AddressPal & Lockers - An Post's Parcel Service SEE MOD WARNING FIRST POST

sennah

Virtanen wrote: »

The reason for that is because the Post Office ID is part of your AP ID (the third set of numbers, to be precise) so the new card would have to reflect that. Not that that makes it any less stupid, but that is the reason why

Yep, after I went on my rant I paused as I thought the new ID looked very similar to my old one. It was... except for the first few digits which obviously identify the post office. This just pissed me off even more as, at first, I had figured the new ID was issued due to some stupid quirk in their backend systems but no... they have actually baked a PO identifier into the ID itself!!

Whoever designed this nonsense just wasn't cut out for the job. The ID is a reference to a database entry... store the PO in the database not in the fcking ID :mad:

joujoujou

I'm gonna change post office once a week, just for the craic. I wonder what would they do if more users do the same.

Shelflife

sennah wrote: »

Yep, after I went on my rant I paused as I thought the new ID looked very similar to my old one. It was... except for the first few digits which obviously identify the post office. This just pissed me off even more as, at first, I had figured the new ID was issued due to some stupid quirk in their backend systems but no... they have actually baked a PO identifier into the ID itself!!

Whoever designed this nonsense just wasn't cut out for the job. The ID is a reference to a database entry... store the PO in the database not in the fcking ID :mad:

In fairness how often does a post office close temporarily ? It's a very unusual circumstance.

The_Conductor

Shelflife wrote: »

In fairness how often does a post office close temporarily ? It's a very unusual circumstance.

More often than you'd imagine- and its not a regional versus Dublin thing either- they're as likely to be closed temporarily in Dublin- as they are in remote areas of Sligo/Leitrim/Roscommon/Mayo (to be honest with you- they're actually less likely to temporarily close in regional areas- as the locals are more likely to kick up a fuss).

kneemos

sennah wrote: »

Yep, after I went on my rant I paused as I thought the new ID looked very similar to my old one. It was... except for the first few digits which obviously identify the post office. This just pissed me off even more as, at first, I had figured the new ID was issued due to some stupid quirk in their backend systems but no... they have actually baked a PO identifier into the ID itself!!

Whoever designed this nonsense just wasn't cut out for the job. The ID is a reference to a database entry... store the PO in the database not in the fcking ID :mad:

It would be so much easier to give the customers a four or five digit number to reference to the database in fairness.So painfully obviously better.

sennah

Shelflife wrote: »

In fairness how often does a post office close temporarily ? It's a very unusual circumstance.

My local PO is closed for a month as it's re-locating to a new premises just around the corner - hence why AddressPal advised me by email to select another PO in the meantime

That's not the issue however. The issue is that An Post have to issue a brand new ID to a user if they change Post Office. They have baked this inflexibility into the actual ID itself!

Temporary closures aside - there's no reason An Post couldn't have allowed users to chop and change their receiving PO for each incoming delivery. Based on my own travels with work, I could choose from over 6 Post Offices in my county that would be better suited to receive my parcels than my home PO. DPD Parcel Wizard for example allows users to specify a different delivery address for each incoming delivery. It's obvious to me that An Post weren't and aren't really bothered about making AddressPal a success

The Wolverine

sennah wrote: »

My local PO is closed for a month as it's re-locating to a new premises just around the corner - hence why AddressPal advised me by email to select another PO in the meantime

That's not the issue however. The issue is that An Post have to issue a brand new ID to a user if they change Post Office. They have baked this inflexibility into the actual ID itself!

Temporary closures aside - there's no reason An Post couldn't have allowed users to chop and change their receiving PO for each incoming delivery. Based on my own travels with work, I could choose from over 6 Post Offices in my county that would be better suited to receive my parcels than my home PO. DPD Parcel Wizard for example allows users to specify a different delivery address for each incoming delivery. It's obvious to me that An Post weren't and aren't really bothered about making AddressPal a success

As with a lot of websites and other systems I've seen in Ireland it's more the fact the head of whatever project gives the job to a new or crap company as it's usually run by a friend or relative instead.

A bit like how you hear government or quango sites cost about 4x the amount they should to develop.

sennah

The Wolverine wrote: »

As with a lot of websites and other systems I've seen in Ireland it's more the fact the head of whatever project gives the job to a new or crap company as it's usually run by a friend or relative instead.

A bit like how you hear government or quango sites cost about 4x the amount they should to develop.

I do a fair bit of system and UX design so it upsets me to see the "big boys" make such a mess of it time and time again. One has to wonder too what other crazy systems and processes are in use across their organisation if AddressPal was the best they could come up with for public use

An Post can still radically improve AddressPal but the archaic ID's will have to go... which in itself is not difficult to do

skywanderer

I picked up my 22nd successful AddressPal delivery this morning since its launch in February, people here find fault with everything. For me it is an excellent system and I use it and DPD Parcel Wizard for most of my deliveries where a reforwarding service works out cheaper or the only option if they don't deliver to the RoI.

I was a Parcel Motel customer before but since DPD and An Post brought in these services I have switched away as the Parcel Motel locker is 30kms away from where I live in Kerry and I don't always be near it and used to get friends to collect my parcel etc.

Recently I ordered from a UK website which did have problems with the long AddressPal address so I shortened it and it was delivered fine for mine.

Instead of:

Mr. Skywanderer,
AP XXX 1234 1234567
Air Business, Unit 5, The Merlin Centre
Acrewood Way, St Albans
Herts, AL4 0JY
United Kingdom

I shortened it myself to:

Mr. Skywanderer,
AP XXX 1234 1234567
Air Bus. Unit 5, Merlin Centre
St Albans, AL4 0JY
United Kingdom

and the package was successfully delivered, I only had to do this once.

Depp

skywanderer wrote: »

I picked up my 22nd successful AddressPal delivery this morning since its launch in February, people here find fault with everything. For me it is an excellent system and I use it and DPD Parcel Wizard for most of my deliveries where a reforwarding service works out cheaper or the only option if they don't deliver to the RoI.

I was a Parcel Motel customer before but since DPD and An Post brought in these services I have switched away as the Parcel Motel locker is 30kms away from where I live in Kerry and I don't always be near it and used to get friends to collect my parcel etc.

Recently I ordered from a UK website which did have problems with the long AddressPal address so I shortened it and it was delivered fine for mine.

Instead of:

Mr. Skywanderer,
AP XXX 1234 1234567
Air Business, Unit 5, The Merlin Centre
Acrewood Way, St Albans
Herts, AL4 0JY
United Kingdom

I shortened it myself to:

Mr. Skywanderer,
AP XXX 1234 1234567
Air Bus. Unit 5, Merlin Centre
St Albans, AL4 0JY
United Kingdom

and the package was successfully delivered, I only had to do this once.

had a similar problem with a website and was told as long as you include your name, code, Air Business and the post code it will arrive correctly

NetChat101

Just signed up to APal three days ago to purchase items from a UK website - just got an email and text to tell me it was in my local PO - three days is unbelievably quick delivery for just €3.50. Very impressed with my first experience of the service - maybe it won't always be this fast but for now I'm delighted.

blade1

Was told this morning regarding the oversize limit.
If it fits in the bags they use you won't be charged extra.
Don't know the size of the bags they use though.

The_Conductor

blade1 wrote: »

Was told this morning regarding the oversize limit.
If it fits in the bags they use you won't be charged extra.
Don't know the size of the bags they use though.

Its a standard post bag- and also- the weight they use is 'dimensional weight' not physical weight. I.e. I got an over weight charge on each of 4 tyres which were sent separately- despite the fact that each was a separate package- and they were well under the 20kg- but they exceeded the dimensional weight allowance.

blade1

The_Conductor wrote: »

Its a standard post bag- and also- the weight they use is 'dimensional weight' not physical weight. I.e. I got an over weight charge on each of 4 tyres which were sent separately- despite the fact that each was a separate package- and they were well under the 20kg- but they exceeded the dimensional weight allowance.

Was told bags are bigger than standard ones.

You got charged €100 for 4 tyres?

Thats saucy no matter how they they were sent.
You would have done better buying off oponeo or similar.

The_Conductor

blade1 wrote: »

Was told bags are bigger than standard ones.

You got charged €100 for 4 tyres?

Thats saucy no matter how they they were sent.
You would have done better buying off oponeo or similar.

This was from Openeo.......
They were 30 quid cheaper each- getting them on the .co.uk website and free delivery to the UK- than the Irish delivery paid version. I didn't loose any money over An Post- but they did take the goodness out of having ordered them through that way. I wasn't aware of dimensional weight before that.......... Now I am

blade1

The_Conductor wrote: »

This was from Openeo.......
They were 30 quid cheaper each- getting them on the .co.uk website and free delivery to the UK- than the Irish delivery paid version. I didn't loose any money over An Post- but they did take the goodness out of having ordered them through that way. I wasn't aware of dimensional weight before that.......... Now I am

Jesus, a bit of a sting alright.
Speaking of tyres.. I've had tyres that I ordered together arrive on different days so I suppose I can see why you got charged for each one.
I'd flip if they asked me for €100!!!:o

bk

Shelflife wrote: »

In fairness how often does a post office close temporarily ? It's a very unusual circumstance.

It isn't just post office closures. There are other reasons why you might want to frequently change delivery location.

For instance I frequently (as in on almost every order) change between 3 different ParcelMotel lockers. One when I'm in the office and one closer to my home when on holidays/working from home. The 3rd is the one close to my parents house in Cork. They often ask me to order things for them as they are elderly and not great with the internet, etc.

So AddressPals design is pretty terribly limiting.

sennah wrote: »

I do a fair bit of system and UX design so it upsets me to see the "big boys" make such a mess of it time and time again. One has to wonder too what other crazy systems and processes are in use across their organisation if AddressPal was the best they could come up with for public use

An Post can still radically improve AddressPal but the archaic ID's will have to go... which in itself is not difficult to do

Yup, if I designed a system and process as bad and inflexible as AddressPal, I'd get fired!

Discodog

AP is definitely getting faster, maybe as the volume increases. I now use it instead of Parcel Motel

Slattsy

Me too, i think its a great service.

The_Conductor

Slattsy wrote: »

Me too, i think its a great service.

I don't know.
I've gone to the local post office to collect a package for the past 2 days- and walked out when I saw the queue (one counter open- 42 customers- very few actually using postal services). I only have a limited lunch break- I can't hang around for hours on end.

I think postoffices need to dedicate at least one counter to postal services. Having a service for people cashing social welfare/pensions/children's benefit etc- is great- however, if a post office can't prioritise postal business over other business- its business model is screwed.

Local post office open until 1PM today- I'm going to have another go to try and collect.

kneemos

The_Conductor wrote: »

I don't know.
I've gone to the local post office to collect a package for the past 2 days- and walked out when I saw the queue (one counter open- 42 customers- very few actually using postal services). I only have a limited lunch break- I can't hang around for hours on end.

I think postoffices need to dedicate at least one counter to postal services. Having a service for people cashing social welfare/pensions/children's benefit etc- is great- however, if a post office can't prioritise postal business over other business- its business model is screwed.

Local post office open until 1PM today- I'm going to have another go to try and collect.

Pensions are at the end of the week I think . It's always out the door on a Friday anyway at my local PO.

Slattsy

The_Conductor wrote: »

I don't know.
I've gone to the local post office to collect a package for the past 2 days- and walked out when I saw the queue (one counter open- 42 customers- very few actually using postal services). I only have a limited lunch break- I can't hang around for hours on end.

I think postoffices need to dedicate at least one counter to postal services. Having a service for people cashing social welfare/pensions/children's benefit etc- is great- however, if a post office can't prioritise postal business over other business- its business model is screwed.

Local post office open until 1PM today- I'm going to have another go to try and collect.

In fairness, the PO is more than just a postal service these days.

But 1 counter open at lunch seems a bit crazy.

The_Conductor

A post office may be more than postal services- sure- but as postal services are the core of their business- surely there should be an imperative to handle postal services first and foremost- and everything else, thereafter?

kneemos

The_Conductor wrote: »

A post office may be more than postal services- sure- but as postal services are the core of their business- surely there should be an imperative to handle postal services first and foremost- and everything else, thereafter?

Rare to get anybody posting a letter I'd say.

Slattsy

I dont believe postal services are the core of their business anymore.

But the collection service could be better going by what you say. Although i've had no issue myself (yet)

MrDiyFan

How big is the 'post bag' roughly?

Would you get away with a shoe box for example?

Depp

MrDiyFan wrote: »

How big is the 'post bag' roughly?

Would you get away with a shoe box for example?

wont be a problem, I had an order with two shoe boxes inside a larger box delivered without any problems!

bk

The_Conductor wrote: »

I don't know.
I've gone to the local post office to collect a package for the past 2 days- and walked out when I saw the queue (one counter open- 42 customers- very few actually using postal services). I only have a limited lunch break- I can't hang around for hours on end.

Same experience here, every time I've had to go to the post office, massive queue of OAP's, not that there is anything wrong with that, but as you say there should be a dedicated line for postal services.

As a result I use ParcelMotel for even sending packages now, just to avoid the stupid post office.

I also think it would be a good idea if they had their own ParcelMotel style lockers in the post offices, like Royal Mail is doing in the UK now. Would allow you to skip the queues. And as many post offices are now in convenient shops that have much longer opening hours then the post office inside them, you could use the postal locker outside of post office hours.

Slattsy wrote: »

I dont believe postal services are the core of their business anymore.

Overall postal services and in particular parcel services are still by far An Posts biggest area of business. By comparison social welfare payments and billpay make up a tiny fraction of their business overall.

However you are partly correct, in that for individual post offices, social welfare/billpay make up a much larger percentage of their individual business and help them survive.

However the danger I see every time I go near a post office, is that the queues of social welfare/billpay people could end up causing overall more profitable parcel people like me go elsewhere.

I really think they need to come up with a solution that serves both. They probably need to start getting lockers of their own, like Duetcshe Post in Germany.

The_Conductor

Finally collected my package yesterday.
The guy who runs the post office said- just don't go in on Fridays- avoid altogether- the Thursday was an anamoly (someone called in sick).
This is a fairly large postoffice- with 5 counters they could potentially have open.

I'm with BK on this one- think I'll migrate over and bite the bullet and use PM and other services for anything I need in any sort of hurry- and only go to the post office on Saturday mornings going forwards..........

I'm sorry- I have to drive a distance to the postoffice- during office hours, I do work fulltime- and I've only a limited lunch break- this is not a service I can reliably use.

TheAdammaka

Does anyone know if they will accept items over the 20kg limit? I am aware that they charge 25€ for over sized items. I'm trying to get a package that's around 35kg. Thanks