Dawlish Discussion

Something has to be done about the reduction of staff in dawlish post office.

The waiting times are becoming ridiculous,i stood for nearly 35 minutes while the one person on duty struggled to keep up with the traffic,the barrage of snide comments and insults didnt help the poor bloke on his own in there either

Why have the staffing hours been reduced,when there is obviously the custom to support more staff,surely this can only hurt trade as more people decide to go elsewhere instead of waiting in long lines while people offload dozens of parcels in one go,with only one person to process them, and carry out other duties at the same time.

And as an afterthought,as annoying as it was to stood waiting,some of those people in that queue should hang their heads in shame for their behaviour,the poor guy looked like he was ready for a heart attack.

So who is responsible for this situation?

Has to be one of the worst jobs there is...public are impatient and rude, other day I saw a girl totally ignore the man behind the counter as she shoved her envelope through for a stamp ...and on the phone to her mate at the same time ..flippin mobiles grrr..

Time that any shop / supermarkets can have parcel scales ..you just put the parcel on, select rate you want to send ..out pops a postage label and you pay by card. Hand the parcel to the shop assistant ..or put it with your shopping on the convey belt... Easy hey!

Amyway .. I bet there is a job going on the counter if anyone wants to be stressed!.

This is not a Crown office, the staffing is decided by One-Stop and has nothing to do with the PO. It is One-Stop management who decide the number of hours they wil pay for PO counter staff. Recently this has been drastically reduced, one of the longest serving staff members simply put her keys down and walked out. The counter staff are also fed up with their reduction in working hours, this is simply a money saving scheme by One-Stop.

One Stop .is TESCO ..'every little helps' they are so clever at getting money in!

well maybe One Stop shouldnt be messing about with a service as vital as the mail,especially in a post office where there is an obvious need for more than one person on duty. i would have thought the trade theyll lose will not be worth the perceived savings in wages. still doesnt excuse supposed adults behaving like pack animals,should have been there thursday,it was disgusting to watch.

As wriggler said,the staff dont like it any more than the customers,so aim your vitriol at one stop not the staff

When this obviously harassed and stressed out member of staff goes off on sick-leave, what then?

Haven't used that P.O for ages (usually use the Exeter Road one) but did so last year when renewing a passport and the people behind the counter were so helpful and friendly.

Such a shame that good staff are treated so badly.

Anyone got One Stop's contact details? Put some pressure on. Contact the press, MP etc.

I could never work in that place, it appears to me one stop suck and dont give a hoot about their staff. profits and budgets are not just king,they are held as a religion it seems

I know some of the staff there,they are good dedicated people and it seems to me they are working with one hand tied behind their backs all the time. As it happens,the post office member of staff mentioned HAD suffered a heart attack last month and was moved from the shop to the post office rather than give up work. The shop also has a lovely lady recovering from breast cancer,think about that next time you just feel like kicking off,people are living with bigger issues than just having to stand in a queue for a stamp or a pint of milk

I myself witnessed a violent confrontation last week in the shop between two of the girls and a skaghead they caught nicking,they pressed their panic alarm but where was the back up? well done to the customers who stepped in.

It must be bad enough having to deal with the annual influx of ignorant tourists,without having to put up with it from the locals as well,and this goes for all people in all jobs

People should remember that ANY shop or post office or cafe staff are just trying to earn a living,and,whereas you do get bad service from time to time,generally,its ill mannered customers that seem to get off on taking their frustrations out on totally innocent people because they feel like it.

But with regards to one stop and its post office,if you dont use either then fine,but if you do, then put pressure on the company not the staff because, it seems, its not going to get better anytime soon unless people speak up to the people that matter.

By Phone

01543 363133

By mail

Customer Services,One Stop Stores Ltd,Apex Road,Brownhills,Walsall,West Midlands WS8 7TS

or their website contact form at www.onestop.co.uk

Bolting the stable door after the horse has bolted is a principle one stop and companies like them have got down to a fine art. They wont spend a dime on increased manning or improve the service for either staff or customers,until something nasty happens (ie a serious assault),so complaining is a waste of time,it isnt going to make the slightest bit of difference to them. Doesnt it strike you funny though that theyve just refurbished the place then cut the staff.

I agree that the waiting times on certain days are becoming a joke(and not a funny one) due to one man operating, but i also agree that venting at the poor person who would rather not be in that position having to deal with it in the first place is out of order.If its true that this individual has recently had a heart attack,how would you feel being the person that caused another just because you were having a bad day and decided to throw your teddy

Like Devonish, i also know some of the people who work there,both past and present,and id rather beg on the streets than put up with some of the things ive heard about there,Slavery is alive and well and flourishing in Dawlish.

Ive also witnessed incidents in the one stop,and to be fair,its a testiment to some of the good people who are prepared to step in and help defend the staff when these things happen.

Save your phonebill/stamps/internet time,they run to a business model and wont budge for anyone or anything until they are forced to do so,usually at someone elses cost,shame,but thats how business operates these days.

Another tried and tested ethos of companies like this is the quick fix recruitment,so if the staff dont like it they just replace them with someone who will do it till they themselves get peed off and leave,so on and on it goes,revolving door recruitment,which is of no benefit to either the company or the staff or its customers

And who was it said Sainsbury's wont have any effect on the town centre shops then. Four weeks to opening and sounds like even Tesco's have seen the light, The towns finished get used to it

Your anger should really be aimed at the Govt./Post office Ltd, years of neglect and poor management, the same old fuddy duddies in charge, I run a post office and the pay is criminal.

I served an E-bayer yesterday, took me an hour , took £44 from her, at 7% thats £3.08p, where does the money come from for staff?!!!!!!!!!

The anger on this occasion should not be directed at the Post Office , they have no say. It is TESCO/One stops fault.They have chosen to reduce the number of workers.

This is the reason that Royal Mail is such a mess. Our Governments have robbed Royal Mail, of its profits for the last 20 years, and now through lack of investment wonder why it is making a loss.Its not rocket science. As for the plundering of its workers pension fund, if any other person had done this , they would be inside doing a long stretch. It seems this doesnt apply to Labour and Tory /Lib governments.

Quite right warrener,one stop are one of the few companies to be actually making money hand over fist while others are struggling,but then theyve got a big brother looking out for them.

There is no logical reason for cutting hours when profits are rocketing,other than the desire to rake in more money.

Tuesday Thursday and Friday afternoons are one man operation at the dawlish post office in one stop,and ive called their customer help line and all you get is theyll look into it, when the truth is,they simply dont give a toss. so if you have a lot of time to kill go take your parcels then

I see theyve got posters advertising for staff,but this is to replace staff that have walked, not to increase the workforce.

Little bird tells me that the staffing levels are to be restored to previous levels with effect from 8th of this month,and there will be at least two on duty at all times from now on.

What has brought about this apparent change of heart wasnt divulged,but i for one think its a good move on the part of the post office

Yep, I don't have exact details but have been told that staff hours are being increased, so hopefully more staff at peak times. I have always found the Staff there to be very helpful and freindly no matter how busy they are, I certainly wouldn't like to put up with some of the people I have listened to while waiting in the queue there.

Thanks to wondering for highlighting that One Stop is owned by Tesco. I detest that company and its cavalier attitude to everything. Have been boycotting Tesco for several years now and now I know One Stop is theirs will avoid shopping there too, inclusing using the Post Office counter therein, just sorry I did not know before as they have ocasionally had the benefit of my business, Bit out of my way, but in future will use the Post Office near Lady's Mile or wait till I go to Teignmouth or Newton Abbot.

Commiserations to Dawlish PO staff who work for the monstrous Tesco and congratulations to the ones who have walked, as for how customers feel about the matter, as with everything else, Tesco do not give a damn, when I dealt with head office they almost told me that, and as for the word "sorry", not in their vocabulary

Tesco bought it's first One Stop Stores in 2003. I don't think One Stop was one group, I think they might have been independents operating as a group as Tesco aquired another 77 One Stop stores only last year, these were owned by the MIlls Group but didn't operate under the One Stop name.

These are being converted to One Stop branding by Tesco as Tesco are aware that they do not have a good image on the High Street. Also of course this means that they can charge different prices without being compared to what they charge in a Tesco Store.

It's quite a maze out there knowing who owns who these days.

Tesco purchased T & S stores in 2003 who were trading as one stop(having purchased the dillons chain). The most profitable of these were turned into Tesco express and this seems to be an ongoing programme,so i dont really think Tesco are bothered about image.

The Mills group is/was a midlands/north based company that had nothing to do with either one stop or Tescos prior to the purchase by one stop last year.

Maybe all you socially aware people boycotting one stops because they are owned by big bad Tescos,should consider giving ASDA a miss as well,becuse the parent company of ASDA is the out of control monster that is WALMART,and and when it comes to unethical behaviour,and trampling over communities to get what they want,they make Tescos look positively angelic.

The Tesco - OneStop relationship was made evident in Teignmouth. When the Tesco filling station and shop opened the Onestop opposite was closed immediately and the premises have remained unoccupied ever since.

How long do those premises have to be empty before they can be converted to dwellings?

Wordonthestreet is quite right about Walmart, they are opposed by Unions all over the world due to their treatment of staff and the way they treat suppliers. Yet they have become the worlds biggest retailer. Let's be honest, the majority of people shop where it is most convenient to do so.

Yes we have to admire Tesco for being so honest and admitting they don't care about public opinion and going ahead and building more and more stores at every opportunity, despite ongoing campaigns making it obvious they are not wanted, of which there is a long list (check out the Tescopoly website). They even have the audacity to have said at a recruitment meeting they visited for local unemployed that they do not employ people with certain disabilities, how they get away with that I can only imagine. And then there is the wonderful head office customer service team who virtually say if you are unhappy about something, tough. At least Asda do try to help. Unfortunately, yes, when it comes to shopping. apathy and convenience do fuel Tesco progress, as a result the odd petrol bomb demonstrating local feeling does not bother them too much.

Perhaps Wordonthestreet you could qualify your comment on Asda trampling on communities to the extent that Tesco does and examples of it's mistreatment of staff /suppliers. I am aware of the Walmart anti union policy, as is the case with many other companies mainly to avoid the often petty aggravation that unions can cause just to flex their muscle. Many other organisations avoid unions too for the very reason they take action just because the wrong colour pencils are issued.

Actually lazlo,please point me to where i accused ASDA of anything.

You stated that you were going to boycott the onestop and the post office because they are owned by TESCO,thats fine,free country and all that.

My point was, that if anyone(not you in particular) is going to bang the drum on a principle,then that principle applies equally to all these major chains that are ruthless in their quest for domination regardless of the consequences to others including their staff. The truth is,i dont think theres a lot of clean hands anywhere in major retail

As it happens,ASDA,are owned by what must be the worst example of corperate greed,WALMART,ive lived in the states,and this company bucks the trend big time when it comes to the customer service that in general,the Americans are famous for,and they are more than happy to smash any town they decide to open up in if needs be. Im not aware of TESCO knocking down communities and existing stores to build but ive sure as hell witnessed it from WALMART

This does not imply that ASDA is responsible for the sins of their fathers anymore than onestop is for what TESCO is up to,so if anyone feels the need to boycott a certain company then apply the principle equally,because WALMART really do make TESCO look like choirboys.

Both ASDA and onestop operate as stand alone companies,they just happen to be owned buy rather unpleasant parent companies.

WALMART (USA) are making big inroads into the UK supermarket industry(mainly Scotland at present),while TESCO (UK) have failed to do the same over in the states.

That was it really, im not going to sit here defending TESCO because im sure a lot of what you say is correct,but do a little research on WALMART and youll find it goes way beyond not liking unions,and if they ever manage to get a firm grip on the market over here,the uk supermarket industry will be turned on it head.

Co-op are trying to bulldoze their way into Ashburton where they aren't wanted too ... I'd be really interested to know Co-ops wealth with all the property they own.