customers in deepest Berwickshire is not going to change minds when the accountants are in charge.
I note that rhe Hutton Hall Committee are keen to take over the Hutton facility themselves and that the Post Office representatives noted this idea. Surely far better to keep on our current postmistress and pay her out of Village Hall funds-given that she only works for about 8 hours a week this is a manageable expense. One fund raising coffee evening could probably cover her for a year. I doubt however that the PO will change its mind over closing the office as it still has to deliver the cash, upkeep the computer, pay the phone bills and provide the stamps etc. Just too much bother. Lets have one big Berwickshire Orifice, say in Duns and if the customers can't be bothered to make their way there let them use e-mail like everyone else. (You can download stamps for goodness sake) Oh people like cash in hand when collecting their pensions!? How quaint. Come on Oldies get real. Don't be so Twentieth Century. This is the age of electronic cash. Get your self a bank account and shop on line. User friendly Tescos will deliver, even to Hutton.
You know it makes sense.
*75p at today's rate of exchange
As foreshadowed in yesterday's post( even in this context npi) the saga of the fuss over the proposed closure of the three Berwickshire post offices, Eccles, Greenlaw and Hutton, occupies quite a large chunk of the latest on-line Berwickshire. If you have time and patience read about it here Sadly I doubt that all this activity will make a whit's* worth of difference. In the wide world of the Post Office its the Big Picture which is important and a few frustrated customers in deepest Berwickshire is not going to change minds when the accountants are in charge.
I note that rhe Hutton Hall Committee are keen to take over the Hutton facility themselves and that the Post Office representatives noted this idea. Surely far better to keep on our current postmistress and pay her out of Village Hall funds-given that she only works for about 8 hours a week this is a manageable expense. One fund raising coffee evening could probably cover her for a year. I doubt however that the PO will change its mind over closing the office as it still has to deliver the cash, upkeep the computer, pay the phone bills and provide the stamps etc. Just too much bother. Lets have one big Berwickshire Orifice, say in Duns and if the customers can't be bothered to make their way there let them use e-mail like everyone else. (You can download stamps for goodness sake) Oh people like cash in hand when collecting their pensions!? How quaint. Come on Oldies get real. Don't be so Twentieth Century. This is the age of electronic cash. Get your self a bank account and shop on line. User friendly Tescos will deliver, even to Hutton.
You know it makes sense.
*75p at today's rate of exchange
Labels: Hutton Post Office
Comments:
I'm not too sure how effective it has been, but I learnt yesterday that Postwatch Scotland, the 'independent watchdog for postal services' has been abolished. Or rather, it has merged with Energywatch and the National Consumer Council to become a new hybrid: Consumer Focus. That's an awfully big remit; it's hard to believe that such an organisation can possibly be effective at grass roots level. But I'm sure it will spend at least the first year coming up with a very impressive 'strategy'.
# posted by 
: 9:44 AM
: 9:44 AM
In my five years 'ownership' of the Hutton Post Office-when it was in the Old Manse-I never came across or even heard of Postwatch Scotland. If it had teeth it never bared them. Nor has the National Consumer Council nor Energywatch loomed large in our lives. You only fully realise how useless these organisations are when you need them as at present with the Berwickshire post offices under threat.
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