New ‘pick up’ service for Galway City customers
8 November 2022
Previously, Galway customers who missed a parcel or package had to travel to the city’s Delivery Service Unit (DSU) in North Business Park on the Tuam Road. The area is not currently serviced by public transport, and at times can be heavily congested by traffic. An Post identified 12 post offices in the greater city area, including the city GPO at Eglinton Street, where a missed delivery can now be picked up.
The relevant post offices are Barna, Bohermore, ClareGalway, Clarinbridge, Eglinton Street, Fr. Griffin Road, Mervue, Newscastle, Oranmore, Renmore, Salthill and Seamus Quirke Road.
The new service will be a major benefit to Galway customers removing the potential hassle of a journey to the city DSU as well as providing more delivery options. The service will be particularly useful to An Post’s growing numbers of online shoppers. The move also advances An Post’s Sustainability programme in cutting down on handling and road journeys.
In recent times a missed delivery, where a customer had not nominated an alternative delivery option, could result in a headache for customers involving a journey out to An Post’s Tuam Road facility. Now, Postal Operatives can leave a DIB (Docket in Box) slip for the customer, directing them to their local Post Office to collect their item.
The new service has been praised by Minister of State at the Department of Transport, Hildegarde Naughton. The Galway based Minister with responsibility for postal services said “This is a very welcome development for Galway and demonstrates once again the importance of a high value and high-quality Post-Office network to people across the county, as well as the central and trusted role of postmasters in our communities. I am sure this news will be greeted with open arms by those receiving important mail and parcels through An Post as we now eliminate an unnecessary journey across our bustling city of Galway for families and businesses.”
The Minister also emphasised the value to consumers and businesses in having greater proximity to postal services through the post office network and noted that Government has demonstrated its commitment by agreeing to provide for the first time €30m to support a sustainable network over a three-year fixed term 2023–2025, as set out in the Programme for Government. The Minister noted that “this funding will help bring greater sustainability and certainty for Postmasters in County Galway, allowing them time to take advantage of the opportunities e-commerce can bring and to grow their business.”
Barna Postmistress Seona O’Fegan gave the new Pick Up service the thumbs up saying: "It's a very welcome service. Previously if a customer in the Barna area missed a delivery, they would have to travel across Galway city which if they're lucky, would take up to an hour and half. As well as being more convenient, the Pick Up service is also bringing more people into post offices. We're getting the opportunity to meet new people and they're learning about the other services we offer."
Customer feedback has also been very positive, with customers praising the convenience of being able to pick up locally from their Post Office, instead of travelling to the DSU.
