Hamish Wright confirmed there is still some confusion with the Post Office switch.
The July 4 shift of local postal services from Duke St to Paper Plus Cambridge has gone as well as was anticipated, but there is still some confusion as to exactly what services are available where, says Paper Plus Cambridge owner Hamish Wright.
The local PostShop moved most of its postal operations to Paper Plus on July 4. The shift was made as part of New Zealand Post’s wider move to dovetail postal services with local businesses.
After re-fitting the section of the store bordering Empire St, Paper Plus was ready to go as planned on the morning of July 4.
“It was actually a very smooth transition,” Hamish said, “but I think there is going to be a bedding-in process that will take place over the next few months. For example, we are going to need to adjust things when the peak pressure time comes around Christmas, but we already have strategies in place to cope with that. One of those will be to employ queue busters to go up and down the queues and identify customers who need particular services that are quick and easy to do – things like just buying postage stamps.”
Hamish said they would also look at shifting things around to accommodate peak periods. “I don’t think stationery is a huge seller at Christmas, for example, so we will likely move that stand around and better manage the queues – perhaps incorporate a snake formation of queueing rather than a straight line.”
People had generally taken the move in their stride, he said. “The feedback we have had is generally positive. A few have complained at the size of the space we have here, but then I think it was a privilege to have had the generous space that was available in Duke St.”
Hamish also said there remained some confusion as to what services were available, and from where.
“All postage and bill payment services are at Paper Plus,” he said. “Post boxes in Duke St will remain there, and postbox owners who find a parcel slip in their box can retrieve that from Duke St before 10am.
“People who are not at home to receive a courier delivery, and who receive a card to collect their package, will now collect it from Leamington Four Square in Shakespeare St. That is relatively new – it was introduced just as we were about to launch, and was a decision made primarily for reasons of access and space.”
He said passport photographs could be done at the adjacent Cambridge Photo and Print, and all TSB deposits now had to go through to Hillcrest.
A positive for locals is that with the opening times at Paper Plus, postal services are available half an hour earlier than they were in Duke St. The shop is open from 8.30am-5.30pm on weekdays, and from 9am-12pm on Saturdays.
