Post offices closing

[Headers]

I foolishly went to the post office in aiguillon today. We have lost 2 local post offices in the last 3 months. They are being partially replaced by a tabac/pmu in Damazan and the mairie in Buzet. The mairie depot opens 4 days a week but only for a half day. Both depots can only deal with activités directly related to the postal service.
Aiguillon is the nearest full branch that will handle all sorts of things like banking, phone queries.
Which is all fine except that La Poste has been spreading its wings to include said banking, insurance and phone service and apparently now meal distribution (WTAF) but they are increasingly relying on their customers being tech savvy.
3 of the people in front of me had queries that made it obvious that they possessed neither internet, mobile phone or the skills to operate like this thus my foolish wish to buy some stamps took a full 35 minutes!

Conversation turned to why only one person was working. We could all hear the other 3 staff standing in the back yard having a fag and a jolly chit chat for the entire time I was there. The girl manning the desk was also frustrated by this but I suspect it was a regular occurrence.
It was also divulged that BNP bank are closing their branch in Tonneins which means a trip to Marmande(parking impossible) or Agen if help is required.
I feel very sorry for the abandoned non savvy users of services in France.

[suein56]

I feel very sorry for the abandoned non savvy users of services in France

Now our Hospital has been 'updated' or 'upgraded' there are 'bornes' at the entry to every service - so for blood tests, scans and the like you need to insert your carte vitale and get a ticket so that you can join the people waiting to be assessed.
Except the 'bornes' often don't do what they should. Today it refused to play ball so it meant using an inline keyboard to give your name, date of birth and time of appointment to obtain a ticket. The two people in front of me had no idea what to do with the keyboard so I helped them input their names etc so they could be ticketed.
These weren't ancient people simply retired people who have had minimal dealings with keyboards in their past.
Technology is wonderful for many but for some it is a nightmare.

[Hotrodder]

It appears that "creaping technology" has arrived in France. You will soon need a smartphone and an "app" to exist in this new world.

[Blaze]

You will soon need a smartphone

That was always inevitable but up to now, neither of us has never needed one. Yes, there are are lots of useful "apps", but in the 4 months I've had mine, it's useful but it hasn't changed my life ! I still don't feel the need to be "connected" 24/7, the phone still switched off most of the time. Our computers cover most things but some of our activities use Whatsapp which is quicker than email and everyone in the group can read/contribute to the conversation.

It's hard for people who haven't used computers during their working lives and come to retire. It means they have to rely on people to help them which isn't always easy. Some techy innovations here are a pain in the backside (some websites for example) when they are brought in, but once they're properly up and running, they can be good.

[Wilbro]

I suppose back in the old days people who were illiterate had similar problems with letters and forms.

[Polly]

I saw today that:

In 1990 70% of La Poste’s work was in delivering letters. In contrast, by the end of this year, this figure will have dropped to 15%, according to the CEO.

This has led to a ‘€6 billion hole’ in the service’s finances, and a requirement for it to add extra services and delivery tasks for its 65,000 postal workers.

Mr Wahl, the CEO, said that the agency’s “challenge” was to ensure that La Poste “remains in service to the country, even when there are no more letters”.

One such service will be meal delivery, he said, along with continued online shopping parcel fulfilment. He believes it will be more used than their letter services within ten years.

La Poste already delivers home meals to isolated or vulnerable people, which - depending on the level of service - costs between €21.90 and €103.90 per month.

I wonder what the meals are like.

[Headers]

I saw today that:

In 1990 70% of La Poste’s work was in delivering letters. In contrast, by the end of this year, this figure will have dropped to 15%, according to the CEO.

This has led to a ‘€6 billion hole’ in the service’s finances, and a requirement for it to add extra services and delivery tasks for its 65,000 postal workers.

Mr Wahl, the CEO, said that the agency’s “challenge” was to ensure that La Poste “remains in service to the country, even when there are no more letters”.

One such service will be meal delivery, he said, along with continued online shopping parcel fulfilment. He believes it will be more used than their letter services within ten years.

La Poste already delivers home meals to isolated or vulnerable people, which - depending on the level of service - costs between €21.90 and €103.90 per month.

I wonder what the meals are like.

on the performance of our new postie the cold meals will be going mouldy in the wrong letter box

[Hotrodder]

We struck lucky here. Although the weather is mostly crap, mobile network coverage non-existant, and the ADSL is as slow as a slug in a freezer, our postie is a gem. She delivers more parcels than letters and if she can't fit them in our regulation size letter box she uses her brain and leaves them somewhere sensible, and out of the rain. If she needs a signature she will knock loud enough to start the dog barking which then alerts me that I'll have to get out of bed to see what's going on. I do love to stay in the warm comfortable nest as long as possible these days. Given the state I'm in when I get to the door I'm amazed she still manages a smile as she hands me the parcel.

[widge]

I cant say that we have had a bad postie in the 18 years that we have been here, being fairly rural and until recently most people not having a proper address i think it was amasing they could remember the rounds, especially like us, currently we normally receive the mail for some friends who live off grid 3km up a track, and at the moment mail for other friends who are in hospital, we are always the port of call for any mail that they do not know the names, often people with a maison secondaire. One time the postie even delivered a birthday card to a friend in the next village, we had put a stamp on it, but he spotted the address and delivered it directly, 20mins door to door.

although letters have gone down, parcels have gone up so I am not sure that postal delivery is going to disappear areound here.

[tagh]

There are fewer and fewer staff posties as they are replaced by folk on short term contracts who do not have the service ethic. The ground level staff are seriously over managed, managers are appointed from the ranks and have little skill at management which does not increase staff happiness; additionally there are far too many pen pushers who somehow always manage to preserve their jobs without real evaluation.
The post office is still grossly over staffed and frankly needs a bloody good purge and the need to apply private sector values, even if it remains State owned.