Post Office apologises after major glitch shuts down counter services across the country
A major technical glitch meant thousands of people were turned away at Post Office branches around the country today.
Customers hoping to pay bills, post packages or collect benefits claimed the outage was affecting branches nationwide, with many saying they had tried a number of branches before giving up, but the group insisted it was only affecting "some" counter services.
The Post Office tweeted this morning: "We're aware of issues with counter services at some branches. We're working urgently to resolve and apologise for inconvenience or delay."
https://twitter.com/PostOffice/status/729605123115253760
But those who had been turned away were unimpressed.
https://twitter.com/IanJonno/status/729609968991744000
https://twitter.com/Kenidjack_Man/status/729609100275920896
@PostOffice At my local branch I was told it was a complete system shutdown countrywide, do you have any latest news please
— antony oconnor (@antonyoconnor2) May 9, 2016
@PostOffice 'some' or all? I've been to 3 so far…
— Cat Thorogood (@CatThorogood) May 9, 2016
@PostOffice some ? Please we took our elderly neighbour to 3 this morning ????
— des (@flowerpott) May 9, 2016
An hour later, it said the problem had been resolved and that branches would be open as normal, however some customers said they had been told their local Post Office would be shut all day.
https://twitter.com/fuelled_by_pies/status/729614355319377920
Technical issues have brought a number of the UK's institutions down in recent months. HSBC has been hit not once but twice this year already; the same bank also suffered a glitch over the August Bank Holiday, which also affected NatWest.
Tesco Bank has also been having problems – although it resulted in customers getting double withdrawals.