I was pleased to hear shadow Treasurer Joe Hockey’s comments about Australia Post in a speech to the National Press club un Canebrra earlier this week.
I do send this warning to Australia Post: Do not go into banking. Do not be conned into the Rudd Government rhetoric about going into banking, because we would strongly oppose any attempt by the Rudd Government to set up a government bank – full stop,
With the role of Australia Post on their radar, newsagents have an opportunity to lobby local members through to the opposition leadership about the damage the Australia Post government owned stores are doing to family owned newsagencies and other small businesses nearby.
Australia Post continues to push its corporate stores into newsagency related areas without the costs of our private businesses.
While a banking move by Australia Post would concern the big end of town, down here in the small business end we are finding ourselves competing more with this government owned and protected retail network. I’d like the opposition to take a stand for small business.
Related to this is news that there is apparently growing support for an Australia Post bank.
Yes, why would would the labor goverment want to open another ‘peoples’ bank like they did when they originally created the commonwealth bank that used to treat people fairly and not rip them off like the banks do today !!! yeah wonder and wonder why the libs qwouldn’t want that ?????
I WOULD NOT queue at the post office for deposit . full stop
nothing to do with this topic but just had a laugh with a customer that had just been at the local AP and while he was there because he new the person behind the counter asked if she could just sign something as a witness (not as a JP) and she said yeah sure that will be $3.75 . How on earth can you charge to sign something ?
My favorite was last week, a customer asked me for a piece of paper to write down a phone number. I gave it to him and he asked how much, I said nothing. He laughed and said that the PO wanted $1.00!
I just wish people would not mistake US for a PO. We carry stamps as a convenience for our customers, we make no money from them and occasionally we run out.
We had a customer a couple weeks ago that threw an envelop at our staff member cause she (apologetically) told him we’d run out of stamps!!
Customer service is an important aspect in your business, but so if efficiency. If you are operating a high traffic business with extremely low margins, being interrupted by someone requesting to sign something can be frustrating. Especially when you have a que out the door!!!
Shaun K – what would you say to a customer who comes in with 80 copies to get certified ? What if they said “Oh but you did it for me last time”
i would sign all 80 copies no problem at all . The same as if i have no stamps in stock today i will offer to mail it when i get stamps in an hour or so , so they do nopt have to come back . You make no money off it but i am sure they will return again …
anonymous, i don’t know if it makes any difference but i am in a small town and when you do little things like this it goes a long way
anonymous
I’m not sure your comment makes sense.
If you have a queue out the door, charging somebody to sign 80 copies is not going to speed up the queue compared to if you don’t charge them.
Shaun,
be careful about mailing items for customers, if it contains anything harmful or dangerous and can be traced back to you mailing it you can be in trouble.
Cheers
Al
Good point Allen, also if the mail goes missing you can be held responsible for the contents.
We stopped taking mail for people after Aust post took 3 weeks to deliver a legal letter and the sender blamed my staff and threatened legal action against me. Even after the letter was found by Aust post to have been wrongly sent to a different address we never even got an apology from the sender, don’t say it will not happen, it can and does happen.
Alan Luke good points i suppose but as i have mentioned i am in a small town every one knows every one and at the end of the day any normal person would not leave anything major for someone else to mail . But at the end of the day there are so many senarios that could play out for Any particular action through out the day where do you stop .