People of Chiswick underwhelmed by the new Post Office

The queue at Chiswick Post Office on Tuesday afternoon (1 September)

“Very unhappy customers” in long queues at Chiswick’s new Post Office counters

There were long queues in the Post Office in Chiswick when it reopened after the bank holiday today (Tuesday 1 September).

The new counters inside Robert Dyas opened on Friday with a notice saying:

‘Due to a technical issue no service at the moment until further notice. Sorry for the inconvenience’.

Despite the ballons decorating the place, anyone who arrived in the morning wanting to send a parcel or do some banking was disappointed.

Today people in the queue were giving up and leaving because they decided they couldn’t wait any longer.

“People are walking away because they can’t wait. Lots of puffing and tutting”, a Chiswick local in the queue told The Chiswick Calendar. Then a bit later:

“Even longer now, I’ve waited 25 minutes”.

Ten minutes after that:

“Took half an hour and then his scanner didn’t work! I had to leave because of my car being over the time period.

“Very unhappy customers”.

“People are walking away because they can’t wait”

The Post Office announced at the end of July that the move from the premises in Heathfield Terrace to three counters inside Robert Dyas hardware store would go ahead as a permanent arrangement.

‘We remain confident that the layout and location of the new branch will continue to meet customer needs and deliver an excellent service’, they said.

Social post by Jeffrey Skrzypek 

Jeffrey Skrzypek from Bedford Park posted on social media:

‘New Post Office off to a horrendous start’,

to which Tara Mulcahy replied:

‘How dreadful is that…. surely it’s got to get better than this… it’s a total disgrace’.

The space inside Robert Dyas is smaller than the floorspace Chiswick Post Office occupied in Heathfield Terrace. In partnership with the Theo Paphitis Retail Group, which owns Robert Dyas, the Post Office has installed three counters, but only two of them were open today.