Darlington Post Office - Darlington

Abigail S.

Absolutely hopeless unfortunately. I’ve used this post office a few times when I’m forced to and if you time it right you don’t have to queue, but that’s few and far between.

My last experience has put me off ever going here again. I took a parcel to return and had the address on my phone. I went up to the counter and showed the lady and she looked at me as I’ve I’d grown two heads. She asked me to write the address on the parcel (they usually print a label?) which I did. It was a free post address so she looked at it, walked off to speak to someone and came back to tell me the best they could do was circa £4 recorded delivery. I asked isn’t free post free? She then had to leave again to consult someone. When she came back a 2nd time she said “that’s fine, you can go.” I was that baffled I just left. It was only after that I realised I received no documentation confirming they’d accepted the parcel. It’s now been 3 weeks, I’ve received no refund from the retailer I returned the parcel to and I haven’t got a leg to stand on because I’ve got no proof I sent it to them. I’m still honestly baffled by the fact that someone working in the post office didn’t know that free post meant it was free to post…..

Kate H.

The methods of Amazon return are beyond convoluted, you need to know what is in each and every package. And they have no wifi so it’s nearly impossible to load your Amazon return QR codes. And they don’t let you stand to the side to fix something and then get back in after the next person like a polite post office instead making you go to the back of a frankly horrifying line given only 2 people work on a Saturday - until 1 when it’s 1 person. They also close beyond early on a Saturday. Whoever’s in charge of the post office - please consider supply and demand when doing your hours. Also. For the love of god, a post office needs wifi.

Courtney T.

Today I received the worst customer service, from an (individual employee) after queuing to deposit money into a buisness account I was rudely refused and told to come back later, rather than a Monday morning when it’s busy. Unprofessional and poor service. Not even worth one star.

Bradley M.

Staff are so so rude. Always a massive queue. Self check out often requires staff to come and approve so what the point.

sharon W.

Warning. Don’t read this if you voted for Brexit and are proud to call yourself British. A ‘quick trip to the Post office’ started for me at opening time; 9 am this morning, 18th December 2023. I was 3rd in the queue and I didn’t get out until after 10. The young man in front of me, who I’m guessing from his appearance and accent was a visitor to this country was served by a member of staff and innocently asked if he could top up his phone. The woman looked incredulous and sent him on his way, commenting, ‘Can you believe he asked that?’ to the next customer, raising her eyebrows to the ceiling and shaking her head as if he’d just requested an audience with the king or asked if he could move into her house…
The customer being served by the other member of staff had received a notification to say her parcel was ready for collection. After 10-15 minutes of aimlessly wandering around the clerk returned to say it wasn’t there. The customer was understandably frustrated but she didn’t make a scene, she just showed the woman her phone with the message clearly stating that the parcel should be there. The staff member wandered off again and came back, without the parcel and without an apology.´Its not here- You’ll have to ring them’ was the only response the customer received. She walked away quietly but the member of staff shouted after her loudly , ‘it’s not my fault! I’m not a piece of dirt you know!’.
Once it was my turn, I was told to fill in a customs form as I was sending a parcel internationally so had to go away and find one and fill it in and then rejoin the now longer queue. When I got to the front, the member of staff had difficulty with the computer she was using and had to repeatedly type in the address. To be fair to her, the machine looked like a relic from the 80s with a huge clunky keyboard. The whole process took over half an hour and the queue by this time was as long as the shop. There didn’t appear to be any sense of urgency from either member of staff, they spent more time moaning about what they had to do than doing it and the whole area was dirty, messy and disorganised. I saw several customers attempting to use the self service machines unsuccessfully- I think only one was working.
I don’t know why I’m writing this- it’s a week until Christmas and I’m sure the clerks are underpaid and understaffed, just like virtually every service that exists in this country. But what happened to manners, a ‘the customer is always right’ attitude or taking a bit of pride in what you do? Does anyone have a sense of loyalty to the organisations they work for? I think maybe what I actually want is a revolution. ( Or to change nationality or rejoin the EU so I can escape for longer!) Why do we put up with these sort of standards? What a sad and pitiful place this country has become.

Tom B.

The excuse for a 'Post Office' in Darlington town centre is a disgrace.
Today, between 09.30 and 10.00, I visited with my wife who used a self-service machine to obtain a single First Class stamp (at an extortionate price), but after payment and issuing a receipt, there was no postage stamp.
My wife joined the queue to speak to the single assistant on duty at a cash desk. Not only did she know there was a faulty machine, but she also knew which didn't work.
'Oh, Number One, it's faulty,' she said cheerfully.
She then came around and slapped the machine (as folk did their radio or television in the fifties and sixties). The machine issued the stamp, to which the assistant responded,
'There you go.'
What kind of 'service' is that supposed to be at any level?
It would have been a good sketch on a comedy show, but it actually happened.
At the very least, would it be too much for the staff to be taught how to use a pen, piece of paper and sellotape to produce a temporary 'Out of Order' sign?
Probably, what angered us most was that we are both ex-Retail Managers who provided the best service possible in our separate careers so we understand 'Customer Service' and what it ought to mean.
I was hoping this review would publish without a star rating, because I couldn't locate the minus grades, but I had to select one to make it work.

Graham S.

The website says open till 5:30, when I arrive at the post office there is a sign saying we are closed today from 12:45 how is this good service update your web times

Added, still no different opening hours from 09:00 arrived at 09:45 to be greeted with paper signs saying not open till 10:00 finally opener 10:10 to be told I need to fill out a further form after standing and waiting which I could of done if I could see through the Christmas tree that was in front of the sign advising me to do so but there wasn’t even a form available without going to the desk, staff extremely rude so I gave up and sent by another method, avoiding the town center post office the one in cockerton is 100x better service

Anya A. L.

Just what it is with this post office on Saturdays. They normally not the fastest with customer service, but Saturdays absolutely abysmal. I just watched second person has been setting up their work space for 20 mi s while queue of 10 people waiting. Is it a power trip or do they need better waking alarm? Maybe espresso machine to get them going? Always long wait here