An Post

Culchie

Given that the government owns this company lock, stock and barrell, I find it a bit stupid Bertie saying that the government isn't going to sort out there problems for them.

This company is the biggest joke in the country, I wish to God Michael O'Leary fancied a crack at this business.

Zombrex

Culchie wrote:

This company is the biggest joke in the country, I wish to God Michael O'Leary fancied a crack at this business.

If he did the one post box for "Dublin" would be just out side Naas, and you would have to print your own stamps off the internet (with passport ID when ever you posted the letter of course)

LizardKing

I thought An Post was Semi - State ... anyways I think the current problems and the staff being balloted for strike action is due to the fact they have not been given there promised wage increases for over a year (or more) and the company are trying to get away with backdating the payments .. Also An Post are bringing in lots of Casual Staff who work on much lower wages than the permamnent staff, I think they might be trying to do an "Irish Ferries" with the company ...

Culchie

LizardKing wrote:

I thought An Post was Semi - State ... anyways I think the current problems and the staff being balloted for strike action is due to the fact they have not been given there promised wage increases for over a year (or more) and the company are trying to get away with backdating the payments .. Also An Post are bringing in lots of Casual Staff who work on much lower wages than the permamnent staff, I think they might be trying to do an "Irish Ferries" with the company ...

Would anyone notice if they went on strike?

Didn't the Labour court say that they didn't deserve their wage increase, as they hadn't implemented productivity changes?

Culchie

Wicknight wrote:

If he did the one post box for "Dublin" would be just out side Naas, and you would have to print your own stamps off the internet (with passport ID when ever you posted the letter of course)

Why shouldn't we print our own stamps off the internet? If we had an account like a mobile phone account and got billed that way, or have our own barcoded envelopes that get scanned at the sorting office and billed to our phone, invoiced to us or whatever?

Alun

Culchie wrote:

Why shouldn't we print our own stamps off the internet? If we had an account like a mobile phone account and got billed that way, or have our own barcoded envelopes that get scanned at the sorting office and billed to our phone, invoiced to us or whatever?

In Germany, you can! It's called "Stampit Web" and you can read all about it (in German, of course!) on www.deutschepost.de under the Online Services section.

LizardKing

I think people would notice a strike yes ... not sure what the Labour court decided but I think if I was promised a certain amount as part of a wage review and over a year later I still did not get anything I would be a little peeved , it's hardly the actions of a company trying to improve staff morale / productivity ...

Culchie

LizardKing wrote:

I think people would notice a strike yes ... not sure what the Labour court decided but I think if I was promised a certain amount as part of a wage review and over a year later I still did not get anything I would be a little peeved , it's hardly the actions of a company trying to improve staff morale / productivity ...

Improve morale .... these fellahs are laughing all the way to the bank already !

As for productivity, without being flippant, which I'm tempted to be, having the 'pleasure' of dealing with An Post very regularily, I'll stick to the facts.

They are supposed to have next day delivery of 92% which is European Standard, they have 66%

Culchie

Alun wrote:

In Germany, you can! It's called "Stampit Web" and you can read all about it (in German, of course!) on www.deutschepost.de under the Online Services section.

Darn, there goes my patent

Just shows you how far behind An Post is.

The latest product brought out by An Post I think was the wet sponge you use to moisten your stamps.

LizardKing

Culchie you obviously have a chip on your shoulder with regard to An Post , As far as I know they have tried to bring in new technologies and keep up with other Postal services around europe ... It is harder for An Post as they are a minnow compared to the Bigger postal services like DeutschePost...

I agree the service could / should be improved but I think they need to sort out there staff issues etc.

parsi

Culchie wrote:

Darn, there goes my patent

Just shows you how far behind An Post is.

This would serve a fraction of their user base - lets remember that not everybody has internet access or printing facilities. buying a book of stamps in the supermarket is just as easy. For An Post to divert resources away from their core business and into this sort of development would be wasteful. Let them get the delivery system up to scratch first.

Culchie

LizardKing wrote:

Culchie you obviously have a chip on your shoulder with regard to An Post , As far as I know they have tried to bring in new technologies and keep up with other Postal services around europe ... It is harder for An Post as they are a minnow compared to the Bigger postal services like DeutschePost...

I agree the service could / should be improved but I think they need to sort out there staff issues etc.

'Chip on Shoulder' .... No.

Sick of paying through the nose for a delivery service that is terrible ... Yes

Now they want to raise delivery of a parcel from €0.80 to €2.00 each :mad: Slightly peed off there as well :rolleyes:

Culchie

parsi wrote:

This would serve a fraction of their user base - lets remember that not everybody has internet access or printing facilities. buying a book of stamps in the supermarket is just as easy. For An Post to divert resources away from their core business and into this sort of development would be wasteful. Let them get the delivery system up to scratch first.

wtf ?

A company like pigsback or similar internet marketing company with barcode/internet voucher/stamp facility could have something like this up and running in a week.

Not everyone has internet access, but most households do at this stage as we talk now, and increasing at a rapid rate.

I'm all for the Post Office offering it's social service as well.

parsi

Culchie wrote:

wtf ?

A company like pigsback or similar internet marketing company with barcode/internet voucher/stamp facility could have something like this up and running in a week.

Not everyone has internet access, but most households do at this stage as we talk now, and increasing at a rapid rate.
QUOTE]

http://www.cso.ie/statistics/pcnetaccessbyprovcountycity2002.htm

2002 Stats but they suggest that 435K households had internet access with 814K not having it.

But in the scheme of things being able to print off a stamp is not exactly at the top of the "things we want An Post to do". Such a facility isn't going to add greatly to the bottom line for AN Post so they may as well use their scarce resources elsewhere.

Culchie

parsi wrote:

Culchie wrote:

wtf ?

A company like pigsback or similar internet marketing company with barcode/internet voucher/stamp facility could have something like this up and running in a week.

Not everyone has internet access, but most households do at this stage as we talk now, and increasing at a rapid rate.
QUOTE]

http://www.cso.ie/statistics/pcnetaccessbyprovcountycity2002.htm

2002 Stats but they suggest that 435K households had internet access with 814K not having it.

But in the scheme of things being able to print off a stamp is not exactly at the top of the "things we want An Post to do". Such a facility isn't going to add greatly to the bottom line for AN Post so they may as well use their scarce resources elsewhere.

2002 !

I'd bet my bottom dollar then that there is now more with internet access, than those without, if that is the case.

I can't believe what I'm hearing, why wouldn't a simple barcoding type scanning device or wahtever (you get my drift) not add to the bottom line of An Post?

They could cut hundreds of jobs ....... scarce resources ????

An Post needs taking on Head On, pay the people a fair and generous redundancy .... and get on with putting in place a credible service, otherwise open it up to competition.

MrPudding

LizardKing wrote:

As far as I know they have tried to bring in new technologies and keep up with other Postal services around europe ...

Yeah, like the new machine they installed in the sorting office which would imporve productivity. Oh, no wait, they went on strike over that. What was the reason? Oh yeah, 'cos it improved productivity.:rolleyes:

Why do we not have postcodes? That would imporve productivity. Is it true that the introduction of postcodes is being blocked by the unions?

MrP

murphaph

Culchie wrote:

An Post needs taking on Head On, pay the people a fair and generous redundancy .... and get on with putting in place a credible service, otherwise open it up to competition.

Look at the experience of Royal Mail. Opening it up to competition will result in little interest from UPS/DHL/FedEx etc. for the letter business. They might bite at parcels and letters between the larger towns, but you can forget about rural letterpost continuing under a privatised system....and I'm guessing by your username that that would be a problem for you! An Post's business wouldn't be attractive to most private businesses in reality. They know this and are focussing on other aspects of their business that can make money, like passport express and the deal they have with AIB. That's where the money lies for them, not in delivering letters unfortunately and the oul internet & email can take the blame/thanks for that.

murphaph

MrPudding wrote:

Why do we not have postcodes? That would imporve productivity. Is it true that the introduction of postcodes is being blocked by the unions?

No, AnPost themselves have resisted post codes because they bought some very expensive machines that can use modern OCR to 'read' addresses in full and basically don't need postcodes. It's the likes of UPS etc. that really want them introduced.

Cork

I think credit unions getting paypath will make post offices redundant to many social welfare recipiants.

In the UK - you can renew motor tax at your local post office. In Ireland - post offices were there to buy a couple of stamps, postal orders etc.

People are posting less today anyway. Phone costs and texting have simply reduced people writing letters.

You cannot turn back the tide. But Post Offices could be used as "One Stop Shops", Citizen Information Centres etc.

moshpit77

I believe the unions at An Post actually support the introduction of post codes

The company doesn't want them because they say a) they don't need them because their system recognises addresses and b) they'll benefit the competition

The main cause of the deterioration in next day delivery is the fact that An Post have introduced this 'hub' system whereby, say, you post a letter in Kilrush, County Clare addressed to Kilkee, County Clare.. it gets put in the back of a van, sent to Cork Mail Centre, queued for sorting through a machine which at the moment can't handle the volumes going through it, and then sent all the way back up to Kilkee for delivery. Before, it would have been sorted at Kilrush and straight to the Kilkee postman next morning. Now it'd be lucky to get next week delivery because the mail is building up at these hubs.

CJhaughey

There are a number of things that cannot be privatised without a drop in service and social cost.
I am not saying this from an ideological perspective, more from experience watching the exact same mistakes being made in this country as another country which lead the world in privatising.
As far as I am concerned the main ones that need state support are: Mail, Hospitals/healthcare,and Power generation/energy.
Without all of these functioning correctly and efficiently the country doesn't run properly.
New Zealand tried to privatise the Postal System and a few companies picked the ball up and tried to run with it.
No good, all of them found that it was a far more complex system than they had thought.
All of them folded in a relatively short time.
I would hate to see the same thing happen here, An post do an admirable job IMHO every time I get a letter to the PO before the van goes to the sort office, it is there the next day.
I have no complaints, although the mail is slow now I am not surprised given the imminent strike.

bonkey

CJhaughey wrote:

As far as I am concerned the main ones that need state support are: Mail, Hospitals/healthcare,and Power generation/energy.
Without all of these functioning correctly and efficiently the country doesn't run properly.

All three in Switzerland are, as far as I'm aware, privatised.

Guess Switzerland doesn't run as well as Ireland then....although you'd never know by comparing how much better things are in these particular regards.

Oh - I should mention that the rail system is also somewhat privatised....and its clearly inferior and sysfunctional compared to the Irish system as well.

jc

netwhizkid

Essential services should never be thrown into the lion's den that is capitalism, it's only cutthroat economics and it is you the consumer that will suffer. An Post should be given a major cash Injection and reopen several of the post offices that are now closed. The same thing can be said for our railways, the branch lines should be reopened and have proper commuter services to metropolitan areas. Private industry and Capitalism will never work and it only wrecking the environment and creating misery for millions worldwide. Then again i guess if the government gave An post millions wouldn't the EU/4th Reich, Fine Ireland for a breach of “free competition"

Cork

netwhizkid wrote:

An Post should be given a major cash Injection and reopen several of the post offices that are now closed

Throwing money at An Post - would solve the mess of an inefficent public sector company.

An post expect the public to bail them out through higher postage charges.

If private companies can do this more efficently - then why not.

Postal Monopolies are abd news. The price increases imposed by the regulator recently were crazy.

What business can you do at a post office - buying a couple of stamps.

Could somebody drag this company out of the darkages?

murphaph

Cork wrote:

What business can you do at a post office - buying a couple of stamps.

That's not entirely fair Cork. I use the banking services they provide on behalf of AIB because there are far more PO's in D15 than branches of AIB and the queues are always shorter at my local PO (60 secs walk) than at AIB Blanchardstown (25 mins walk). I'm not the only one I see using their banking services either.

They offer some good services, passport express being one that I've used myself. Their billpay service is also very handy for lots of people, when I had an MBNA credit card it was easy to be able to pay it at the PO.

I'm sure they could add value to their business and slim down a bit (isn't that what all the fuss was about at SDS?). I think, all in all the service provided by An Post isn't too bad. The experience over the water has seen Royal Mail go downhill a lot (second deliveries ceased) in recent years.

Room for improvement sure, but it could be a lot worse.

Cork

murphaph wrote:

Room for improvement sure, but it could be a lot worse.

I think credit unions now having pay path will reduce the amount of socail welfare payments that will go to post offices.

An Post have a good network of offices and AIB saw opportunity in this.

But An Post themselves seem to be hapless. What plans do they have?

I think it is fantastic that OAPs have nolonger to queue at post offices each week.

Why have post offices not become "One Stop Shops" - they cannot continue on their current path.

If they cannot become relevent then the will be redundant.

CJhaughey

If I was to suggest several things that should be done at PO's they would be:(in no particular order)
Able to process payments for Motor Tax and issue Discs.
Have a better range of Packaging available(ie fold up cardboard boxes in a range of prepaid sizes ie CD/DVD etc.
Operate their own bank instead of AIB.
Sell Phone books etc.
provide a wider range of services instore.
These are all revenue generating lines and would help An Post.
I still think that the Post Service especially in Rural Areas is brilliant, for many elderly people it is very reassuring to see the green van turn up every day, and the driver ask how they are.

moshpit77

An Post looked into operating their own bank before they took AIB on board, I think they weren't allowed to for some reason

I agree that it's ridiculous thye don't sell envelopes, packaging, boxes etc

murphaph

moshpit77 wrote:

I agree that it's ridiculous thye don't sell envelopes, packaging, boxes etc

My local PO does.

parsi

CJhaughey wrote:

I still think that the Post Service especially in Rural Areas is brilliant, for many elderly people it is very reassuring to see the green van turn up every day, and the driver ask how they are.

Modern Day Ireland ignores these unquantifiable social benefits in favour of the "why should I pay for what I don't want right now?" brigade. They would argue the job of An Post is not to look in on elderly people and that other people should do that (preferably for free). They ignore that there isn't any State agency which will perform such a task. But then again todays decision makers know they will never be old or sick or rural and therefore don't feel the need to pay for it.

At the end of the day as a country we seem to want dead low taxes and a high level of public service. We don't want anything that can benefit others unless its at no extra cost to ourselves. This is along the lines of "why subsidise rural buses because I have a car ?" .

Cork

parsi wrote:

Modern Day Ireland ignores these unquantifiable social benefits in favour of the "why should I pay for what I don't want right now?" brigade.

Ryanair don't get state subsidys for flying between Cork & Dublin.

Irish Rail do.

Many OAPs avoid collecting benefits from their local post offices since paypath was introduded at their local credit unions.

The post offices don't have much social benefit.

parsi

Cork wrote:

Ryanair don't get state subsidys for flying between Cork & Dublin.

Irish Rail do.

Many OAPs avoid collecting benefits from their local post offices since paypath was introduded at their local credit unions.

The post offices don't have much social benefit.

Ryanair don't let you use a free travel card so hence no subsidy.

So now the pensioners go to their CUs ? So the auld ones in the country go to their local town is it and not their PO in the village ? There are more POs around that CUs

bonkey

Cork wrote:

Ryanair don't get state subsidys for flying between Cork & Dublin.
Irish Rail do.

I wasn't aware that Irish Rail flew between Cork and Dublin.

Many OAPs avoid collecting benefits from their local post offices since paypath was introduded at their local credit unions.

Many being the operative word. See, the problem with using that sort of logicis that it means those who live in urbanised areas are disproportionately represented....and they were never the people for whom the "social benefit" argument strongly applied.

The post offices don't have much social benefit.

Not on a percentage-of-population, or percentage-of-elderly-population count, no.....but thats because of the inappropriateness of using population as a base.

What many people seem to overlook is just how the rural elderly are getting hit from all sides.

They are elderly, and as a result we have (whenever the topic arises) ppl complaining that too many of them are still allowed to drive.
They are living rurally, so we have people complaining that its not cost-effective to supply them with any meaningful public transport.
And now....because they're not a significant population percentage, we have people suggesting that its not worth the cost of keeping the few resources they need access to within easy reach.

So, they shouldn't be allowed drive, shouldn't be given public transport, and don't need An Post nearby because the nearby town (that they can neither drive to nor get the bus to) is a more cost-effective location for them.

Gosh...life is just peachy for them. Why not just cut off their pensions and other benefits altogether? After all, the money isn't cost-effectively spent, isn't spent on a significant population percentage, and, well, its their own fault for not living in or near a town. Then, once they've no benefits, they've no need of the services like the Post office at all.

jc

jc

galwaydude

The american embassey in dublin sent my visa application form to my Galway address instead of my Dublin address. It took 8 days to get there.What the hell is going on. 8 days is a joke. Is there any other way i can get the package back up to dublin without physically travelling to Galway as i cant wait another 8 days to receive it!!!!

It only took 6 days a few weeks for the INS centre in the states to send the approved form to me in dublin.

Victor

MrPudding wrote:

Why do we not have postcodes?

They aren't needed. Technology has moved on from postcodes. Databases and barcodes are much better.

MrPudding wrote:

That would imporve productivity.

Only for private couriers. And spam merchants. They are the ones wanting post codes.

Is it true that the introduction of postcodes is being blocked by the unions?

No, the government want it and will probably make An Post pay for it.

moshpit77

Is there any other way i can get the package back up to dublin without physically travelling to Galway as i cant wait another 8 days to receive it!!!!

Swiftpost. Guaranteed next day

oscarBravo

Victor wrote:

Technology has moved on from postcodes. Databases and barcodes are much better.

Databases containing what? Barcodes encoding what?

Moriarty

Last I heard, An Post has a proprietary database and barcoding system that identifies every business/residence in the country. The ESB have something similar. The two are not related in any way afaik. ComReg, bless their souls, have set up an implementation committee to develop a public post code system because government thought it'd be a good idea. IIRC they're meant to report in the next month or two.

The ESB, eircom and to a lesser extent other telcos, courier companys and snail-mail spammers are the main pushers for a public post code system from what I've seen and heard.

Culchie

Moriarty wrote:

Last I heard, An Post has a proprietary database and barcoding system that identifies every business/residence in the country. The ESB have something similar. The two are not related in any way afaik. ComReg, bless their souls, have set up an implementation committee to develop a public post code system because government thought it'd be a good idea. IIRC they're meant to report in the next month or two.

The ESB, eircom and to a lesser extent other telcos, courier companys and snail-mail spammers are the main pushers for a public post code system from what I've seen and heard.

Yeh, An Post, as normal, bought out a perfectly profitable company called PMI a couple of years ago that were geo-database experts for the Marketing Industry......they have basically proceeded to turn a dynamic, entrepreneurial and profitable company into a loss making elephant, by placing their own cronies at the helm.

Cork

Culchie wrote:

into a loss making elephant, by placing their own cronies at the helm.

Pity. An Post needs to dragged kicking and screaming into the 21st century. What new products has this company recently introduced?

ST Particks Day Post Cards
Gift Voucher Shop

Only for being a monopoly - it would have shut years ago.


People are far too willing to put up with bloated state monopolies. Thanks to the EU - the game is nearly up for An Post.

parsi

Yes. But who will replace it ? Thats the problem. The likes of DHL will only want the lucrative city-city business and not have anything to do with sending a letter from Sneem to Buncrana. The cheaper end of parcels may go with GLS and we all know what a shining beacon of light they are - a veritable example of private sector at its best (this was a sarcastic sentence).

At the end of the day its not bad value to be able to send a letter for 48c.

parsi

galwaydude wrote:

The american embassey in dublin sent my visa application form to my Galway address instead of my Dublin address. It took 8 days to get there.What the hell is going on. 8 days is a joke.

8 days is a joke. So is the embassy being unable to send a document to the correct address. Its possibly even scary that the much lauded Americans with the databases and technology can't get that right.

sceptre

Cork wrote:

What new products has this company recently introduced?

Sod new products, I could do without the postal service moving into non-core businesses most of the time. All most people want is for them to concentrate on the "products" they currently have and to do them efficiently and reliably. When that happens maybe they can think about moving into kissograms, travel agencies and line-dancing.

lucernarian

I used to think that it was the CWU's fault for the dire state of An Post but as time passes it seems that management have to shoulder the blame now. This is an ongoing problem which would have been dealt with far more rapidly with effective management.

A few weeks ago, a friend of mine got a letter from Dublin. I was expecting the same letter but I recieved it 10 days later! The difference was that he lived in Drogheda town and I live 3 miles north. I am in the same postal area as he is.

I have lost all confidence in the postal system and my entire family try not to use it. My sister recieved a package (a small teddy, very light) from Germany last week from a friend. It took almost 3 weeks. She told her friend not to send letters in case they should be lost in the post.

I would be happy in a way if An Post went finally under... It could signal a fresh start for a new company with new structures.

And btw in my area (pop. of 2500) we have no post office, but a credit union. It would suit the local elderly population for social welfare to be paid at the credit union.

murphaph

Yikes-who said GLS! They are attrocious. I once bought a DVD burner from Komplett and when i failed to show after 2 weeks I was gettng p!ssed rightly off. I complained to Komplett and they were very professional. They emailed me what was supposed to be my signature according to GLS! It was nothing like my signaure (mainly because I never signed for it!). I'm sure Komplett thought I was spoofing looking for a free burner. Anyway-they coughed up another drive which did actually arrive. About a week later I got a strange phonecall. It was from a neighbour of mine who reckoned there was a parcel at their's for me. Fair enoug you're thinking-but this 'neighbour' is my local Eurospar! It was the manager ringing me. Outrageous from GLS.

I posted a birthday card from D15 to Kells yesterday at 14:00 and it was delivered first thing this morning, so it's not all bad!

netwhizkid

An post are a world class company and the way this fianna failure, regressive undemocrats government is treating them is a total disgrace. Noel dempsey would not even meet the CWU and postal worker march in Killarney last Saturday. They are worst sort of dopes this country has seen. Noel Dempsey has got some neck on him for sure. They won't even pay the Retired Post pensioners. 70+ pensioner have now died without their increase as agreed nter sustaining progress. I can't wait for the next election to vote against these corrupt traitors.

Culchie

netwhizkid wrote:

An Post are a world class company.

LOL !

Regardless of who is to blame, is it the Unions or the Management/Government, this statement could not be futher from the truth.

They are a joke.

Name me one single thing that make An Post stand out as a world class company.....just one.

netwhizkid

The fact that they as a collective company and their workers who put up with what dribble and rubbish they hear from the like of Noel Dempsey calling for the introduction of Royal Mail into the irish mails market. I have a feeling that Red letter boxes will be back if these muppets have anything to do with it.

The fact that they have served us through thick and thin and they are an Irish company makes them world class. Royal Mail here again i have a distinct feeling there is some grave turning going on.

murphaph

netwhizkid wrote:

The fact that they as a collective company and their workers who put up with what dribble and rubbish they hear from the like of Noel Dempsey calling for the introduction of Royal Mail into the irish mails market. I have a feeling that Red letter boxes will be back if these muppets have anything to do with it.

The fact that they have served us through thick and thin and they are an Irish company makes them world class. Royal Mail here again i have a distinct feeling there is some grave turning going on.

Your whole post is summed up like so; 'An Post are good because we get to run it badly ourselves rather than the brits running it badly for us. Good one'. Who gives a fcuk what colour the lettterboxes are so long as the post gets delivered in a reasonable manner. By the way, An Post haven't served us throuh thick and thin, they've gone on strike like everyone else. Your post is pure rhetoric with no substance!

jrey1981

There was a great quote in the Irish Independent yesterday from an An Post spokesman, along the lines of

"We are not currently aware of any delays in our sorting centres, however there are a number of issues impacting our ability to deliver the service we want to deliver."

If An Post is privatised it will be cherry-picked and rural post offices would shut down as is happening in some UK villages - with all the consequences for community and society that go with this.

What An Post should be doing is focussing on what they can do and do it well rather than going down the cheap labour route - pay decent wages etc. and grow the areas of the business where they can add value - eg get the parcel services up to a high standard, target business customers regularly and proactively etc.

I have experience of UPS, DHL, Fed Ex, GLS and Royal Mail. On the whole UPS, DHL and Royal Mail are ok. UPS and DHL are high cost premium services. Royal Mail are good value for money.

Havent had good experiences with GLS or Fed Ex so even paying the high cost of these firms does not guarantee a service that matches the price.

My experiences with An Post have been good (parcels I have sent) - I would be happy to pay a bit more to keep it.

Culchie

jrey1981 wrote:

There was a great quote in the Irish Independent yesterday from an An Post spokesman, along the lines of

"We are not currently aware of any delays in our sorting centres, however there are a number of issues impacting our ability to deliver the service we want to deliver."

If An Post is privatised it will be cherry-picked and rural post offices would shut down as is happening in some UK villages - with all the consequences for community and society that go with this.

What An Post should be doing is focussing on what they can do and do it well rather than going down the cheap labour route - pay decent wages etc. and grow the areas of the business where they can add value - eg get the parcel services up to a high standard, target business customers regularly and proactively etc.

I have experience of UPS, DHL, Fed Ex, GLS and Royal Mail. On the whole UPS, DHL and Royal Mail are ok. UPS and DHL are high cost premium services. Royal Mail are good value for money.

Havent had good experiences with GLS or Fed Ex so even paying the high cost of these firms does not guarantee a service that matches the price.

My experiences with An Post have been good (parcels I have sent) - I would be happy to pay a bit more to keep it.

It's not going to be an easy one to solve without someone having some balls and tackle it head on.

Obviously (a la nickname) I'm from a rural background, and understand the argument of the 'social service' that An Post provides. However I think this is now a redundant argument. There is nothing that Post Offices provide around the country that a Credit Union (which exists in every town in the country now) could not provide.

The problem with it being privatised or bought out is the 'cherry picking' scenario.

I don't have all the answers myself, but with some innovation and embrace of technology (hence investment) and tackle these Union issue surely An Post can remain Irish. Simply selling out to Royal Mail is the easy option to avoid the real issues, and the customer will not win out in the long run, it will still be a monopoly.

If we can pay our motor tax on-line, self assessment of income, then surely we could buy stamps on-line (maybe individualised with RSI number) and self assess the postage charges as well. If you don't pay enough you get an invoice in the post or e-mail or whatever. Hardly rocket science.

Jrey1981 .... Your point about raising prices is also not the answer, that's simply throwing money down a black hole, the problems will still persist.

They are looking for €2 to deliver a package now. How can business absorb those costs without passing them directly onto the customers?