Our post office is a wonderful friendly little (really little) place. The people are very nice and I realize that I'm quite lucky with how few problems we have ( I'm especially grateful after reading people's posts on the Etsy forums about post office problems). Of course no place/no person is perfect so the occasional problem happens but how it is dealt with, I believe, is very different. For example, there are times when they might forget to give us our copies of the EMS forms. They have someone drive them over to us and they give us a towel (very handy for cleaning) to say sorry. The other day, my hubby went without me and it took an unusual amount of time. They apologized and gave him another towel but then the next time we went in, the boss apologized again and gave us these- a sponge, a cell phone strap (charm) and a pack of band aids.
You might notice that they say "JP BANK" because in Japan, post offices are also banks. How cool is this? Most of the items are useful so that is even better! I almost forgot...one time we got a box of plastic wrap...again with the logo.
We also regularly get "thank you" gifts. I have received pens (so many that I probably never have to buy one again), small tissue packs, hair scrunchies, chopsticks, special envelopes, candy and other things.
So...am I right in thinking that is a "only in Japan" thing? And am I the only one that finds it a bit ...hmmm...odd (but still cool)...that Japan post has all these items made up with it's logo?
6 comments:
Customer service in Japan is top notch. "If I have one towel for every mistakes you made...!" Haha. Though I live in Australia now, my home country is Malaysia and our post office also doubled as banks. Mostly for the elderly though, because our post offices are hardly busy so the staffs have more time and patience to guide senior citizens.
love japan :)
follow u :)
Very interesting and true observation. I love these "give-away presents" like most housewives in Japan. But they'd better cut down the postal rates instead of making apologies. haha Thanks for sharing this.
Mad Penguin...ha! That is funny! Here Japan Post is for anyone...you can even pay people through the internet into their account and I think it is cheaper to do that than to a bank account.
Photojoy...did you read my latest post about Japan post...forget cutting the rates! I would just love to be able to ship to America again!
Actually in the US when you go to a post office now you see a range of products with the US postal service logo on it for purchase. Most are teddy bears dressed as post men or post woman, but I did find one that had plates and cutlery for sale. Though I doubt they give them out as an apology gift here (regardless of how many times they screw up, which can be often). This is definitely a "Japan only" moment.
Post a Comment