Post Office

Coming from the US, the post offices in the uk (and especially this location) are so well managed and prompt! There is an entire row of machines you can use to print your shipping label and stamp, and a person looking over them if you have any questions. Even when you need to queue up, the queue moves quickly and you’ll be in & out in no time.

Decent post office with an efficient queuing system and plenty of space. Offers most services.

What. happened.
This was always a really busy branch as it offers all the services from passport photos to money changing and bill paying and has a large collection of things to buy.
I can remember many a time getting frustrated having to queue to post, especially around Christmas time.
Recently it has had a revamp to change the system. A small desk near the entrance still provides basic stamps and postage. For everything else, you take a ticket number and wait. And wait some more, and then wait a bit longer. Until you die.
They have, however, kindly provided red leatherette chairs on which to expire. Out of the 17 new counters, there are usually only 5 staffed points at any one time, and from what I could gather, most people were waitin for general services, which helpfully had the lowest number of staff serving.
Seriously annoying and definitely stops me from choosing their more expensive services that you have to queue for — shot themselves in the foot there!!!

This post office is very conveniently located which has the bonus of being easy to get to but the draw back of always being really busy. If you’re lucky you only have to queue up for ten minutes but generally if you go at a convenient time (lunch time or after work) you’re looking at a queue that goes out of the door and a wait of at least half an hour.
When you finally get to the counter you may be lucky enough to get a friendly face and helpful person but you’re just as likely to get someone surly and unhelpful.
If you’re just getting stamps then there is a seperate place to buy them and there is also a seperate queue if you want something travel related.
It’s not a bad post office when you consider how many people go in there every day but if I have a choice of going to that one or another one I will generally pick another one.