Copyright Haymarket Publishing LTD. Jun 3, 1993The Post Office (PO) has this week launched its biggest ever customer opinion survey in an attempt to improve its poor reputation for service.
Two million of the PO's 28 million daily customers are to be asked over the next year if the PO lives up to recently set goals, which include reducing queue times to under five minutes for 95% of customers.
The radical undertaking comes just weeks before President of the Board of Trade Michael Heseltine is due to announce details of the planned privatisation of the national postal service.
The PO denies there is any connection. "The two things happen to have come together-it's pure coincidence," says John Chiswell, director of operations at PO retail arm Post Office Counters.
But sceptics believe otherwise. "If privatisation goes ahead, then the PO has to act now to improve the poor public perceptions of its service," comments one observer.
Questionnaires are being sent to 1000 of the biggest branches. The results will be used to help improve services in five areas identified as needing attention: speed of service, politeness of staff, professionalism of staff, working order of vending machines, and branch availability of forms and leaflets.
Chiswell says the survey will cover 5000 of the PO's 20,000 branches over the next two years. Small rural PO's will not be included.
Tory backbench opposition to PO privatisation hinges on the prospect that a sell-off would accelerate the closure rate of small rural branches.
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