POL00028441 - Post Office Consulting - Christmas Horizon Research Report - Appendix 2: Verbatim comments of staff and SPMs by Lorna Green, January 2000

Evidence on official site
POL00028441
POL00028441

Electronic memo S THE POST OFFICE I

To: David X Smith/POCLUPOSTOFFICE@POSTOFFICE, Andrew
Radka/POCL/POSTOFFICE@POSTOFFICE, Kevin
Lenihan/POCLIPOSTOFFICE@POSTOFFICE, David W
Miller/POCLIPOSTOFFICE@POSTOFFICE

ce: Kay Hartigan/POCL/POSTOFFICE@POSTOFFICE, Don
Grey/POCLIPOSTOFFICE@POSTOFFICE

Hard Copy To

Hard Copy cc

From Lorna Green/POCLIPOSTOFFICE
Date 12/01/2000 17:29

Subject: Fwd: Xmas Horizon research [2

As promised here is appendix 2 of my report, which contains all the comments made on the
open ended questions.

I strongly recommend that you take time to browse through the staff and sub postmasters' own
words, as it provides insight into their strength of feeling about various aspects of Horizon.

AppendixXmasHorizon.do
Lorna.
To: David X Smith/POCLIPOSTOFFICE@POSTOFFICE, Andrew

Radka/POCL/POSTOFFICE@POSTOFFICE, Kevin
Lenihan/POCLIPOSTOFFICE@POSTOFFICE, David W
Miller/POCLIPOSTOFFICE@POSTOFFICE

ce: Kay Hartigan/POCLIPOSTOFFICE@POSTOFFICE, Don
Grey/POCL/POSTOFFICE@POSTOFFICE

Hard Copy To

Hard Copy cc

From Lorna Green/POCLIPOSTOFFICE
Date 07/01/2000 15:40

Subject: Xmas Horizon research

Dear all,

Please find enclosed my report on the recent research into Horizon carried out the week before
Christmas.

ReportXmasHorizon.do

Appendix 2 which is an additional document containing all the comments made by staff and sub
postmasters will be available early next week,

If you have any questions regarding this report please do not hesitate to contact me.

POL00028441
POL00028441

Best wishes
Lorna
Senior Project Leader

Services Group
Post Office Consulting

2nd Floor, 20 - 23 Greville Street, LONDON, EC1N 8SS

{

POL00028441
POL00028441

Post Office Consulting

Christmas Horizon Research Report
Appendix 2 - Verbatum comments
January 2000

Lorna Green

Me THE POST OFFICE
specialist consultancy from people

who know the business
Counters Business Consultancy

Post Office Consulting

POL00028441
POL00028441

Introduction

This document accompanies the report entitled Christmas Horizon Research,
January 2000, by Lorna Green. The report discusses the results of a telephone
questionnaire carried out in December 1999 with a sample of 335 national roll
out post offices and asks questions about various aspects of Horizon
programme.

This document contains the actual comments made by each respondent. The
numbers bare no connection to fadcodes and are purely a cross reference tool
if required to go back to the original data.

For each question the comments have been sorted into positive and negative
comments and also by the main point being made.

c:\temp\appendixxmashorizon.doc 1

POL00028441
POL00028441

Table of contents

Introduction
Disruption
Training

4, Ease of use
Balancing

User Guide
RNM

HFSO

HSH

NBSC

Improvements

c:\temp\appendixxmashorizon.doc

i

19

27

35

49

57

66

74

Disruption

Caused major disruption

There were quite inconvenient niggles. The lead was too short to connect. There was
haggling about getting a man from Cambridge to visit just to look at some "boxes" on the
system.

Because they had to re-wire. It caused a few problems.

Very busy, caused chaos.

The mess and boxes, etc.

They turned up very early, and left late, mucked up the electrics, and caused chaos.

Needed to come 3 times, had a lot of faults.

In January last year they sent some "cowboy" workmen to prepare for installation, but
managed to totally destroy my counter. They left it that way for nine months. Only when we
were given training dates did they bother to put it right.

Because they had to keep coming back and testing.

All the parts needed were not supplied and that caused a major hold back.

The equipment disrupts serving the customers, it was really quite awkward.

Well they put plugs under counter and it was awkward, but they were quick.

They came with too much equipment and took it away again. They didn’t come back until
at least 6 weeks later.

Because it disrupts our working day.

It was horrendous. Things were put in and had to be ripped out again - this was the
earthing and it was done wrong. When the computers were installed - that was OK.

While setting it up they discovered the isdn line didn’t work. Which is unacceptable -
communication between the fitter and others was abominable. Bt helped but the fitter took it
all away even though BT fixed it and then I was kept late when they came back

We needed to shut, we've got such a small shop, and things Were very difficult.

There were two problems: it took till six o'clock to get Done, and in all I had six officials in
the office trying to Sort it out.

Delays caused when they didn’t know where to put the Equipment. They didn’t know
how to solve a problem that arose Lack of sufficient planning. The equipment is now rather
Awkwardly situated.

The installation and the training caused major disruption. I (office manager) was in jury
service.

They blew up some of my electrics.

Whenever someone comes and disrupts your working day it is always inconvenient.
It disrupted day work.

Problems with installation, hanging about for a few hours.

The system would not fit, and the work went on all day, from 8am to 6pm.

They had to channel the cables around the shop, and they Moved something in order to
do the installation work - but Never put it back.

3 times they came round to make alterations before they managed to finish the job.

They came on a Wednesday - it was a nightmare, and a shambles. We had lots of stock
around the place, which was in danger. Working conditions were bordering on the
unacceptable.

The fitters caused disruption, and the BT line needed attention.

We had to close for a day and work ona Sunday and disruption and damaged caused
It disrupted the day's working and it took them too long.

They only had two terminals, when we had asked for three. It was havoc and prevented
us from operating with any efficiency

We had to climb over workmen and had to close a position down for the installation. The
cable from monitor to printer is too short, so that any slight movement of the screen means
the printer doesn't work.

It wouldn't fit where it was supposed to go.

POL00028441
POL00028441

c:\temp\appendixxmashorizon.doc 3.

POL00028441
POL00028441

Lot more difficult than they thought would be.

Problems with the wiring. We had a number of electricians in to do the work, including
wiring done in the outside loo.

The quality of the work was slapdash. The cables have dropped twice now, and lam
waiting for them to come out again to do more maintenance work.

It was a health hazard. Wires hanging from ceiling and on the floor - it was quite
dangerous for staff and customers alike.

We were kept waiting for 4 hours before we could use it. The planning was diabolical,
and the drilling into the counter was noisy and badly done.

Too many surveys beforehand. Installation of a simple shelf was forgotten - the ability of
the workmen was unacceptable. Both counters were affected. They made a right mess - they
brought the wrong materials. The workman was incompetent.

Because there were problems on the day of installation.

Lots of leads and cables everywhere,

Rushing job, left mess, and hole in wall, in hurry to get away.

They have altered my shop to take three systems and arrived with two.

Having workmen in the way

Tripping over workmen.

Simply because I didn't have access to things.

Having to work around the people installing it was awkward.

Only one position here, working round the installer they were under our feet.

We had trouble serving and had to basically keep walking around builders.

We coped quite well, it was trying to fit them in.

Because although we worked around them it was awkward.

Very small post office and not room for 2 people - while the person was installing it, it was
squashed and difficult to work.

Small office - installers around when trying to do business. Distracting.

It is a busy office, working around the workmen, being careful of cash, etc. It cannot be
helped.

Working round the man fitting the computer - it was horrendous. Really we should have
closed for the day.

I worked round him.

You had to serve around the people installing the system, but It wasn't too bad.
Well, we carried on working.

Mainly because we were trying to serve around them.

Well, the workmen were good, we could work around them.

Well we had to work around them, that's all.

We were able to work around the installation.

We managed to work around them but it was an obvious Inconvenience.

There was no mess, it was just having people around when you're trying to work.
They were working with us in the room so there had to be some Inconvenience.
Because you're trying to work on top of people.

I could carry on serving people.

Too many people.

Well, we were busy and tripping over them.

It is just them being here.

Having to work over and around them.

Having to work round workman.

Working around people.

Too many people in small space.

Too many bodies in small space.

We were trying to work around them.

Too many people.

They had a problem, we worked around them.

Because I couldn't get to the counter to serve very well.

c:\temp\appendixxmashorizon.doc 4

POL00028441
POL00028441
—

We just got in the way of each other.
Somebody there gets in the way.
Had to put up with workmen.

It was put in during working hours.
People working around you.

Caused slight problems

Just a few problems at installation.

There were hardly any interruptions at all.

Only when they were actually installing it did it cause a few problems.
Nothing too drastic. Obviously there was some but it was OK.

Well, because they did one service position at a time and I could still serve, but the noise
was a pain.

Very little disruption. .

Just getting it installed. Slight inconvenience to customers.

Our office is small so we just worked around each other.

He came ona Friday so not too bad because Friday is a quiet Day.

Only the very slightest of inconvenience.

We were just delayed slightly.

They slightly interrupted with the day-to-day running of the Office.
Very slight.

All up in the air, a bit rushed.

The power had to go off.

Happened on a quiet day, so not too bad.

Just slight.

It could have been worse, but things didn't go as smoothly as they could have.
Very slight inconvenience.

Some inconvenience.

Any work done when you're trying to work will cause Inconvenience.
You can't install two computers without any inconvenience.

It’s a bit of a nuisance trying to serve at the same time

Had to work through it, one counter only.

It didn't cause us many problems.

Small space

We havea little area.

I didn't have much working space behind the counter.

It's a small office.

Not enough room but the men were very helpful.

We've got a small office, they disrupted the whole place.

We have quite a small office here and it was cramped during the installation.
We had a very limited counter area to work from - it was quite difficult to conduct
business.

They were slightly in the way but that is because this is a very small office.
We only have one counter.

We only have a small office - it was just a matter of clutter

Limited space.

[have a small office, and we didn't close the office down. So it was pretty tight for space
and made working conditions quite difficult.

Small P.O. with 3 workmen, cramped to work in.

Only one counter here, so difficult.

Only one counter, bit cramped here.

Being a small office it makes things difficult.

Because we have a small office and you can't fit everybody in it.

We are only a small office.

c:\temp\appendixxmashorizon.doc

PI

Busy time in the office

It was our busiest day.

There was work that should have been done prior to Installation but was all done on the
day of installation and a very busy day for us. Also errors were made.

Because there was stuff all over the shop on my busiest day, It caused havoc.

They always came on our busiest days, which caused a major Problem.

We have 3 counters, they arrived at our busiest time of day. Effectively we had only 2
counters to use during installation.

Well we arranged an appointment, ignored it and came on our busiest day. It was awful.
It was the busiest day of the week and so it was quite Disruptive.

It was on a Monday (our busiest day), the man did very well.

I was busy at the time and I had lots of people to try to do the alterations.

Came in busy time on Monday badly scheduled.

It was during the busy time.

It was Monday morning, car tax end of month, etc. Full staff on which meant staff
upheaval and chaos for customers.

Bad day and not much notice given.

Had a counter closed

I had to go into parcel hatch position, which was not so secure,

We could not have all our desks open.

Just because we had to close a counter.

We just had to move counters - it didn't affect the public.

We had to close some of our positions.

Only one counter open and closed for one day. Limited space, workers crawling around.
Can’t be helped.

We had to close the counter down a bit, but it was only a Slight inconvenience.

Only 2 counters, installation done during the day, we kept Having to close a counter so
customers were inconvenienced And delayed.

There were positions closed down, etc. We knew it would be so I’m not really
complaining.

It just involved closing one of the positions.

Having to close positions.

Have 2 counters here, he worked on one.

We had to close one position down.

Length of time taken

The training disrupted the running of the office. Understaffed. The installation and
migration (which was done incorrectly) took all day.

It took 11 hours to fit and it was 1 am before I got home. The installers didn’t seem to know
what they were doing.

Time consuming.

Timing.

It was done in a working day when it could be done in an Afternoon when we were
closed.

The only problem was the time.

We shut the office down the day they came, but they still Took all day to do it.

Because it took longer than it should have done - someone had to install electrics.

Because they came during working hours.

The length of time devoted to migration and installation was too long for us.

They chose a difficult time to install the system.

The timing was terrible - on a Monday afternoon.

It was a bit slow.

c:\temp\appendixxmashorizon.doc 6

POL00028441
POL00028441

POL00028441
POL00028441

Closed the office

Because we were closed that day.

We closed anyway.

We had to shut for the afternoon.

They installed it on a Wednesday afternoon when we were closed.

We chose our days, they came at lunchtime when we were closed. No problem at all.
Well the day they put in the electrics, it was very noisy, and I had to close the shop.
It was carried out the half day we were closed early.

It was installed on a day we were closed.

We were closed for one day, which was a busy day, and it took Longer than it should
have done.

It was done ona day we were closed.

Closed down when getting office ready to fit, day of fitting OK.

Late

Well it was late arriving.

Mainly because they didn't come when appointed.

They were 6 hours late arriving to install the machines, we were closed during this time.
The horizon helpdesk did not pass on messages that had been left for us - it was a farce. The
helpdesk was no help at all.

We are not very large. Problems getting it up and running, everything went down, they
arrived late and so finished installation late, wasting our time and that of the field officer.
[had to move about and we were there very late.

Delayed in installation.

Stayed here till 10 p.m. Installation and migration support officer no good.

It was late at night.

No problems

It didn't cause me any problems.

They gave us a time period in which they said the installation would be complete, which
was helpful, and this meant we were not inconvenienced at all.

We were able to continue working right through the installation period.

No real problems.

It wasn’t that bad.

We could still work as they were installing the unit.

They came ata quiet period, and the system just “slotted in"

There were no disruptions to our working day.

Because it was just one part that was put in and work was not stopped.

Not too bad really.

No problems really.

It was fine.

Nothing really.

Not really.

There wasn'ta lot to be done.

We didn't notice and it didn't disrupt the public.

It was a pretty smooth installation.

Didn't bother us really.

No problems.

None at all.

Not too bad really. We were lucky that we didn't have to do a balance on the day of
installation.

No problems really.

No trouble at all.

No inconvenience at all.

It went very well, one section at a time. No problem, no delays in serving.

c:\temp\ appendixxmashorizon.doc 7

POL00028441
POL00028441

No problems.

No problems at all.

No problems really,

Didn't have any problems.

No problems really.

No problems at all.

It was all handled very well and work wasn't disrupted too much.
No real problems really, .

Because it went a lot better than I thought and we were able to remain open.
No problems really.

They didn't bother us at all.

They were out of the way.

We worked together and were very co-operative.
It was fine.

They didn't bother us much.

We were able to carry on with our normal day.

We've had no alterations done everything was okay.
No problem.

No real inconvenience.

Done at night time so no inconvenience at all.

It went in quite smoothly.

No real inconvenience really.

They did the work without any bother and you didn't even know they were there.

No problems really.
Just something that had to be done.
Able to continue working without closing.
No problems. Did not need to close.
Customers were coming in but it didn't make a lot of Difference.
No problems really.
. 404 Because had a new counter not much to do.
No problems at all.
We experienced no problem at installation.
Didn't experience any problems really.
No problems.
Not an inconvenience really.
Fine.
Open when here.
They just got on with it.
I just moved counters.
No problems.
Nota problem really. You expect some disruption, but it was fine in the end.
They were out of our way.
It wasn't too bad really.
Quiet that day, so no problem.
It didn't cause us any problems.
No problems, 3 counters here.
Didn't experience any problems.
Didn't have any problems.
Didn't have any real problems at all from the workmen.
They worked with you.
Not many problems.
No problem.
No problems.
Have 3 counters here, so OK.
Everything went smoothly and all explained.
No problems. It went well.
Straightforward.

c:\temp\appendixxmashorizon.doc

POL00028441

POL00028441
—
\

Good job

They did a good job, and I had already planned the office in advance for their coming.
They were very good and on time.

They were a good team who installed the system. They worked quietly and efficiently,
doing a very neat job.

They were excellent.

The guy who did it was very efficient.

The people who installed it knew exactly what they were doing and did it in a suitable
amount of time.

They were well organised.

Very well.

They were very good and very efficient.

Very good.

They were very good. All the work done was neat and tidy.

They were on time and were out of the way.

We have a small office and they worked well.

It went very smoothly.

Everything went smoothly.

They were marvellous, very efficient.

They were very accommodating.

They were very good.

Very good workman.

Brilliant - no trouble at all.

Very smooth.

They were very helpful.

Engineers were really good.

Good, all went well.

I was training that day but staff said it went well.

They were very efficient.

The team was very good.

quick

They were quiet and quick.

Nice quiet day and it was quick.

Very quick. They just came in, done the required job and then left.

Quick.

Everything was done prior to the installation so when they came in it took very little time.
They were quick. .

They were very quick and caused no trouble to the public.

They came in, put it in in two hours.

Well, they did it very quickly.

They were quick and didn't disrupt the staff or the public.

They didn't disrupt the working day. They were very quick

Well, they came and on the Friday morning it was quick and I was able to keep serving.
They were very quick.

They were quick and didn't disrupt us.

It was quick and caused no problems,

It was done in a couple of hours, which was good.

Done ina very short time.

They came on time and were quick.

There isn't much room in here - they were quick.

c:\temp\appendixxmashorizon.doc 9

POL00028441
POL00028441

Other

Quick to use.

Just became manager.

Because of the limited training we were given prior to it.

I was lucky. Installation was fine, but I wanted it in a Different place than they did in the
plan. I got it the way I wanted it.

They didn't have to do any work.

We had problems with migration.

Find slower than manual on certain things especially pensions

Because of the inflexibility of the installers.

Not very efficient, locked the safe for the day.

The computers were put in difficult positions.

We were already working on individual stocks.

We took over this office 3 years ago. In order to make way for installation I re-designed
the office. At first I was told POCL would pay 60% of cost, but I had to pay 100%. When they
eventually came to measure up, the system would not fit new office. Many

Too many surveys of the job beforehand.

Balancing on the first couple of weeks took too long.

Just taken over and operated the manual system, then had to get used to new one.

Did not put in where needed to be.

We could of retired without this system.

Plenty of room here.

Time taken to serve customers is longer.

not stated

Not stated.
Notstated.
Not stated.
Not stated.

c:\temp\appendixxmashorizon.doc 10

POL00028441
POL00028441

Training

Not enough training

There wasn't enough training -

On the course, we were booked to go together and didn't get the appointment. We needed
much more training and more time. Balancing needs looking at.

It was completely inadequate.

Day and a half was not enough, especially training for balancing was concerned. Iam
used to computers, but some of the training was horrendous.

Good but not long enough. I only got 1 and a half days training.

We needed more training, it was too rushed.

There wasn't enough training

Not enough training.

There wasn't enough training

It was good but not enough.

We needed a bit more training

There was not enough

Not enough, we didn't cover enough.

We needed to be taught more on the horizon system-maybe spread over a week

We really needed more training.

It wasn't long enough

Not enough. I knew nothing about computers, one and a half days is not enough.

Not enough training I think

There was not enough training

Not enough training though

Good but there could have been more of it.

More training needed.

It wasn't enough to take it in.

We needed more training.

We needed more training.

Not enough...too short. It was also too near to the actual installation time. We had no time
to prepare .

They should have had a little more training

I didn't think it was adequate

Not long enough. I needed longer on the balance - a whole day on the computer and only
half a day on balance.

It wasn't adequate

It wasn't enough-you were left on your own

Absolutely rubbish - not adequate, didn't show how to operate or deal with printer. It was
inadequate and wasn't long enough.

In general it was not enough training, it was a little sloppy as well, very unprofessional.
of us turned with only one trainer it was a joke

Not long enough only one day training given

There wasn't enough training

The out-of-office training was too short

The training wasn't long enough and the timing was inadequate

Very minimal. Not enough training really

Wasn't enough...too much to take in.

Because we needed more training

The trainer was very good. But the training itself needed to be more than one and a half
days.

You felt you needed more tuition

Was not long enough for real beginners

One more days training needed

It was inadequate but the limited amount we had was very good

c:\ temp \appendixxmashorizon.doc i

POL00028441
POL00028441

Not enough training, i.e. Administration.

Not long enough training

Not enough training given

There should have been more of it.

Not enough training given

There could have been more training and bit more post office specific

Good, but it could have been longer. There was a lot to learn in a short period of time.
Not sufficient (and I am trained in computers so I should know!)

Not enough training

Need more training

Training good not enough time given though

No enough training given

Not explained enough in 1 day

Not enough training not given a date when training to start so could not plan
Needed longer he expected us to know it all not long enough training

You need more than a day and a half

Not enough training on balancing

Training for accounting was very bad. Balancing took hours to sort out, and was kept up
until midnight sometimes. Tried to call helpdesk but it was almost always engaged.

But needed more time on balancing. The 1st day was all right, but the quality of the
training was not good on the 2nd day.

Because, we concentrated on serving customers, which was very easy, but needed training
on balancing in back office. I think it was useless.

Inadequate - particularly for balancing.

They didn't inform us very much on cash accounts.

But not enough time, especially the balancing side.

The training was very inadequate on the accounting side.

Did not allow enough time, especially on the balancing side of it

Just inadequate - we were trained to do the counter procedures but not on the office
administration side

Balancing training was very poor, I taught myself. The venues were in wrong places.

The administration side of it was inadequate

Good and informative. The balancing part should have been a bit longer and more
informative. The till side was good, but balancing part was vague and confusing. Backup was
good.

We weren't told enough about administration

Counter training was good, but on the balancing it was totally unacceptable. Not in-depth
enough. It was a nightmare.

Fine, but more time needed on the balancing.

Not in depth enough, especially the balancing.

From my point of view, a day and a half was not enough when I had to learn about
balancing. Not everything was explained we were not talked through everything.

More training on the balancing needed.

The everyday training was OK. The training for balancing was non-existent. Absolutely
appalling!

We had no problems apart from the housekeeping and also there could have been more
on the balancing side

Not sufficient, especially for balancing.

Front desk is okay balancing etc. very poor.

The equipment wasn't adequate so balancing wasn't covered properly

Very limited. Very little on balancing

Except training on paperwork which was absent

We could have had more help on the balancing

Terrible - 1 day long, and the balancing training was pathetic (it was from a card). There
were a lot of people in the class, and I felt anxious not to be lagging behind.

c:\temp\appendixxmashorizon.doc 12

POL00028441
POL00028441

They needed more training on the balancing

The counter was okay but the balancing wasn't adequate

To much training given on the counter side not sufficient on balances

It was good apart from the balancing which was pretty useless

Not much training on accounts and balancing

Should have been more time devoted to balancing

Balancing was not covered properly

Not enough time on balances given

Good but poor on balances need 2 days training with full tday for balances
There could have been more time spent on balancing

More time needed mainly on balancing side one and half days insufficient
It could have been better in regards to balancing

Not enough time allowed .

It was trying to cram too much in to not enough time

Inadequate, day and a half was not long enough. No time to practice anything.

It could ideally have been a longer training session

We ended up by being left totally confused-there was not enough time

Not long enough

Well we weren't given long enough, we need more training.

For me personally one and a half days was not enough - I could have done with 2 or 2 and
a half, so much to assimilate

Lack of time. The training was very impractical

Good, but too much to take in, in only one and a half days.

Not long enough, at least two days training.

It wasn't long enough

Not enough time. A day and a half is not enough. Nothing on the lottery.

It was not long enough

It was too short, and didn't go through all the procedures that we use.

Not enough time given over to training

It was awful, there wasn't enough time.

There wasn't enough time

There was only half a day for administration and we needed it to be longer

Not enough time given to us.

It was well done but was short

Very good but felt they needed more time

The guy was good, but the time was too short. There were people there who were having
great problems in keeping up and understanding and they were not being helped. In fact, a
couple of people on our course failed the test.

Good as far as it went - we needed more time, and we could have done with a person on
hand for a week to help out with the hands-on use of the system

Good but it could be longer than it was

Not enough time for postmasters

Not long enough...we should have at least 3 days training.

Not long enough

We should have had more time

Not long enough

Needed more time.

It just wasn't long enough

Not enough time

No long enough

To short

c:\temp\appendixxmashorizon.doc 13

POL00028441
POL00028441

Too fast/intense/crammed

Well, the meeting I went to there was no one to one, and he was very quick. I didn’t get to
learn much.

They tried to jam too much information in too soon.

It was too concentrated

Too much information in too short a time, a lot to learn in a short time

Too quick needed more.

It was crammed into too limited time scale

There was so much to take in-it was a bit rushed

They tried to cover everything and they showed us

You had to cram too much in and we had to go over a lot of branch office information
‘150 It was very useful but perhaps to concentrated

Needed to be longer, too much to take in within too little time.

don't think it was long enough. It was too much to take in.

They tried to cram everything into a day. I had never used a computer in my life before
then. It was far too intense.

Not sufficient. Too much information in too little a time.

There was so much information in such little time

There was an extreme amount to take in

A quart ina pint pot

It wasn't long enough - it was crammed into too short a time period. -

It was all crammed into one and a half days. I thought the training was terrible

It was too intense .

It was too rushed and concentrated

Terrible - no time allowed for questions. Trainer was very pushed for time. The whole
thing was rushed 7

It should be longer - too much to digest in too short a time.

They are trying to cram too much in and we didn't have any stuff to study before we went
Could have done with a bit longer-it was a bit rushed

It was too intense

It was too intense and short

Not enough time and we were rushed

Too much information packed into just two days. We could have done with more time
Too much to absorb in one day .

But it was hard to remember everything. There was a lot of information that was
crammed into just a short space of time.

It was far too condensed

It was too much pressure and too intense in the time limit

It was too short and intense

Trainers lacked Post Office knowledge

It was quite different to what I'd expected, but it was okay when we were used to it. The
trainers didn’t know much.

Lack a few points not enough. ICL not know post office procedures only how horizon
works

Basically a1 and a half day course - not long enough. 2nd day on balancing was terrible.
They did not know post office procedures

The trainers don’t really understand, they don’t know about post office procedures.

Trainer not aware of post office procedures

Few things mentioned in training that don’t actually apply - info. was wrong he did not
know about post office procedures and he could not answer our questions sometimes or he
got it wrong

The guy had no experience of the post office

Pathetic - very inadequate. The trainers didn't seem to understand the running of the post
office. Balancing training was the worst.

We were trained by people who knew the computer but not the post office procedures

c:\temp\appendixxmashorizon.doc 14

POL00028441
POL00028441

CL pathway training was for day and a half. This was far too inadequate. Also, the trainer
was from ICL, not POCL, and so was not fully aware of P.O. procedures. I used to work for
Alliance and Leicester, and their training was 1st class. This was not

It was done by someone who didn't understand post office procedures and couldn't
answer questions and there was not sufficient time

Course not run by post office people, and so you learned more back at the office (day to
day hands-on) than you did on the training day/s.

The trainers weren't used to counter work

I don’t think the trainers had any counter experience

Not enough training on post office procedures.

Too much ICL - oriented, and not tailored to P.O. .

Mixed ability classes. Trainer was not that knowledgeable. Couldn't answer questions.
Location was not local. They. trained us to pass exam and not to work the system properly.
Balancing training was non-existent. This is useless!

The trainer could not answer question on the changes to manual side needed P.O. man
there

Trainer didn't know what she was doing,

Old things not relevant. People did not know the P.O. work and backup poor

Not enough detail

It was insufficient, there was a Jack of detail given for the running and using of the system.
Bad organisation, the actual training wasn't adequate, balancing was skimmed over.

It was too rushed. Nota lot of individual attention. Too much administration and not
enough time spent on use of system.

Insufficient knowledge

It was too rushed minimal information, and they should have tailored them for individual
offices.

Was not long or deep enough. I could have done with longer. Some things were not even
touched on.

Didn't go into enough depth

They didn't go into enough detail for certain transactions

Was not enough information good for time there

I thought the guy seemed committed but some things weren't covered

It doesn't go into the major things that cause us problems

A lot of things the training didn't cover

Basic

Very basic.

Hey only showed us the bare minimum...they didn't show us how to do day-to-day
transactions (saying this was POCL’s responsibility).

It could have been better, some things were perhaps missed out
There were not relevant subjects covered

Extremely basic. We had just one day training as counter staff.
Told the basics well then picked up the rest myself

It was a bit pushed but we got the basics

Just about adequate.

Only an introduction

Just adequate

It showed us the basics, but could have been longer

Poor

Generally poor

The training wasn't good enough

Not great. Not long enough. We should have been able to use the computer before we
went live.

c:\temp\appendixxmashorizon.doc 15

POL00028441
POL00028441

The 2nd day was difficult. We were not allowed to ask any questions on the course. It was
starting to become hard to understand things too.

It was totally useless.

I didn't understand anything after the training

It was quite superficial and not all machines were in operation

Low quality, and could have been longer too.

Far too short, and didn't go through all the transactions. We went away none the wiser! I
didn't understand the system after the training, and was not the only one who thought that
the training was bad.

The trainer didn't seem to know that much about the system

Insufficient. I am computer literate and used computers in my own business for over 15
years. The standard training you receive for home computer installation far exceeds anything
this training pretended to be.

I’m not computer literate

It was frightening. We were thrown in at the deep end and it was very unsettling .it was
particularly difficult for those who had no previous experience with computers. They did not
take account of our needs

I am not a computer person, I was put with people who had used them and with people
who worked in a head post office. I did not need half the information given it was a waste of
time when there was other things I needed - total confusion in the end.

did not find it was adequate, not enough for people like me who are not used to
computer systems. I would have liked more information

I’d never used a computer and the training wasn't long enough

Not computer minded. Not enough time given to training for me

I didn't know anything about computers so I found it difficult

Girls have no computer knowledge it was hard for them with little or no computer
experience. It was very limited.

More practical training needed

It was OK, but it is experience that really counts. The training didn't prepare you for using
the system with customers

Learning process. More practical instruction needed

Ore practical instruction needed

To rushed only short a time not enough practical.

Good but it wasn't long enough. And it didn't relate to P.O, situation (hands-on
environment)

OK but there should have been more hands-on training that related to using the system in
a post office

It would be better if you could actually use horizon physically

Good

They were very helpful.

Good training.

We got an in-depth training with excellent knowledge on a how to work it
Had 2 days training, which I found good

We went away to have the training which was good. The trainer himself seemed to know a
lot about post offices and their procedures.

47'I've never touched a computer and they taught me fine.

It got me through the basics.

Just generally easy and accessible

Can't find any fault.

It was all very helpful

Sufficient and enough information

Easy and straight to the point

c:\temp\appendixxmashorizon.doc 16

POL00028441
POL00028441

Good training I personally thought

Training good, but the arrangements were awful.

I was happy with it.

Good but needed more time.

The trainer was brilliant. The length of time was very poor

Well. When it came in we were shown exactly how to use the system.
We needed more time, but the over all training was good.

The trainers knew what they were doing and showed us the ropes
Good but we need more time.

The actual training was good but then, being on my own with no one to confer wit h, I
found it very difficult. A bit more experience using the computer with the trainer around to
help would have been helpful.

The training was clear and concise

It was good for the amount of time we had

Excellent...I received one to one training

Helpful

The trainer was very good

Quite good

He was super, if he can get it through to me he can get it through to anybody
Good training but we needed more time.

The training was good but there was not enough

The first days training was very good but the second day was poor
The person who trained us was very good.

Well, it was interesting and I really enjoyed it.

I thought the training was of good quality

He was very helpful and I understood it all

The instructor was very tolerant and very good-we could perhaps have had a bit longer
Good, although needed longer

Excellent very good trainer

Good, but not enough. We did most of the training on the job.

I thought it was good.

Good training and support given

They were very thorough

Training good explained well would have liked more of it though
It's fine to use .

They did a good job in the time given but was not long enough

The trainer was good at his job

Fairly well explained

Good, but could have been better and longer

OK as far as it went. Should have been more time spent on balancing.
All went well

No problems

It was good but not enough time

Too short but good

It enabled us to operate it the following day

All covered well .

No problems

Other

We were given 3 days training, plus we had a lady come to visit separately to help us too.
If I hadn't been computer literate I would have been lost

The actual training we thought was excellent until we put it into practice

Because they were training a few of us ata time.

We were on the wrong course. Hardly any training given.

It was a bit slow

c:\temp\ appendixxmashorizon.doc 7

POL00028441
POL00028441

He taught us not to be frightened of a computer

It was not long enough and there should have been a better screening process to separate
computer literate people from those who aren't

Because of the complete bloody cock up. No warning...

Not enough time to gain confidence on the system.

Difficult at first

When I got back I could use it

The trainer had never did the course before, and he couldn't answer any questions.

The training was badly scheduled for us.

The trainer was approachable.

We were left very confused

A lot of theory not enough hands on.

I thought the instructor was very helpful but he was not very sure of what to teach either
it was stupid.

Appalling - it was at a level, which was far beyond my capacity, so much so that I
considered resigning! It wasn't long enough, and felt that it was fatal to “fall behind" at the
training day.

Was in with 2 area managers of Dillons. They were streets ahead of me because they had
used a similar system (ECCO) before. The training for me was irrelevant, as ] am only a small
sub post office and not an area manager of a bookshop chain

Very badly organised - abysmal. The training was OK, but they where imparting the
wrong information to the wrong people. There was a collection of counter clerks and
managers all present together. Different people need different knowledge and skills.

Not too bad now

They gave you more training in certain areas

Hands on training was what counted

Fine, but needed longer time and more practical "hands on" experience.

I understood most of it

One reason we were trained at the same time as branch office staff, who use a different
system i.e. Individual balancing but subs do a shared balance. Far too much detail in the
training, for a staff point of view too much detail frightened them and put t

We had training that had nothing to do with us a

Learning round the table is different than putting it into operation.

Some people couldn't understand and the trainer couldn't answer some questions

It explained everything you needed to know

T didn't tell us anything that we didn't already know-it was more of acclimatisation

We weren't trained we were showed how it worked

Terrible - I wasn't informed that I was due to go for training. All my staff went for
training on the same week. I had to make my own enquiries to get training for myself.

It was a mishmash; there was confusion on what dates my training and installation were.
As soon as I got to the training (with confirmation letter) I was told I was in the wrong place.
When I got to the other venue, I only had a short bit of training. It

Was canceled had to come here 1 day only was serving at same time

I'm used to the system

Ad the material to read too late. Never used computers before, when I had read it OK.
An extra fortnight after training, with someone coming down and giving you hands on
experience

They couldn't have done anything else

Not stated

Not stated
Not stated

c:\temp\appendixxmashorizon.doc 18

POL00028441
POL00028441

4, Ease of use

Easy/straightforward/fool proof

It is fool proof

Easy but slow.

Easy to use.

Everything is explained on screen, so it’s very straightforward.

Transactions are quite easy to do.

It is a very simplified system-customer friendly

Reasonably easy but it takes longer to do transactions.

Its great.

Straightforward.

Itis a lot easier

You just follow the instructions on screen

Once you know what buttons to press it's a doddle

It is all touch screen-very efficient

Simple and straightforward in general

Its straight forward.

Compared to the old system with huge sheets this is a doddle - compact and easy
Easy to use

Fairly easy once I became accustomed to it

It's easy.

Everything is straightforward

Quick to use really

One or 2 hiccups but the helpline came to the fore with that. No problems

Basically very straightforward, foolproof. The screen tells you what to do

No problems, straightforward, easy to use. If anything does go wrong, I phone the
helpline

It is very straightforward .

I haven't used a computer before-it is straightforward

Once one gets into the swing of it, it is very easy. If the training had been better I would
not have had half as many problems

Because it’s easy

‘144 It’s just simple.

It is good to use.

Quite easy

Piece of cake

It is all well defined and clear

Straightforward.

Easy.

Once you know what you are doing it is quite simple

Surprisingly easy

It is quite straightforward

Straightforward.

I am getting more used to it now, so it gets easier

The horizon system is quite basic

The touch screen facility makes it much easier, a good. idea, Everything is pretty
straightforward

Now itis fairly easy. It is longwinded - it was much quicker before. Frustrating because
we get less work done. But we accept this is the way forward.

It is simple. Once you understand it, it is very easy to use I
It is easy but my system keeps breaking down

Its fine to operate from day to day.

Easy but lots to take in under pressure.

It is very easy

c:\temp\appendixxmashorizon.doc 19

Po

POL00028441
POL00028441

It is simple-all there for you

It is easier to work with

With practice it is very easy

It’s easy buta lot slower

Because it's easy

It is straightforward

The majority of it is easy

It’s easy but takes a long time

No problems at all. My staff found it easy to use after just one day of operation.
The icons make it pretty easy when serving a customer
It is simple and almost fool proof

Easy to use a learning process

It's a very simple system to use

It is self-explanatory

Finding your way around

After getting used to it is very easy

Basic use is fairly straightforward

It is fool proof

Easy system to use only one or two small problems
It is very user friendly

We've only had one or two minor hiccups

Quite easy

Straightforward

Everything straightforward balancing taking longer than manual system
Reasonably easy now

It's user friendly

To work with it good

Was logically and well done

It’s easy to us

Quite easy

Straightforward.

Used computers before trying to certain items difficult but fairly easy
It’s simple and user friendly

The day to day running is easy

It has the icons there to help you

Easy to understand

Used computers before and this is very easy

Very straightforward

Got used to it now

Got used to itnow

It's okay now were used too it.

Ihave got used to it

I'm getting better, but it’s so slow.

Not too bad now after a few weeks.

Quick and now used to it

Just a matter of getting used to it.

It's okay now I'm familiar.

Becoming familiar with the same thing over and over again
Quite happy with it now, but has taken time.

Not too bad now.

After 2 months it is very good.

Only after time...

I have got used to it. I have been using ita while now.
Most things are repetitive.

It's okay but it will soon be sorted.

c:\temp\appendixxmashorizon.doc 20

POL00028441
POL00028441

Originally it was difficult, now it is easy.

You just get used to it

Previously not computer literate, training inadequate but with practice I get along with it
fine

You just learn as you go along

I like a lot, now I have got used to it.

Once you found your way around the system it is very simple
You can learn as you go along but it takes time

Now I am more used to using it, but it was hard at first

It's OK now were used to it.

got used to it

It's easy once you get into it

Easy now, but at the beginning it wasn't

Just practice then you get there

Once you know your way around it’s OK, but this is mostly down to experience of using
the system from day to day.

Lam familiar with itnow

Getting there.

Picked it up quite well

The more you use the system, the easier it becomes.

Getting used to it

Now we have had it for several weeks, it is OK. But at first we had no manual, no
assistance

Getting used to itnow

Learning process

Not too bad to use now

It's just practice

In the beginning it was terrible, but itis OK now

Because I have used it for 6 weeks

Once you know fine at first balances were difficult

It comes with time

Very difficult to start now easier

Ongoing process

Learn more as you go along

Difficult to start with better now

Ihave two months experience now

To start with difficult now OK and Iam computer literate

To start difficult but got easier as you went on

I’m used to it

Very busy difficult to take in but now is seems OK

I’m still learning as I go along

Was difficult now fine lack of support at beginning poor was reason for this
Practice more than anything

Good

The balance always seems to be correct

Good balance and there is now no use for a calculator.

A good system, but it isn't that great using it because we are not fully trained. Horizon is
useless at helping out, because they speak "double dutch” to us.
It is very efficient

Like ita lot, and so does my wife.

Brilliant

Day to day running of it is fantastic

Marvelous. I think it should have been installed years ago.
Its great

Very good

c:\temp\appendixxmashorizon.doc 21

POL00028441
POL00028441

OK.

Good.

It's a brilliant system

Because you like it

The system is fine

Great

Really good

It’s very convenient and efficient
It's great now.

Like serving it prefer it

I like the system

Its good now

I enjoy using it and there aren't as many mistakes
I enjoy it

All right

Reasonable

We are coping with it because we are learning day by day.
It’s fine.

Not bad.

Day to day usage of system is OK.
OK for day to day business

Reasonable

Day to day itis all right

Day to day usage is fine.

Not too bad.

Day to day it’s OK

Day to day it's OK.

Just adequate

No problems

No problems

No real difficulty.

I don't have any major gripes

Operation wise I haven't had any problems
No problems with it at all.

I haven't had any problems so far
Never any problems

I've had no problems with it

No problems

No problem

Some things OK, some not :

Personally I find it OK, but the sub-postmaster finds it particularly difficult, another finds
itjust about OK. The problem is 2 lots of paperwork, doubling up the paperwork, more than
before.

Good for counter, but back office is slow.

We struggle sometimes, but generally OK.

If nothing goes wrong it is easy to use but the trouble is it keeps going wrong. It is not
reliable

Serving the customer, it is easy to use but I have very strong reservations about other
aspects of horizon

Sometimes very good, other things cause a lot of trouble

The counter work is easy, but administration is fairly difficult

Fairly easy when it is going. When it goes wrong it really goes.

c:\temp\appendixxmashorizon.doc 22

POL00028441
POL00028441

I have mastered some it, once past certain problems it is OK. Some information is
irrelevant

Not bad. Some transactions are long-winded for very minor sales.

A couple of pieces are very complicated, others are okay

Easy but takes longer to do transactions, The APT machine is a lot harder than previously,
with reversing the transaction.

Only difficult when you have to do searching for queries and problems. It can take a lot of
time, and can leave customers waiting in the queue.

The counter is no problem, with experience. Balancing has been a problem, not any more
but no thanks to horizon. I made an official complaint.

Fine when it is running well. We have had one or two.hiccups and had to re-boot it.

The day to day balancing was OK. The balancing training was appalling.

Everything is written down for you telling you what to do.

There are still things we haven't completed but other than that it's fine

Pension allowance not good otherwise OK

Some parts are okay, but some things I get stuck on such as balancing.

It's all right when it works

It’s quite well laid out-some transactions take longer

Not computer literate but found easy day to day work cash side more difficult

OK but sometimes a problem, as I don’t use a lot more information needed on the screen
Sometimes there is a problem with software but other than that it's okay

In terms of what has to be done on a frequent basis it is do-able but not helpful to the job
we do

Complicated some things for my husband finds OK

Some things are easier, some aren't. Things on screen is confusing

Had computer before some items difficult to find and told tell us about any changes

The touch screen is a big help but pensions take longer

Balancing is difficult

Balancing is difficult and time consuming.

Easy on counter but balancing is awful.

Understanding the balance is difficult, but the rest is fine.

The balancing is difficult, problematic and very slow.

Its okay now, but balancing is so awkward, and slow. My staff don't really like it that
much,

Because I had trouble with the balancing

The balancing is not really all that easy. It take a long time sometime to do the balancing. I
know some post offices that are a lot worse off because it takes a lot longer.

Our cash accounting it is very difficult, the instructions on screen are not very good to
follow at all, we seem to go round in circles all the time, and it also takes ages.

Balancing has inevitably cause a few problems but there's a lot less writing to be done
The normal every day stuff is fine, but balancing is a nightmare.

Fairly easy to use but the balancing is difficult and some things are frustrating

The balancing is very complicated.

Transaction is easier, but balancing is diabolical.

Just the balance at the end of the week is a problem, and the machine is very slow. It
keeps going off and then I have to put my password in again.

Biggest problem is balancing & correcting mistakes

It is so long winded and caused a huge amount of extra work for us and balancing takes
far too long

I don’t find the balancing that good

Quite good now but balance to long about3 hours to do

Still learning no help given computer balancing difficult

The accounts are a quantum leap backwards

c:\temp\appendixxmashorizon.doc 2

POL00028441
POL00028441

OK if computer literate otherwise not .

31am used to using a computer and keyboard, but one of my staff is not used to it and finds
itvery hard to use. ,

We are used to the ECCO

Iam already quite used to using computers.

Iam quite computer literate.

Because I can work well with computers and it’s designed with the older generation in
mind

It is the same as before because we were computerised then

Were used to computers. . -
Because you didn’t know how to use a computer at all.

I was familiar with computers

Already computer literate

I used to teach people how to use computers

We were used to computers previously

It's only easy if you've used a computer before

If you know how

I have computer background

It's complicated for someone who hasn't used a computer

I am quite good with computers

It depends how you are with computers

I'm used to using computers

I was echo trained.

System is slow

Good to use but slow.

Fairly easy, but slow.

Good but slow.

Time consuming but not bad

It’s not quick enough when you are busy

Long-winded waste of time.

But, there's a criminal waste of paper, it is time consuming.
Very long-winded.

Getting better. It takes longer.

It is user friendly but a bit slow

It just takes time

It is a lot slower

Time consuming

Just very time-consuming

Much slower than Jackson system

The problem is it is too slow

If 1am on my own, I don't use the computer. It is difficult because it is so very slow.

Problems

Because we have so many stamps it is difficult to work them all out and from which
avenues they come from

The screens are not user-friendly... Too many screens cannot be changed.

Don't like it at alll.

The software; we were told that most of our uses would be on one screen, but this isn't the
case. There is a fair amount of page-search. Too many icons.

Sometime it can seem illogical

The actual system is very easy to use, the difficulty is finding the icons.

I find it very inconvenient having to go through 2 or 3 screens to get to where I need.
Some things on the main screen are irrelevant

You can't make out the icons

c:\temp\appendixxmashorizon.doc 24

POL00028441
POL00028441

It keeps crashing on us; the printer sometimes doesn't work and the system has crashed
ona Wednesday preventing us from balancing.

Have problems with system every night because of not enough training

Too many screens to go to

Balancing and printer keeps breaking down

Simple enough, until you need to make changes. It then becomes very cumbersome, but
even now it is very slow and unnecessarily fiddly. Why do I have to go through 4 screens just
to sell one 1p stamp? It is crazy

But! Is not compatible with post office work.

It could be so much simpler

Difficult to find things

Not user friendly

It is not always user friendly

It is not user friendly and the screens are located on the wrong side of the system. I had to
move the equipment around also.

Parts of it are not post office friendly

Could be easier not user friendly

It is so slow and half the system doesn't work and it isn't user friendly

Other

Hard to use due to DSS mucking up all the time.

Because I used to do it manually and it takes time to get used to

I don’t see any benefit to any of my customers

I don't feel very much in the dark and not in control.

Because it is

Cuts down everything in time

It is the same as before but quicker

This equipment should have been installed at least 1 month before training & we should
have had all manuals then. We could have experienced ourselves the equipment before
training, so at least we would have some practical knowledge before being exposed to
Ican use it

As long as you know which buttons to press.

It was better than I expected

It does the job it is designed for

Does a lot a work for us

Limited application

Because I didn't know how to use it

Because I managed with it

I haven't used it much because I have been sick

Because it adds up for you

I don’t have a chance to use it much as we are only a community post office
Still learning

Learning process

Much better than I thought it was going to be

Not using it myself

I can now geta daily balance

I am well capable to use the system

Because I found it very different to the old system

Because of the lack of training .

Computer literature

c:\temp\appendixxmashorizon.doc 25

POL00028441
POL00028441

Not stated

Not stated.
Not stated.
Not stated.
Not stated.
Not stated.
Not stated.
Not stated.
Not stated.
Not stated.
Not stated.

c:\temp\appendixxmashorizon.doc 26

POL00028441
POL00028441

Balancing

Time consuming/slower

It is very slow - it takes over ten minutes to rollover.

It is just more time consuming.

Takes 3 times longer than previously.

Reasonable, but at first it was very difficult and still takes a long time.

Longer because waiting for machine. Training was far from being sufficient.

It's complete mayhem, it takes hours.

Its takes longer but no more complicated

Time consuming, a lot of time waiting for the computer.

Okay but very very slow and it goes round the houses.

Not well thought out. It is very slow. It can take 20 minutes. Other systems have been
instant, but this isn't.

I understand it but it is very slow

It can be very slow, as I have already said. It is generally quicker to do it manually.
Just speed up a bit.

It is generally much slower. It plays up quite often

The time it takes to get the information into the system

The system is too slow. You can wait 10 minutes sometimes for it to catch up

It takes too long and is very fiddly.

I'm finding the procedure lengthy and time consuming and the printer is very slow
Longwinded it takes forever. Richard Jackson was so much better.

It is taking longer

Wait such a long time between reports - the system is busy. Frustrating. It keeps coming
up with discrepancies; we repeat things over and over.

It takes a lot longer

It’s a bit slower

It takes too long to balance with horizon

It takes a bit longer now

Ten times longer than my program, four hours to balance.

It takes time but] am getting used to it.

Great, but it takes so long to do a rollover (45 minutes usually)

It just takes a bit longer

It is all right. It is quicker to do the balance, but printing it off takes a long time. It takes
longer than previously

It's so time consuming, especially with the lottery print out.

Not bad. A bit slower than before. Even the printing can take half an hour

Time consuming.

Time consuming.

It takes longer.

It's a little bit long winded

It takes 5 times longer to balance than it does with the pen.

It takes ages to do.

Well it’s so long winded.

The only problem is, it takes longer to balance

It is very time consuming

It takes longer

It takes longer. I have learnt short cuts to make it easier.

Is a slow system

Its such a round about fashion biggest problem is that you have to wait to long for the
system to move on to the next part of the program

It takes so much longer-it is disgraceful.

It just takes too long-and the printer is awful

Not as quick as before.... 1 hour now compared with 15 minutes before

c:\temp\appendixxmashorizon.doc 27

Po

POL00028441
POL00028441

Takes longer to do now

It takes far too long to balance now

It takes far too long for me to balance and to print out all the paper

Takes longer now than before

Time factor to long

It takes for too long - twice as long in fact

It takes so long to'print it out

But it takes a long time

Too long to roll over. 40 minutes it takes

Manual half-hour this one and half hours on average

It takes such a long time

It's very time consuming because we have to double up on all checking procedures
I was computerised before, but this system is so much more time-consuming
It takes far too long

Ridiculous - far too slow. It takes over an hour to print out a few sheets of paper.
Time factor taking longer added another hour or more to balancing

Much slower

The balancing takes too long

The time factor is terrible

Takes longer have to have someone always here takes up more time than before
Hopeless. So time consuming. We have one acceptable balance, but all other times it has
taken far, far too long. The system is very temperamental - totally useless.

Because the old system was quicker

The length of time involved

It takes too long and the printer is rubbish

It takes a long time and the system is regularly busy and the printer i is very slow
Don’t understand it takes 4 hours to do balances

Takes longer than before

A lot longer more checking to do

The same but slower

Much slower end of balance printing time longer

It’s slower than doing it manually

Problems

Balancing is terrible. At one point we had no stock sheets to assist with the balancing. Asa
result we had horrendous problems with balancing.

When trying to balance stock it’s completely awful.

It has accumulated my net balance but it’s not correct

The balancing is not user friendly

It took over an hour last time. The screen got stuck and wouldn't budge.

Difficult because we are a lottery post office too.

I have had to reconcile figures to make the system balance.

We arrive at a balance with little or no problems, but we are unable to find mistakes.
The balances have been appalling

Terrible. A few bad balances and it is not very nice. Horrendous. The first couple of weeks
I wanted out. It is getting a lot easier now. It takes time and that is difficult when there is a
queue of impatient customers.

I had trouble getting the system into line with the balance

I still don't understand how it works still. It seems to balance, but I am still wary of it.
It keeps throwing up odd figures all the time

The balance keeps coming out wrong

It is just so unpredictable and time consuming

Extremely cumbersome and tedious

It keeps giving the wrong answer and is taking too long

Couldn't understand where you were going wrong.

To many things you can’t see little errors not seen

c:\temp\appendixxmashorizon.doc 28

POL00028441
POL00028441

Takes 4 hours keeps going on balance nightmare very long wait

Because I have the lottery it takes a lot longer

We're just not used to itand the system seems to be busy when we try and balance

Awful, but I’m getting better. This is only because postmasters have networked between
themselves to help each other out. RNM's help has not matched this type of help at all.

Still having problems with it.

Does not give you a clear indication of how you are doing

Diabolical - we keep having system crashes, not enough back up. Last night the system
crashed again and I was working until past midnight.

When you have a problem harder to sort out

Difficult and slow

Time consuming and difficult.

Hard and very slow to do.

It’s confusing and slow. .

It’s a headache...it takes much longer.

Very slow and difficult.

Takes a lot longer and very complicated for me

It takes 4 hours more complicated than manual system
Slow, difficult trying to correct mistakes.

It is very lengthy and complicated

It is very complex and a very long procedure

Takes longer and is harder

Takes too long. Does not give you sufficient information. To check when you're balancing.
Not easier takes longer because of printing out takes ages

Mixed

In some ways easy, some ways difficult. If I make a mistake it gets difficult, it was easier
before. The POCL cheques are very difficult and the technology is difficult, whereas before
one could just cross out a mistake on paper and write in the correcta

It is straightforward, but if one puts in wrong information it becomes difficult

If problem a lot harder to sort out. With losses and gains especially

Some things I'm not clear on but generally it's okay

If my transactions are correct it is simple otherwise it takes too long

It’s OK if there is no discrepancy.

Need some help, but it’s not too bad.

It's OK if you do actually balance...but if it doesn't, it can be problematic trying to find the
mistake. But there tends to be fewer mistakes with it, because it is very accurate.

When its going right its OK but when something goes wrong its dreadful

It some respects it was easier in manual but at the moment still use the checklists

Not so many figures to do, so less work only problem can't carry over to next day when
finishing late on lottery night is a bit of a pain

Some easier some not

Need more training

We were given 8 hours of training for transactions, but only 4 hours for balancing, which is
far too little and undetailed.

It is still difficult, because there wasn't enough training for this.

You need more training on this

Not too bad, although we did get bad balances in the beginning, but this was because the
training was so inadequate for this.

This was the problem. There was no real training for this, which left you in the dark quite
abit.

Horrendous. Training for balancing was not enough it’s a nightmare

Getting easier but it was very hard to start with - precisely because we had no training for
balancing

c:\temp\appendixxmashorizon.doc 29

POL00028441
POL00028441

Crap...insufficient training for this side of system.

A pain, but this is where the lack of training in this area is to blame
Very different to ECCO system. The lack of training doesn't help
Lack of training

Complicated

It is too complicated

The balancing is more complicated than it needs to be

My part timer used to do the balancing so to start on this computer was complicated
Because sometimes it is slightly confusing :
It is just too complicated

It is so convoluted

A lot of complication don’t understand it

Too complicated

Because it seems to unnecessarily complicated

It’s not straightforward

Worse than before

Because I find this harder to use than the old one

It was better when we were manual.

It takes longer, and we still have problems.

Prior to getting horizon we had losses of about ten pounds per week, now with horizon we
have losses of five hundred pounds a week.

Notas good as ECCO.

Too complicated, when balancing previously I could rectify the system, now its too
complicated

It was easier with pen and paper

It takes an hour longer than the old system. We much prefer the manual way of doing
things

It was easier when you did it manually

It takes 3 times as long and produces twice the amount of paper work

Easier than before

Easier than before.

Because it’s better.

Because it saves me a lot of time

All you have to do is just a one off check and that's it

Well less writing, everything is clear.

There are step by step instructions on what to do

Straightforward.

Generally the same time to do balancing, but with a lot less writing
Not so much writing as before

Information all in there. Easy to find mistakes and check.

You know everything has also been checked

I was computerised before. The new system is quite easy but slow.
It’s early days yet! But I have only had one problem in seven weeks.
Less strenuous as long as one feeds in the correct information, it does it for you.
Once the system is worked out it is just a case of working through it
My balances are better using horizon and it's quicker

Wonderful. So much is done for us - e.g. Postal orders, stamps.

As long as one keeps on top of it, itis easy

Reduces all the paper work, but in the long term it’s easier.

It’s much easier. .
Very easy once I got used to it

Far easier to do.

It's easier

c:\temp\appendixxmashorizon.doc 30

POL00028441
POL00028441

It is only a matter of putting it in. It tells one what to do and if one has made a mistake it
is just a matter of looking for it.

It's all done for you

It's less hassle

It's simple

Because my RNM taught me a way to do it which was simple
I’m not in control, but it is easier.

It doesn't take so long.

Everything is there for you

It does everything for you

It does most of it for you

I felt it was easier

Easy and it saves us money as well

Balancing is easy now too

It is better than ECCO

Always right now

There is less paper work and it's all "touch button"

It’s all done for you.

Easier

Now where you are all the time

Quite easy

Because you can check it regularly

You just press buttons and it does it for you

The computer does a Jot of the manual work

I'm computer friendly and it takes all the manual side out
Showing mistakes better

Easier, only takes longer when you make a mistake

It points out discrepancies very fast

Getting/got used to it

A little difficult at first, but it is just a case of more practice in using the system.

Now its up and working properly its fine.

The first couple of times were horrendous but I'm starting to get used to itnow.

There were a few hiccups but its fine now.

Slower to do, but more accurate. Taken 5 weeks to feel comfortable with procedures.
I think it is because it is fairly new but think we are getting faster.

Training wasn't enough.... We are slowly getting used to it though.

It's getting better but with practice

It's OK now

Once I got used to it, itis very simple

Its OK now

Once you know how to use it, itis simple

Just getting there after six weeks. It was quite problematic at first.

Originally quite difficult but now it is shaping up.

Still fairly difficult because I have only done it three times, but it is getting easier all the
time and the instructions are helpful.

We had a dreadful first few weeks.

Only after 6 weeks am I now getting used to it.

Better now, but it was a bit difficult at first

Because I've got used to it

I understand it now because I have got used to it

A little easier now

Were getting there

Still getting used to the system

It's OK now but at first it was difficult to do - we had problems which needed some
assistance and required HFSO to come out and visit

c:\temp\appendixxmashorizon.doc 31

Getting used to it in a short time

We are starting to get our heads around it now. It is difficult to locate discrepancies.
I’m into it now

It's getting easier as time goes by

Difficult to start now a lot better

Still a lot manual work to do but think will be easier in the end
Manual still needed took a long time to get used to it

The time much longer but slowly getting there

It took sometime to get into the roll of it

Difficult now OK

Still learning

Now OK but beginning very difficult because of lack of support

Easy but slow

Easy but slow.

Easy but very slow.

It's simple, but the time is longer.

Quite easy but very slow.

Long winded but easier.

It is fairly easy but complicated and takes longer than previously
Easy but slower.

Not difficult but time consuming, long-winded.

Fairly easy but takes a long time

Easy, just the same as before, but it takes a hell of a lot longer with horizon, waiting for
figures to come up.

It’s easy apart from the printer-it's very slow

It takes far too long to balance, although in terms of difficulty it isn't too bad.
I'm in the middle it’s more efficient but takes longer to balance
It is easy but again takes too long

Easier, but much more time consuming than before

Easy but takes more time

Printer very slow. Less writing to do now though

Takes longer but easy to use

It's easy but takes a lot longer

Bit slow fine now

Quicker

Certainly a lot quicker, less transferring of numbers from one sheet to another (where
mistakes can occur) so it is simply more liable to be correct

Quicker generally

It’s a lot quicker :

It’s a little bit quicker than doing it manually but at the beginning it was slow
Because it’s a lot quicker

It saves so much time

It is less time consuming and less paper work

It’s good. It can be quicker

Because it takes less time but I still don't think I’m up to speed

Quicker now

It saves time

Fine

Not bad

Fine.

No problems so far

No real problems

It's slightly different from before but I haven't had any problems

c:\temp\appendixxmashorizon.doc 32

POL00028441
POL00028441

POL00028441
POL00028441

Pretty good
I haven't had any problems recently
I haven't encountered any problems

Better than before

It has its good points.

It is a lot more accurate

It's fantastic

As long as you know the procedures it is very good.

Good but slow

Very slow, but its good.

Good, but very, very slow.

In some ways good but slower in some ways.

Now I am familiar with it it’s fine. But it's very slow

Same as before

Itis no different from before

It is exactly the same as before
It is the same

Other

Well just work through the procedures.

Because you can't get through to the help desk, and it takes ages.

Needs to be longer

Because I’m not used to it

If you make a mistake you have to go right around the system

There's less writing involved and therefore should really make it quite a lot quicker

Because I knew my own system backwards-the logic of horizon is not clear-cut

It hasn't balanced yet.

Have to understand it

Not too bad.

Not everything is available on horizon yet

I was offered help and they explained it to me and an easy way to do it.

Just getting to know everything in the new system

We have been given a different route to take to balance on horizon

Pensions allowances can only do when closed

My husband does the balancing

Does not always give you a true picture

The transactions with cheques and bureau de change had no training with them. I just
managed to do work it out myself

Lack of experience its a learning process

Because we had tills there and some sort of automation in the office. We were already
used to it

It depends on the program you use, as there seems to be two programs. It is tedious and
takes time.

I haven't balanced myself I
If you make a mistake you can't make any alterations I
Lack of practical knowledge and procedures.

There is no set procedure to follow (like there used to be with paper system)

Haven't balanced

You don't have enough practice on balancing, because it is only done once a week

whereas transactions are daily.

Sometimes have to do work twice

I still use the Richard Jackson system - because balancing is a nightmare on horizon. Can

stay up ‘til midnight balancing with horizon

c:\temp\appendixxmashorizon.doc 33
POL00028441
POL00028441

Useful if you want to find out stock levels, but you can't do things until you shut down
certain programs - in this way it can be quite fiddly

Majority therefore could be explained better

I have computer background

Less paperwork.

The process cuts out a lot of paper work

Not stated
Notstated
Not stated.
Not stated.

c:\temp\appendixxmashorizon.doc 34

POL00028441
POL00028441

User Guide

Don't use it/much

Don't use it

Haven't really used it.

Not used it yet.

Don't really use it.

Not used. It is too thorough and cumbersome for me.

Don't use it.

Don’t use it, I use the cards.

Haven't used the user guide

Don’t use it.

I never look at it

Don't use it.

I don’t bother with it

Have not really gone through it. The index could be better.
Don't use it that much.

Haven't had to use it

Never used it - it is wrong I know. 90 percent of things I can cope with and the rest I find
my way round.

Have not used it much, fairly easy

Haven't looked at it

Don't use it

Haven't looked at it

Haven't used it.

Only used it a couple of times

Don't use it.

Haven't used it.

I haven't needed to use it too often

Have not used it

don’t use it much, I use the quick reference guide instead
Don't use it.

Not using it

We don’t need it anymore, but we used to use it when we got stuck
Didn't use the guide

I have not read it yet

It's not relevant to my office

Haven't used it

Haven't used it

Only used it once

Didn't need to use it

Not used it .
Never used it.

Haven't referred to it really

Haven't used it

Haven't used it

Don’t often use it

Haven't looked at it

Don't use it a lot

I haven't used it '
Haven't used it

Haven't used it an awful lot

I haven't really had a need to use it.

Haven't looked at it

We don't use it. It is too technical

c:\temp\appendixxmashorizon.doc 35

POL00028441
POL00028441

Haven't used it

Haven't used it

Haven't used it

We don’t use it

I don't use it very much at all

I’ve only used it a few times-the only problem is balancing
Don’t use it

One or two problems not really looked much
Never got around to using it to busy

Not used it

Haven't had to use it

Don’t use it

Don’t use it enough

Not used it

Haven't used it really

Haven't looked at it

Don't use it ‘
Haven't used it at all

Haven't used it

Don't really use it

Hardly used it

Don't refer to it

Never used it

Haven't used it

Haven't looked at it

No need to use it

Alternative source

Not very good, I think the training work guide is better.

We use the help cards, because we can't find the information in the book, if you do find the
information its okay but difficult.

The user cards are much better, but the book is still good.

Not straightforward... have my own “idiot cards" which I use rather than the manual.
Very rarely use it- I call the helpdesk or find my way round the computer myself.

Have not used it - do not have time at Christmas. I just phone the helpline. Briefly looked
atita few times but not found it helpful when I have a customer standing in front of me.
Prefer the cards .

I don't really bother with it. Too difficult - prefer to use the notes my RNM gave me.

Have not used it because the P.O. has supplied us with an easier version.

It could be much easier, I tend to phone a colleague in another office if I have a problem.
I don’t use it much, I find the little white cards easier to understand

I take my own notes and break it down to what I understand

Still have the idiot guides, so I don't think it is easy for me to read yet.

The training guide and the cards were more helpful and easier

Prefer the leaflets .

Ring help line it’s quicker

By using the cards

Try not use the guide, prefer to phone line

Prefer the cards

Did not need to use it really more trial and error

Too complicated. I use the little cards instead of the user guide

Cant read and work same time tend to ring helpdesk with problems

Use the cards

Prefer the cards plus local knowledge

Not used step by step guides better

c:\temp\appendixxmashorizon.doc 36

POL00028441
POL00028441

Easy/simple

It is very easy to follow

Easy to follow.

Easy to use.

Easy to find info.

One or two things I looked up were easy to find.
Quite easy once under way

its very simple.

It is simple to use

Because it takes you through step by step

It is very efficient

It’s easy to read.

It is simple and straightforward. :
It is very straight to the point and doesn't fluff about
Quicker and more efficient

To the point & straight forward

Straightforward.

Fairly straightforward

Straightforward and logical.

It’s simplified

Easy to use but don't need to.

Straightforward.

Easy.

It explains everything in detail

Straightforward

If I have had a problem I have found the solution in the guide
It’s all there in black and white

Just follow the index and it’s simple

It is simply laid out

It's easy now

Because I can understand it

Well on the times I’ve needed to use it it's been straightforward.
It's all there in black and white

It is easy to follow

Very good and quite clear

It is easy to read

It’s quite logical

It is pretty straightforward

It's easy to read without a lot of jargon

Quite easy, although it could be condensed.
You can just follow the instructions step by step
Because it takes you through step by step

Everything is just straightforward

Step by step guide very useful

Very simple straight forward don’t need to go through whole book to find things out
It's just a fact of finding it

Straight forward find quickly what you need
Straightforward

Easy to use

Easy enough

Easy to follow straightforward

All documented simple

Straightforward, self-explanatory

Straightforward

Easy to use

Straightforward and comprehensive

c:\temp\appendixxmashorizon.doc 37

POL00028441
POL00028441
—_—__ 0” mn i mn— aro

Self-explanatory

It’s easy to follow if you can find what you are looking for
Simple to understand

Straightforward

It's very clear

Straightforward

Straightforward

It is easy to follow

OK/fine/no problems

No problems.

No problems

Not too bad

No problem.

I only used it for the first week or so. No problems
Okay

Not outstanding really.

Only used it once, so hard to comment, but fine.
It’s OK, but it doesn't cover the options shown on the screen.
Not bad, but you know what you have to look for.
Not bad but needs some improving.

It's OK.

Not too difficult

It’s not too bad.

It's fine

Once you get used to it it's fine

Not brilliant but OK

Not too bad to use

Its all right I think

Not too bad to understand

Reasonable

Average

Average help

I haven't had to use it much but when I have it’s okay

Good/useful/helpful

Very helpful - without it we would be lost.

Small print, but quite good.

Well explained.

He explained everything we should be doing. The book is very useful
The snapshot guides are helpful. Haven't gone into actual user guide yet.
Helpful

Good to use

It is good

Quite good

Quite good

Helpful

Good.

Anything we want to know we just look in the book

Very good, and the cards are helpful too.

Its good.

It helps you a lot

Fantastic

c:\temp\ appendixxmashorizon.doc 38

POL00028441
POL00028441

Well laid out

It is all Jaid out logically and well simplified
It is fairly comprehensive

Diagrams and charts good and easy to follow
Well it's just well set out.

Well illustrated

It is fairly well laid out

It’s gota flow chart

It’s well laid out for you

With handy sheets

Well laid out.

It is well written

It's well set out

It is well laid out

Explained well

Well explained

Explained well

The explanation is very good

Difficult to use/can't find answer

don’t think the flow charts are very good.

If you find what you are looking for... But you don't know what you are looking for if you
can't figure out what the problem is.’ .

It's not user-friendly

It would be better to use words than the flow chart

Not straight to the point. Not well organised at all. Lots of charts but not the information
we really require.

Sometimes you can't find what you need

The flow charts would have been better replaced by icons

It is very difficult to use and difficult to find what you are looking for

I'm not very computer literate and the jargon is awful.

Can't understand it.

I can't find what I'm looking for

It could be more simplified

I don’t find it easy to use - it is large and the index could be easier.

It can be a bit hard to understand some things, and difficult to locate the area you need to
look up.

It is not very user friendly

find it hard to understand the way it is worded

It's very complicated

It doesn't give you what you want. It seems very basic and doesn't help in trouble-
shooting.

You have to hunt for what you want. It is fairly difficult to come across what you're
looking for

I try to avoid using it. I find it hard to locate the information I need

Only used it a couple of times, but it doesn't explain things well.

Not very easy, but I’ve managed to get the information I needed from it

It is written by someone who doesn't understand the post office

Difficult to locate essential items in it. It doesn't have the answers to some problems
anyway

The flow chart system is confusing

Reasonable, but sometimes it doesn't seem to have precise answers to my problem
To complicated wording and layout

It's just not straight forward

It doesn’t go into enough detail

It’s quite confusing

c:\temp\ appendixxmashorizon.doc 39

POL00028441
POL00028441

Starting to get use to it after 10weeks not explained well
It is not in plain English, has no answers for you.
Too much jargon

Too detailed/too big

Sometimes there is too much if you want to find something quick
It's not simplistic enough

Because it's long winded

There are far too many lines/icons. It is a bit thick

There is too much information-it needs to be like a reference guide
Could have been put down ina far simpler form.

It is a bit big

There is too much writing

It's heavy going

There are too many pages.

There is a lot of information in there to rummage through

Too big and far too much information in it.

There is so much of it to go through

Itis all there, but to use the system is easier than to plough through the manual
It's too big

Takes too long to find anything

It takes too long to find anything in the user-guide too long winded.

Because we have been able to handle problems quickly with the guide

It takes a while to find it in the book

Again time consuming, but it is of help.

You don't have the time to read it!

Everything in it is just a matter of taking the time to look it up. Very good
We don’t have time to read through the guide

Takes a long time

OK, but when you are faced with a queue at the door, you don't have time to sit down
and study the guide.

It just takes time to look everything up

Incorrect/missing

Certain areas of the book - if you follow instructions it just does not operate the way the
book says. If we get into a problem there is just no way out of it - well nigh impossible. No
way of knowing how long the procedure is going to take - can be more

It doesn't answer relevant questions,

Some of the information is incorrect

Because some things aren't in-the book

It does not give enough information at any one point

It could be better indexed. There is even wrong information in it - it was misguiding me.
But certainly there needs to be a main index at the back and not just a short index after each
section.

Don’t explain what supposed to do

Sometimes the example isn't correct

Useless/unhelpful/poor

It is useless. .

It refers you to subsections a lot of the time. Usually this is unhelpful - some- times there is
no subsection existing anyway!

There a load of rubbish, we don't bother using them, they're awful.

No point in it

Not user-friendly

useless...difficult to read, misses the point, doesn't really help.

c:\temp\appendixxmashorizon.doc 40

POL00028441
POL00028441

It is not at all helpful. It doesn't equate to the way people work computers. I don't bother
using it.

No index

Because there is no index

You don't even have an index

It's not in any order and hasn't got an index

Poor

Completely awful, it needs to be in plain English.
Not too brilliant.

Ill conceived

Mixed

Some things are easy, some things are a bit long-winded but one finds the answer
eventually

Getting to the section takes some time, but once one is there it is very good

Some sections are good, but some bits are a bit of a rigmarole to go through.

OK for transactions, but more information needed about how to balance

Other

I find it easier with the user guides, the book takes ages.

It just is

All the information is in there if you have time to look

Because I use ita lot

It is better than the post office but does not cover everything-it's not a reference guide, its a
user manual

On the administration side it can be difficult - the suspense account and the correction
account have a lot of problems

It doesn't sink in very well

Eventually you find what you are looking for

It appears to be written by people who don't have experience of the post offi ice

It isn't explicit enough. You have to look carefully for what you need.

As long as you follow the instructions you're okay

The change is difficult to adjust to

Because we can’t find it

Because all you need is practice

A lot of for shared or individual easy to get confused between two have to keep thinking
back to the manual system

I feel comfortable using the system

It’s been written with thick people in mind

Don’t show enough examples

Makes sense now not at start

Not stated

Not stated.
Not stated.
Not stated.
Not stated.
Not stated.
Not stated.
Not stated.
Not stated.
Not stated.
Not stated.

c:\temp\appendixxmashorizon.doc 41

RNM

Helpful/explain/answer questions

They have always helped out within the next couple of days

They help out.

He stayed with us for 2 hours and helped us understand, he was great.
Helpful

He has visited twice and been very helpful.

OK- have helped

Helpful advice ’
Well, like the training, he gave me extra training until I felt confident.
Well, she came in and fully trained me and she’s always a phone call away.
Accessible and they will always try to help you out and call around

If I have problems they try to fix them quickly

Quick efficient and with a single phone cal they can help you out

The RNM has always rung or visited when I have had a problem and has sorted it out.
In a practical way very helpful

She was so helpful, she either stayed with us or was a phone call away.
Very very good. When we needed someone to train us and show us.
No support before installation, but afterwards they have been round or phoned - and that
is helpful. We have had 2 changes of RNM recently.

She spent a lot of time with us and was very helpful

The first few weeks we had visits, and were reasonably helpful.

He is very helpful

He was always available and very helpful

Helped out

He always responds quickly to problems I have

Helpful

He's very helpful.

He was always on hand and helpful

He solved and was willing to help me.

If I have had any problems they have helped me out

Deputy RNM helped out in almost every balance so far

Because he was always there or willing to help

He helped me to resolve my problems

days in a row she was here to help

She was so helpful

Much more helpful than horizon were.

Any problems sorted out came here to do it

Well, she came to start with and really helped.

Helped outa lot

Excellent and very helpful

He came out and helped with the balance

Quite helpful, but he was very busy and wasn't able to give as much attention as he
would have liked, because he had so many people to see and visit.

Because they're always patient and explain everything for you

She was very helpful and fixed our problems

He helped us with balancing and got us fixed

They always have the answers

She came and helped us balance for 2 weeks and was very much hands on
He was very helpful.

She's brilliant has been my biggest help

Quite helpful

They spent a lot of time with me and were helpful

Helped us out

c:\temp\appendixxmashorizon.doc 42

POL00028441
POL00028441

POL00028441
POL00028441

She came out when we had trouble and helped us out

He was very obliging every time

Very helpful

Have helped when you needed them

Has given additional information to make easier for me some short cuts
Always got help when needed no problems

If I needed to speak to him he was helpful

Very helpful when we started out.

They were all very helpful and understanding

Very helpful

She helps more than the horizon people do

They helped out everybody in their area

Solved our problems

They always help me out

Much better than the initial training was

A lot of help with balancing said will call anytime need help very good
Helped out

Helped a lot always there

Always there to help

He showed an interest and was here trying to help. He camea lot.
Every week helped us

She has called out and helped with any problems

She helped us with any problems

They do come show short cuts very helpful

Helps always °

They stayed 3 or 4 hours been three times been helpful.

Sorted out the problem

Very helpful

He always been here to help

Any questions he could answer

Available/there if needed/only a phonecall away

Always available and found relief for us while we were training.

There on the phone if I need them.

She's always available, and calls to make sure were OK.

She rings at least once a week, and she’s always there.

He is always available and very willing to help

Well I know if I phone him he'll be there, or he could come in and help.

They are very easy to contact and the system has been quite responsive

She gave me her mobile number so she was always available

If I had a problem help was available

She's always there. She is very accessible and all it takes is a phone call.

Well you can ring the help line or they come out in person.

Well, they were there, but the horizon helpdesk weren't there.

Always there

Always phoned after balancing on the first couple of weeks. Always told me where he
was so I could contact him. Arranged for the field support officer to come down

She there at the end of the phone and has come out on various occasions when I have
needed her

I have not had any problems. She phoned and she is there for me but I have not had to
contact her.

He was available for whatever I needed

Phone calls away. .

She was always on the end of the phone if we needed her.

He was here on the day of installation and not since, but we know where to find him if we I
want him. 7 I

c:\temp\appendixxmashorizon.doc 43
POL00028441
POL00028441

They were there when you needed anything
He is always available and willing to help

Always there if we need help

She was always around if needed.

If you need him he is always available

He is always available to help

He is always available

He is always there when we need him

He is always at the end of the phone

He is always available and checks we are okay
They have always been available

She comes out whenever we have a problem
He's been there if you needed him

He helped us with any problems and was always available
She is always here when I want her

Because he is there if we need him

He will always come in

She was always available and offered help

He's there if need him

He is with us whenever we need him

He came when he was needed

There hasn't always been help available

He's been there when needed

They've been there at the end of the line whenever I need them
There when needed to follow up.

He's been there when we need him

Came when we needed them

Good/excellent/brilliant

She is a very good manager

Good but not 100%

She has come back when I was not happy about things. Very good

Brilliant... am indebted to her, and owe her special thanks.

Fantastic

Any support I wanted, I got. Very good. Helped with the balance, supplied me with
documentation which I found useful. He phoned through 2 or 3 times later during the balance
period, his support was excellent.

Excellent

Excellent and very helpful

Excellent

Excellent

Excellent

He was better than good

He has been great

He was on the ball and knew what he was doing
Excellent

Nothing was too much trouble

Excellent

He has been brilliant

For what he knows he is very good
Excellent

Very good, came out several times to see if things were going OK
He came and explained things without me even having to phone him. He was great
100%

c:\temp\appendixxmashorizon.doc 44

POL00028441
POL00028441

Supportive

They came out during the first two weeks, just to get us sorted.

She was very supportive

Good. He came in at 10:30pm one night, trying to help me balance.
We are getting more support now than we were.

They really looked after everything

On the night we migrated, my RNM stayed with me.

She is always there at the other end of the phone, or she comes when needed. Very
supportive

She was there and would be willing to help out

They have been fairly supportive

Very supportive and sent people out to help when needed.

Good support helped with balances

Very supportive but has limitations

They have always backed me up

He was here to support and kept in touch with us

Visits/phones to check we're OK

She kept in touch before hand, she couldn't be here on the day, but continuously called on
the phone to check we were okay.

The RNM came out every week and there was someone to phone. Not left in the lurch.
They always check to see how we are getting on

She came a few times, phoning. It was just the balancing during the first week that I had
problems

Well he always phones he's been in to check on us.

Well the retail net work guy has been in with us, he even phones most days.

He always rings me up and checks that things are okay

She has followed up and checked we are okay

He checks to see if we are okay

Visited us but no problems

OK .

Reasonable - and that is all can say

No complaints at all.

It was reasonable -could have been better.
Just about adequate

Just about adequate

Not too bad.

Have not seen RNM/hardly there

Haven't seen him or her at all. Disgusting really.

Have not seen anybody

I haven't seen her for about 9 months

There's been nobody to help.

Ihave not heard anything from the RNM

Because I haven't seen them that much

Wasn't really there.

We branch managers were left alone to get on with it
Didn't see her at all

In seven weeks he has rung me once.

I haven't seen my RNM

Haven't seen him

Haven't seen him.

It's very limited

I have not seen her lately, I know she is busy. I saw her during the first couple of weeks
but not for the last 2 months.

c:\temp\appendixxmashorizon.doc . 45

POL00028441
POL00028441

Haven't even seen him for months, I haven't seen him since we fetid it installed.
I haven't seen him.
Haven't seen my RNM
Haven't had any support
I was left to do the first balance on my own.
Didn't see my RNM once
Never saw him
Haven't had any connection with him what so ever.
I haven't used my RNM.
Doesn't visit enough
We have only seen her once
Didn't even ring me up to see how I was doing. Not very good at all, very disappointed
Haven't seen him
Didn't have any support
Only gave us very limited support
My RNM hasn't been down regularly
I’ve had no support at all
Never seen her
Haven't had any support
Have not seen the retail network manager
* 391 No contact at all!
Haven't had any support
Nothing at all - not even a phone call
One phone call and that was it
Have not had any information
Haven't seen my RNM
Haven't seen my RNM
Very little contact with us
Haven't seen one
We don't have much to do with our RNM.
Not seen anyone
We hardly ever see him

Can't help/no knowledge of horizon

He is offered if we need him, but can't really answer my questions so what's the point.

Tried, but he himself suffers from a lack of knowledge - which is no support.

I have asked for support and advice, but a lot of the time they have replied by saying that
they know as much about it as I do. In other words, they haven't yet had the experience to
deal with problems.

He was unable to train because he hadn't had any training himself.

He was there when needed, but didn’t know any more than I did.

Non-existent help from her.

It was like the blind leading the blind!

She was learning at the same time herself

Only seen him once. Not much help. Tried to call him but no luck really.

To be fair he was in the dark as well, but he tried to be helpful.

Retail network manager only knows about the same as us 3
Offered to come in every Wednesday - although he himself is not that clued-up on the
system.

It was OK, but she had only been on the same course two weeks previously. It was like
the blind leading the blind.

He was here when needed, but he is not that clued up on the more technical aspects.
He was not trained he had not operated the system before we were one of the first on it
We were just left to get on with it. 1st balance assistance was poor - the blind leading the
blind.

Had not had any training

c:\temp\appendixxmashorizon.doc 46

POL00028441
POL00028441

He came twice but he himself hadn't been trained!

Not very familiar not trained well enough

They are not any better trained than ourselves, so they did their best. It was like the blind
leading the blind. .

No help given when they came

Because he hadn't gone on his training by the time we were live
They don’t have much knowledge on horizon

He says he doesn't know anything about it

She wasn't trained on horizon

No support

She did not know enough not her fault though tried her best

Don't need them

like to sort out my own problems

Well I didn't need much support.

Didn't need support

Not needed

Came on the day of installation, but we didn't need any real help after that.
Didn't use him

You did not actually need help

It has been fairly good, but I have not needed it. The RNM has been there if I wanted her.
Not needed

I didn't need a lot of support or assistance

It was very good but not needed

Hasn't needed any support

Called once. Then called to help but we didn’t need him.

Did not need it

We didn't experience any real problems, so he wasn't needed very much
Did not need or hear from them

have had no need to ask for help.

Over stretched

They are stretched and there are too many post offices for them to deal with
She is stretched but can't get around to every office

She always just told us to ring the helpdesk, she was never free.

He has a large area to cover, so it hasn't been too bad considering this.

They were under pressure with no time to help us.

To much pressure on them

Resources have been stretched lack of training is the problem

Difficult to contact/get hold of

Horizon field support officer was here for the first balance and I understood someone
would be here for the second but I heard nothing and had to do it all on my own. When I try
to contact the RNM she takes a long while to get back to me.

Well, we have had difficulty in contacting the network manager and his associates.

He doesn't return my calls

You can never get hold of him

When you can get hold of him

Other

There hasn't been any training.

We had someone round to help us with the balancing

They know us ona one to one.

A few times the assistant to manager has called.

We had one or two problems, including with the lottery. DSS gave us rubbish information
which contradicts what the RNM tells us, so we do it the way the RNM says

c:\temp\appendixxmashorizon.doc 47

POL00028441

POL00028441

He arrived after we had figured it out for ourselves, it was the first time we'd seen him for
months.

Due to the quick response on the help desks

The system hasn't run as smoothly as expected

A lot more help from other people out side of the post office

My RNM was on leave for a week, nobody else would help me.

Well we haven't really been involved.

They were available eventually

Seems to know more than horizon does.

They came out eventually

get immediate attention.

Far more knowledgeable than the horizon staff. Horizon staff are not familiar with post
office procedures,

had an HFSO out to help me, I was very nervous with the first balance on my own.
We had a lot of extra help, we had a remarkably good RNM to help us especially with
horizon. It was not our usual RNM

I did have problems and someone in the RNM dept came out two weeks running to help
with the balance.

On the day of the first balance, the trainer did not turn up till 7.40 p.m. So the RNM came
out that evening from his home.

He did all he could under the circumstances

I never bothered them, however I had a small problem and they came out quite quickly &
helped to resolve the problem

They weren't responsible for the job

Sometimes he didn't come

It could have been better

Because we have gone direct to the support line, we have been left to muddle along on
our own I have suggested that now is the time we should have an evening training system
now that we are familiar with the system

He's called in at times but cant always stay

He helped out with the problem we had with the printer

She made sure that one of her staff came out to visit and help out

Came one day as we were closing

She came just one day. I was very wary of doing the balancing on my own, and in fact
refused to do the 2nd balancing solo. My RNM was not at all pleased with this.

He came a few times to help me balance

They came weekly

He has only been in once and that was not for horizon

Had two people come who were saying different things tried to help but did not

He came every week

Already knew it

She was with us for a long time and stayed very late

We have only had to use him twice

Had to change network manager

But the best help we have had was from another postmaster

It took about 4 weeks for someone to come to sort out the problem.

Not stated.
Not stated.
Not stated.
Not stated.
Not stated.
Not stated.
Not stated.
Not stated.
Not stated.
Not stated.

c:\temp\appendixxmashorizon.doc 48

POL00028441
POL00028441

HFSO

Good/excellent

They were 100 per cent stayed 3 days

The lady was very good

Nothing was too much trouble for the guy

They fixed the telephone and if they cannot help they pass it on to someone who can help.
They continue to help. Very good

Very efficient

From the migration she stayed with us for 2 days. Her help was very well received. We
could not have done without her. Very good indeed - better than the original training course.
Very supportive. Stood back to see how much we knew. Absolutely brilliant. He was here
on time, went through things with us, left us with notes on how to use.

Excellent.

Ten out of ten! He was very patient, knowledgeable and supportive.

The quality was good but the time was terrible

Good but he speaks "double dutch" to us.

not too bad atall.

He was very good and helped us out

He's wonderful nothing is too much trouble

Good.

Very good. No more to say.

Good help.

Very approachable, he was an ex counter server himself.

Brilliant

The support with the first balance was excellent, first class, but that was the end of it.
He was brilliant, but then again we can never get hold of him.

She was marvelous. I have no complaints. Very efficient and patient.
I just found him fantastic-he answered all questions

She was excellent too.

One to one help with the HFSO was absolutely excellent

Excellent assistance from both people who have called in to help me.
She was good for the time limit she had

Good too

Fantastic.

Excellent

She was brilliant.

He was very thorough and understanding

The explanations were excellent

Because they had time and patients for us

Excellent, but he was only trained up to my own standard

She was very good

She was brilliant-she made it all easy to understand

Good at migration

She was quite good but had trouble with migration

He was excellent, and helped us get off to a good start with no problems
Excellent

Excellent advice and help

Couldn’t do enough for me.

12 out of 10

Good, but not enough practical experience for me (hands-on)

Three very good ladies

Brilliant help

He had 1 and half days here was very good

Good help, support and advice

c:\temp\appendixxmashorizon.doc 49

POL00028441
POL00028441

She was patient and let everybody work at their own speed.

Excellent

Pretty good once you can speak to them

Very good guidance given

This was good, and helped me to understand how to use the system from day to day
He was good

They came out and sorted everything for us-they were first class

Helpful

Very helpful

Very helpful it has allowed us to settle in to using the system.

Visited just once and was helpful

Helped out

She was very helpful.

Helpful advice

Helpful.

He was very helpful

He was very useful, he came and helped with installation, he helped with balancing.
The girl was here at the beginning, and wrote out the basic procedures. They were very
helpful.

Generally they are quick and helpful

Very helpful, informative and knowledgeable

They come out to us and help.

The girl who did it knew the system very well and she was helpful

He was very helpful

We needed him more, but he was helpful when around,

He was fine, helpful

Helpful

He was a real good help.

Excellent help and advice.

She knew her stuff very helpful.

They were quite helpful but they didn't know the system as well as they should have
done. :

Really good and helpful. Nothing we asked her that she could not answer.
Very helpful

He was very helpful and everything went very smoothly

Also helpful

Very helpful

Helpful

He is extremely helpful

They were quite helpful

She was very helpful and explained everything very well

2 very helpful ladies

He was really helpful

They were helpful and could answer all questions

He helped us with everything

Very helpful

Marvelous help at the outset

Very helpful

Quite helpful, except she came on the wrong day (Saturday, our quietest day)
It was very helpful

Very helpful and stayed with me until I was confident

Helpful

They do help us out

Helpful

Helped

c:\temp\appendixxmashorizon.doc 50

POL00028441
POL00028441

Extremely helpful during first day he stayed 3 days very good
Very helpful explained it well

Efficient people helped

He was very helpful and explained simply

He helped a lot.

She was very helpful while she was here.

They were very helpful

He was helpful but made it harder for us

She was very helpful

Knowledgeable

He knew what he was talking about.

They seem to know what they're doing

He knew his way around the system

Very knowledgeable, easy to work with and could answer all questions
He knew what he was doing

He knew what he was talking about

They knew what they were talking about.
Very knowledgeable

They know what they're doing

He was very competent with the system.
She knew everything

They were very familiar with the computer
They know what they're talking about

Explain clearly

They explain everything clearly

They were the ones who showed me how to do the cash accounts and I didn’t learn
anything at my other training.

Because he showed me clearly what to do and could answer all questions

They seem to answer queries without many problems

Very sympathetic he helped me to break down the manual and simplified it for us.
Showed us a lot good explanation

He knew all he should and explained it very well

He explained everything and was very patient

Explanation good

She explained things very well

Explained things well

Helped explained it well

There when needed

Well, they were there when I wanted them.

Any problems they’re at the end of the phone at all times.

They have always been there.

If I had a problem she was available

You're given phone numbers and good general guidance. People are generally very
accessible.

They're always there.

Because they stayed with us while we needed them and they're always available
They are as I have already said accessible.

They were available all the time

Quick to come out if needed

As before, I received any support I needed

c:\temp\appendixxmashorizon.doc

51

POL00028441
POL00028441

Answer questions/solved problems

Well he answered all our questions.

He resolved my problems quickly and very easily.

He answered all the questions I asked

She could answer the questions and was helpful

he answered all the questions we had and put right any problems we needed seeing to. It
was the same person who visited all my post offices.

Could answer all questions

She knew the answers

They had answers to all the questions I had

OK

OK

She was okay but she hadn't done it before.
OK too

No problems

Fine no problem

Have not had any problems

No problems

Fine

Supportive

Because he was very supportive

He was very patient.

She was very competent and supportive

They are supporting you

They were there for us and could answer our questions
They kept in touch to see if we were okay

Very supportive and explained things well

Helps. They were very supportive.

Limited knowledge/help

Some of the questions he couldn't answer

He didn't know enough about it

He didn't know enough

He didn't know all the information

Some of the things they were also learning at the same time and were unsure of certain
questions

He's only been doing it himself for a couple of weeks and his support wasn't up to scratch
The field support officer did not turn up till late. He did not know how to do the balance;
we were three thousand pounds out. He had to phone a friend eventually. I feel I knew as
much about computers as he did, but I had only used it f or one and a half

She did her utmost but was lacking in some aspects of the training

They were good but still limited on their knowledge because they were also learning

He was new had to ring in and check things

My feeling was that he didn't know the system and lacked experience. He wasn’t a very
good "teacher", and actually was making his own notes as he went along. He even made a big
error that we had to reconcile later on. He had an appointment at 7:30pm and

He was also learning himself

She was unsure of certain things herself

This was not that good really, because he was more interested in correcting the mistake
quickly (due to pressure of time) than telling me why the problem had occurred and how to
avoid / deal with that problem in the future.

They themselves were also learning

He was still learning

Not much help at all

c:\temp\appendixxmashorizon.doc : 52

POL00028441
POL00028441

Not as informed as they should be

She was okay but didn't know enough about the system

Could only help to a certain extent - some help but only here for a short time.

Not well trained

Did not know what she was doing even asked me

Very late, and did not know what he was doing. It was his first time and he had not been
trained well.

He was not adequately trained

All right, but he didn't give us information we needed.

Not explained very well

He just didn't seem to understand everything that was going on

They meant well but didn't understand it

Had 2 different people and they expected us to know the printer. They left before the
problem was sorted out.

More time and training

In the two days that they spent here, we didn't get to cover it all. We needed more time for
training.

only saw him once and it was quite brief.

It was OK but too brief.

He was effective but the time was just not right

When he was here it was very good but I could have done with longer

Limited in his time - only here a couple of days. Helped me balance the first time but it is
different when one has to do it on one's own.

Good when she was here but we needed her for a longer period.

He's good, just need more time.

Only saw him for a day when we went live and that was it.

Could have done with his help a bit longer

But the duration of the help was not long enough

Only came for one and a half days this was not enough.

He's not been back-it would be better if there was after support

She was very good but wasn't with us long enough

Very helpful, but I wish we could have had her longer with us; at least 2 or 3 days (she
had to fly back to England on a scheduled flight)

Because he only came for the limited amount time he had to

Quite good, but only had a limited time with us, and her advice was very “parrot
fashioned"

Very good, but he was only here for a day and a half, and he only came ona Thursday
which was not as good as coming on a Wednesday for balancing. He should have been here
longer

No long enough here but good while here

We only had him for half a day. Still needs help

Few problems were not sorted. OK otherwise, but longer support needed

No support

Didn't have one.

No support,

Never came into contact with this person, didn’t know there was one.
‘104 Don’t know who or what thatis.

No support

No support.

Haven't seen one

Don’t know who that is

Haven't used him I
Never seen one

I didn't know we had one.

c:\temp\appendixxmashorizon.doc 53
POL00028441
POL00028441

We were left on our own

We have been left to muddle along
They were too busy to help me.
Didn’t know you had one

Made mistakes

He misguided me in migration. We had to train him on some things!

They are useless. They ruined my accounts system and couldn't mend it, finally leaving me
to try and sortitout. °

He told us some incorrect things

Just OK. He couldn't answer some of my questions, and in fact gave us misleading
information on one occasion.

They have told me the wrong thing sometimes, and have had to come round again to sort
things out.

The person was OK, but there was a problem he made while he was here

When it came to balancing he spent most of the time sorting out his own mistakes he
made, It was terrible. -

Because they cocked up the system

2nd visit by HFSO actually caused a problem which he made. I haven't been able to
balance sufficiently since...

He gave us some incorrect information, and seemed to be more interested in his Jacuzzi
than he was with the work he was supposed to be doing for us. Didn't seem to know much.
Couple of things weren't done properly

No help/no knowledge/incorrect

He had no experience.

He didn't have a clue, he was asking me questions.

He didn't know anything at all-he caused us problems

Didn't help at all, she only sat in back office doing paper work. We were left to try and
sort out the system on our own. When we did ask questions, all she did was to tell us to call
the helpdesk.

They never had your answer

Did not have experience

Day and half spend doing paperwork no help at all

Don't need them

Didn't need her.

Haven't needed it.

Didn't ask for any support from this person
Not needed any

Haven't needed him

Conflicting info

OK, but there seemed to be some confusion as to the advice to give. In one case the RNM
and the HFSO contradicted themselves with the advice they gave me.

We received different information

different people all said different things

Other

We had one vital visit, but this was difficult to arrange. We had quite a battle trying to get
the man to come out.

Mixed feelings. .

We got 2 days in office training

Only a day after installation and on first balance did I get a visit.

c:\temp\appendixxmashorizon.doc 54

POL00028441
POL00028441

He spenta lot of time arranging his social life, talking on the phone to other field support
officers about what to do in the evening. He stood behind me and watched and helped us use
the system for the first couple of days

He just got in the way.

Quick again

She didn't know much about the post office but with regards to horizon she was excellent
Not many problems as yet. Only with the losses and gains

They were not very well trained themselves - they were always phoning someone to find
out or phoning friends to discuss what they would be doing that evening.

As before I’ve had a lot more help from other people out side of the post office

Initially very good then I got a different field officer and then it was not so good. She did
not know how to help with a particular problem - it was a nightmare. A third person came -
and now I understand the balancing. But not enough support - even though

We have had two visits, but the officers managed to contradict each other.

He had plenty of patience

Whenever we call they don't get any answers.

He did the migration and helped me with the first balance, but he tended to say things as
fact rather than explaining them.

He wasn't that efficient

He was sensible.

Well he was here on installation day, he stayed a couple of days after that too.

They've been very long winded with problems

Difficulty in contacting the proper department.

Not the right sort of help. She had problems sorting out personal problems. Not the right
attitude - made a formal complaint

He was here all the time at first in the afternoon, then through to the evening on the
migration date.

She was very good, but she did not know about certain aspects - like local rent schemes.
She had to phone someone else about it. She was very helpful but we got confused. It got
sorted out eventually; it would have been better if it had been sorted out be

Well I suppose on the first day he was a counter officer, the 2nd day we had a trainer.
They were able to initiate the system and get it up and running

Well when I have had to get in touch they can sort it out over the phone.

She pointed out a few easy accesses to the system

He was here on installation but I haven't seen him again

There was one cock-up but other than that it was okay

When phoned action is immediate

Much better than RNM.

They made one mistake but they fixed it

Because there isn't any after installation contact but when he was here it was good
support

Three people helped but could have been easier

They covered everything within our time limit

Only seen once

We only had someone here for the migration but the second girl was helpful

Don’t remember this person seen so many

They showed us a lot on the system .

Not his fault we were not given enough support. Think it is better now.

Much more help than RNM.

We've kept in contact with him

He spent more time on the phone then helping out

Were not told anything all fed in

They just have a tendency to tell you what to do before you have a chance to give itago
yourself

Expected you to know it all kept looking at his watch very poor indeed

They were difficult to get a hold of

c:\temp\appendixxmashorizon.doc 55
POL00028441
POL00028441

We had two people visit from horizon, and most of the time it was one of the people
training the other one. More time was devoted to this than to me, and I felt a bit hard done by
Mixed abilities

No support on balancing fairly good otherwise.

We try to find out things ourselves

They sent someone here for a day to help us out

Because of the time he spent here and details he took in case of problems in the future
Came on day off to make sure everything went well helped with balances

Did enough that was required

He was just there in case we made a mistake

Not stated.
Notstated.
Not stated.
Not stated.
Not stated.
Not stated.
Not stated.
Not stated.
Not stated.
Not stated.
Not stated.
Not stated.
Not stated.
Not stated.
Not stated.
Not stated.
Not stated.
Not stated.

c:\temp\appendixxmashorizon.doc 56

POL00028441
POL00028441

HSH

Helpful

They been quite helpful on the helpdesk.

Not always helpful, but generally are.

There usually helpful.

Helpful.

They really tried to help us out.

Very helpful sorted the problems

Good help.

They help, but they’re not always helpful.

Quite helpful.

They know what they're doing and are very helpful
Quite helpful

Very helpful

They have been very helpful

The person I spoke with and they were quite helpful
We got all the support we needed

Well when I call they've been most helpful.

Very clever people helped usa lot

They always give the right answer

They're very helpful and nothing is too much for them
I've rung them twice and they are quite responsive
They sorted my problems out

They have helped us out.

They have always been helpful

They were very helpful, but sometimes even they were baffled by some problems.
Because they answered all my questions and were helpful
Help right away

Quite helpful

Mostly able to help

I only used them once and they were very helpful
They are very helpful and always set you straight
Very helpful

Queries always sorted

Answered all questions required

He helped us through it, said he would call back and help us, and he did. Very good
Always patient and helpful

Very helpful to us

Only rang them twice and they helped us each time
Able to help most of the time

They have been very helpful

Help through it well

Have helped us out the times we have called them
Always helpful

They've helped with any problems

They couldn't be more helpful

They are very helpful and they get back to you

There ability to help with problems

Explained step by step to me

Quite helpful get through OK

c:\temp\appendixxmashorizon.doc

57

POL00028441
POL00028441

Solve problem

They soon put you right if you have a problem. I would feel lost without the help-desk. .
Because they sorted out my problem

Because they managed to answer the questions as and when we needed them

Well they answered the query.

They talk you through very well and until you have fixed the problem

Every time I phoned they came up with the answer and if they have not got the answer
they follow it up - they find out and phone me back with answers

usually try to resolve my problem

They answer everything efficiently

All problems are dealt with efficiently

[had a problem and it was fixed

Well we had a problem, and she resolved the problem.

They answered any queries I had

They answer all queries

They've always solved my problems

Sorted problem out in 24 hrs

They know the answer of questions straight away

Know things when you ask

OK .

It has worked very well. No problems.

I found out what I needed to know. No problems

Not too bad

No problem, except when they tell you what to do and I do not understand what I was
doing originally or really know my way round the computer
Not too bad :

No problems

No problems

No problems with them.

No problems at all

No problems

Only used once fine

No problem

Excellent

Happy with service

They’re generally very good.

Very good - always very helpful

All the problems we've had have been dealt with efficiently

They are very thorough

Excellent, apart from one afternoon, when I tried for two hours to get through.
The times I have used it I have been satisfied

Brilliant very happy.

Pretty good actually. They've helped us out of most scrapes we had.
They have been very good with me

They have been very good

Good

They went to a lot of trouble to answer the queries

They are very good with assistance on the equipment

Very very good, very very helpful.

Excellent - no problems with helpdesk at all, always are able to help us.
Very good

They have been very good with any problems

Good most of the time, but they can be a bit vague with their advice.

c:\temp\ appendixxmashorizon.doc 58

POL00028441
POL00028441

Had one problem with them but generally good
They are pretty good at their job and they always explain it well
Very satisfied

Quick

They are very quick with solving problems

It’s got me through any problems straight away.
They were very quick

Quick accessible

Quick

Came out straight away

Quick and efficient

They have sorted all our problems very quickly
They give the right information back

Sorted out problem fast

Getting better

They were unsure of the system themselves at the start but are now a lot better
Getting better than it was

Not too bad now

They were limited to start better now as they have learnt more themselves

At the start it was difficult to get answers but now they're very helpful

Always call back with answer

They can usually come back with an answer for us

They always answer the questions or get back to me

They can always help and if not they get back to me

If they can't answer your query there and then they call back

Good if get through

Good if you can get through.

Good when you can get through.
Good if you can get hold of them.

Slow to answer

There is usually a long wait to get a hold of them

It takes a long time to get an answer

The length of time on the phone is too long

Pretty slow, no answer, when I get through it’s slow, but they’re pretty helpful.

It takes a while to get through to them

They take too long and aren't very helpful

It takes too long

Only needed to call them a couple of times, what they have done seems to be all right. But
yesterday when I called it took 10 minutes to answer the call.

They are very pathetic and always unavailable-it takes too long to answer the phone
Take ages to answer though.

Very helpful, sometimes a problem getting through especially on a balance evening.
OK, but they can take a bit of time to answer and also to sort the problem out.

They take too long on the phone, and don't seem to appreciate the fact that we have
queues of customers to deal with.

There aren't enough people to answer the phone-in a post office you need a fairly
immediate response

Except it takes a bit of time for them to answer the phone sometimes

Office undermanned when you needed them

Took too long to answer calls,

They take too long to answer the phone

c:\temp\ appendixxmashorizon.doc 59

POL00028441
POL00028441

Take a long while to get through but OK when you do

Slow to get through but very good then

Because it takes us so long to get through to people

Takes to long to get through

Have to wait to get through when you problems always resolved in the end
They don’t respond very quickly

Sometimes it takes a long time to getan answer

Passed around J

Too difficult to get through to. You are then passed around from pillar to post.

Every time I phoned up they had to ask someone else-it takes too long

If someone can't help, they will pass me on to someone who can help me.

They haven't got a clue what they're talking about. They just seem to pass you on to
another tel. No. It would make no difference to us if they didn't exist at all!

Not much knowledge on things. Tend to pass you on to someone else:

have had a problem and I was passed from one to another and eventually went
somewhere else for help. It is still not sorted out even though it was put through to the
helpdesk as a matter of urgency nearly 2 weeks ago and I have not yet heard from them.
They keep referring us to different places so we seem to be getting nowhere at times
Because they keep referring you to others who still are unable to help

Because sometimes they keep referring until someone can help-it is also time consuming
It takes too long and you keep getting transferred and they don’t ring you back

Sometimes you wait so long for an answer because they keep referring you

When we call we get passed from pillar to post

They were good, but I did speak to a person who didn't seem to know what he was
talking about. He passed me to someone else

When you ring up they keep you waiting and don't know who to put you onto

Pathetic - they didn't know how to answer you, I was passed around, The waiting time to
get through was far too long. This was all very frustrating when we needed help at roll out.
Awkward - they passed you around and didn't seem to know their stuff

Always somebody different have to repeat things all over again to someone else

Lucky to get through. When you do, you're lucky to get an answer. When you geta
response you're lucky not to be passed around or referred to the other helpdesk

Didn't know anything - didn't ring back when they said they would. They also refuse to
give answers immediately but fob you off or pass you around

There is a lot of referring

Sometimes they have to refer to a colleague

Pass to other one the problem

Because you're passed from pillar to post

Lack knowledge

Because they don’t know their stuff very well

Never get through. Not as knowledgeable as could be one point they couldn’t help at all
knew nothing

Lack of experience on the system. They know the book, but have no knowledge of how to
apply it in a counter situation.

They don’t know the answers, I have to find the answer for myself

Mostly they don't know enough to be ona helpdesk.

They are not always clued in

Sometimes they don't know what they're talking about then on the odd occasion someone
does.

They don't know much about it-it takes too long to get an answer

You are left hanging and they sometimes can't answer the questions

All they do is read out of the book-some of their training can't be completed yet

They never know the answer

c:\temp\appendixxmashorizon.doc . 60

POL00028441
POL00028441

Far too long on the phone. They were obviously under-trained, and gave advice which
‘was not correct and showed they didn't know how to apply their limited knowledge to post
office situations

Blind leading the blind. Even today they were unable to give us any help.

Sometimes need to look and check things feel they are learning with us

Limited ...they don't seem to know how the system relates to post office way of working
and procedures

Lot initial questions they don’t seem to know a lot

Not enough knowledge

Too many questions

It takes longer having to give out lots of details

The helpdesk is always very busy. When you do get through, they ask a lot of unnecessary
questions - apparently for security reasons.

Very slow in giving information. They do not understand that we could be very busy and
have a lot of customers waiting, but they will still ask silly little questions to waste your time.
They ask too many questions when you call them up.

They were good, but they did tend at the beginning to pass us to the other help- line.
When you call the other people up, they ask similar long-winded identity questions. All the
while, the queue in the P.O. is getting longer.

There is a long procedure for security

You have to give out so many details

It’s OK, but there are a lot of questions they ask before you can get any help from them.
It takes too long...you have to go through all the ritual of identity. A phone call could take
nearly half an hour

It takes so long with the security procedure and sometimes they don't ring back

I can't remember - except that there are an awful lot of preliminary questions, which they
ask you at the start. This is annoying because it takes a bit of time and the queue in the shop
gets longer and longer.

Ask too many silly questions first and security questions unnecessary.

Very poor. The amount of preliminary questions they have to ask you at beginning is
unacceptable. We have queues of customers waiting to be served - they are kept waiting and
helpdesk doesn't appreciate this

It takes so long to actually get through by answering security questions

Satisfied with results too many questions asked though

Very long security procedure, they keep you hanging on the line and have to keep
referring to others before they can answer

Because you almost invariably have to go through two people and the identification
process takes far too long considering all we want is a quick answer. It's not very helpful

Variable/depends who you get

Not too bad but depends on the person you call. We had major problems with balancing
one night and the 8th person we spoke to seemed to know his stuff and gave good tips. I wish
Thad taken his name because I would like to speak to this person every time.

Not too bad. Some people I spoke to didn't know much though.

Sometimes it is useful other times it is not

One occasion was given wrong advice - troublesome to put right; held on the line a long
time (once a whole hour). Not very happy

It depends on the person you speak to. I have spoken to a person who knew nothing
about the post-office angle. I have 17 years experience and was infuriated with the person's
attitude and comments. E
It depends on whom you get. Some people have used the system and know their stuff but
some people don't understand about the actual items you are talking about.

Some are rude but some can help.

c:\temp\appendixxmashorizon.doc 61

POL00028441
POL00028441

A waste of time, except on one occasion. A girl called Kirsty was an absolute gem. 2 men
had told me it was software problem. Kirsty sorted it out in 2 minutes - but that was the third
phone call. I said the first two should not have a job.

Some seem to know more than others do

I am half-and-half

We found the only time we had good service was when there was a post office man rather
than a horizon person.

It has been very good actually, except on one occasion they didn't know what they were
talking about. A

Some know what to do, others don't

Had two problems with printer first time OK second time had problems which he did not
sort out gave mea lot of stuff which was not true and still have the problem with the giro
printing

It depends on whom you speak to. Some people are well informed, but others just read
from a script - which does not inspire confidence.

One time they made me look stupid and another time they were very helpful

Some queries they have difficulties with

Can't get through

The line was always very busy, and was extremely difficult to get through.

I just can't get through to the helpline on the majority of the occasions

We can't get through on a Wednesday

Getting through is impossible! And when you get through the support is useless

only ring when I can’t find the solution elsewhere. I just cant get through, I have to keep
trying every ten minutes or so - and it has taken me an hour or more to get through once or
twice

Because sometimes no-one answers the phone

the odd occasion I can't get through but when I do itis fine

You can’t get through to them

You can never get a hold of them when you want them

It is very hard to get through to

Can't get through to them

Can't get through. When you do get a ringing tone, they pull the plug out! When you do
get through you don't get correct information sometimes.

On one occasion we couldn't get through

Cant always get through get told different things

Can't get through and when do could not help they don’t have enough knowledge

Unhelpful

If you call, they leave me on the phone for hours, argue between themselves and can’t help
in the end anyway.

They don’t seem to respond very well over a specific problem I’ve had.

They're still learning too, they can't always fully understand our queries.

They don't seem to be able to help when I need them and I was left on hold for over an
hour

Sometimes they can't answer your query straightforwardly

Today I have had a disaster as far as this system is concerned. The helpdesk in all its
inadequacy has not helped at all.

Not much good. They were not at all helpful - giving us rather simplistic advice and also
no uniformity in the advice (contradicted themselves sometimes)

Can’t always solve your problems

Hey pass you from pillar to post. Very unhelpful indeed. On one occasion I was on the
phone for an hour being passed from one person to another

They couldn't help with problems as well

They do their best, but I don't get the answers I am looking for - in other words they don't
answer my specific questions

c:\temp\appendixxmashorizon.doc , 62

POL00028441
POL00028441

It takes too long and too difficult to get the information
They haven't been able to help regularly
The problems are not always sorted with convenience

Wait for answer

Had to wait a week for an answer and I solved it myself in the end.

Keep you waiting for hours, even two days. It is crap. (her own words)

phone them when I need help, they can’t help, and they ring days later with an answer.
You don’t always get the answer immediately

Sometimes the question isn't answered there and then

Ring with a query in the morning and they don't ring until the next day.

They don’t know enough about post office procedures. Delays in them getting back to us
When and if you get through, they don't call back until days later, if they do help they
can'talways find a solution.

I called them 4 days ago and she still hasn't called back. It's really useless.

Sometimes I don’t get responses soon enough and it leaves me in the air

It takes a while to get back to us

Directed to NBSC

I don’t use it much. However I phone one and they say phone the other helpdesk, then I
phone the other and they say phone the first one. Now I say 'no - you find out’ and they do
Only one occasion when they had to refer me to other helpdesk.

Most times we call the wrong line and were always pushed from pillar to post.

They keep passing you to someone else, and when they can't help they refer you to the
other helpdesk. (they in turn have said I need to speak to the horizon helpdesk!)

Don’t solve my problems pass to other helpdesk passing the buck all the time

Been on to 6011 number and had problems referred me to horizon who referred me back
to 6011 who helped me in the end. Not very helpful, do not seem experienced.

Incorrect advice

It gave me the wrong information once

There are a couple of things that were incorrect

The only time that we have called this helpdesk they gave us the wrong information
They were unable to help me ona specific problem. Also, with another problem I was
given contradictory advice to do with the printer - which meant that a whole afternoon was
wasted.

Because they can't give the correct answer

We've had some bad information

Never call back

They don't get back to you.

It has improved but it was poor to start with. They never called you back.

I called and got a bad response, one of the staff said he'd call back, but never called back
and helped.

Someone would mean to call me back but I never seem to get a reply

They never get back with us with our queries, even when our system has crashed. They
talk to you as if you are a moron.

You can't get through or they don’t bother ringing you back. The failed to relay an
important message

Poor

Very poor

Terrible - especially when you compare it to the lottery help-line for example. I won't
bother now with the horizon help-desk.

1 often feel they are struggling to answer you adequately

c:\temp\appendixxmashorizon.doc : 63

POL00028441
POL00028441

Room for improvement
They. are very obstructive and are not conversant with their own procedures
Treated badly said they had sorted but was not kept informed

Useless

There useless

Well when you ring them they can't help.

Useless. Queries they can't answer. An hour and half on phone and no resolution. Not
helpful at all. Sometimes they even seem annoyed that I have rang

The 2 problems I have had, I had to sort out myself, they were not able to help me. -
every time I call I'm on the phone for an hour and they can't answer my questions. In
fact, they make it worse.

Rude

Some of the people are very irritable, and there supposed to be helping, some of them are
rude or they can’t even answer my questions, Others are a bit better.

A bit abrupt sometimes. Think you should know it all.

Bad manners don’t know the problems

Other

Mixed feelings.

Able to help apart from once when he really didn't know what was going on.

During the first balance on our own, waiting for the machine we were told this was normal
We don't get a half day on Wednesday, so when we need help then, they're never around.
Never had a definitive answer straight away - and I have called about 100 times. At the
busiest time of year one of my desks is unusable for 2 weeks - even after 6 phone calls.
Another desk was unusable for 3 days. The ECCO system always gave me answers 0

When I have had to ring 6 times... Eventually when they call back hours later, by which
time I had worked it out for myself.

Prompt at answering, but we cannot understand what they are saying. They don’t explain
why we need to do what they are telling us.

They know about computers but they treat us as if we should know, when it is all new to
us. They keep telling me 'refer to so and so' when I want to be talked through it.

The staff were very poor when I made a query and they fobbed me off, they sometimes
don't even answer.

Takes too long to explain exactly what your problem is.

I get told to call the other helpdesk. When going live they did not tell me anything. We
had holidays planned and then were told about the installation the day before we went away.
So installation was delayed. I phoned many, many times. They were unhelpful

They were novices, and when you don't know what to do and they also don't know what
to do, it makes the help-line a farce. I don't know what the helpdesk is like now, but it was
useless back then.

Satisfied until Wednesday evenings, when they don't answer.

Had to phone a couple of times before it was sorted out

Pleased with it- we both like the system a lot.

Do respond

But during the first week, when we needed help outside hours the help-line was not open.

I was initially told that helpdesk closed at 8pm. But one evening I rang at 7:45 pm, and
told that the helpdesk was "open" ‘til 11pm - but not advertised as such. This made me
extremely angry, because they should be there to help people like me, when wen

Lengthy phone calls to rectify the problems

When the system crashed, I couldn't seem to get any help at all from the helpdesk. I tried
for 5 hours to get level 2 assistance. Other than this time the help- desk is fine.

Not always for the job

We have an ongoing problem with the system that we can't fix

Only phoned twice

c:\temp\appendixxmashorizon.doc 64

POL00028441
POL00028441

They try, but once we had a problem with balancing and kept ringing them. When the
phone was answered you could hear office in background - and then the phone was quickly
put down. This is unacceptable.

The time it takes for them to decide whether a problem needs an engineer is far too long.
Only on 2 weeks after I stopped here

Not stated.

Not stated.

Not stated.

Not stated.
Not stated.
Not stated.
Not stated.
Not stated.
Not stated.
Not stated.
Not stated.
Not stated.

Not used

Never needed to. The system has worked great since we got it in
Never had time to use it.

Haven't used it really

Haven't used it enough

Haven't used

Haven't used it myself

Haven't used it enough

c:\temp\ appendixxmashorizon.doc 65
POL00028441
POL00028441

NBSC

Helpful

Much more helpful, and are able to answer most questions.
They're very helpful.

They're helpful.

They explain well.

Also very helpful

Quite helpful.

Helpful.

Very helpful whenever I have had cause to contact them. Usually have been able to help
They were very helpful

They have been able to help every time.

They help a great deal.

Quite helpful.

Very helpful and quick

They are very quick and helpful and wait till the problem is fixed
They are quite helpful.

They actually help.

Brilliant they’ re always very helpful, my questions are always solved.
Very helpful.

Good help.

They are very helpful and answer straight away or they get back to me
They've helped me when I’ve needed help

Helpful.

Helpful

They are always helpful

Always been helpful

They’re always very helpful.

Helped us a lot

They are always helpful

They were very helpful

They are always there and very helpful

It's a lot more helpful

They have been very helpful

Very helpful.

Get help when needed

Very helpful

They are helpful

Usually they can help you

They are always very helpful

They've helped out on both occasions

The people there are very helpful

Very helpful and patient

Helpful

Helpful

Helped well when asked

Because they always help me out

They can always help out

Explained things well helped well

Very helpful

Always helpful

c:\temp\appendixxmashorizon.doc 66

POL00028441
POL00028441

OK

They're not too bad

Did their job adequately

Not too bad

No great problems

It was OK

That has been fine.

No great problem

Not too bad.

There not too bad, but new at it.

Only used it once and it was all very straight forward
They are fine.

OK,

That's not so bad, but I rarely call this helpdesk
No problems with them.

No problems with them

This one is fine

A bit tedious, but OK

don’t need to phone them much fine when have
Only spoke once no problem

Only used once was OK

No problems

It's okay but it just takes too long

Solve problems

Because they always give the right information but it seems to take longer
They answered my questions.

They seem to be able to sort you out

Well, they usually sort the problem.

Everything I have asked for they have given.

They have the answer to the questions without being fobbed off

I called them about twice, they have been able to find an answer for me
Sorted out problems well

They always answer my questions or get back to me

They have answers to your questions quite quickly

They always manage to help when I have problems

They answered all questions and were helpful

Solved queries well

They sorted the one query Ihad

They answered my query that I had

When you need them they are there

Good

Can't fault them at all.

Happy with service

They are good but it sometimes takes too long

Very good - they take you through it stage by stage
Quite good really

Pretty good. At least they know the post office.

They will do their best to get an answer for you.
Quite good.

Only used it a couple of times and they were very good
Does a good job

I’m quite happy

They have been pretty good.

c:\temp\ appendixxmashorizon.doc

67

POL00028441
POL00028441

Knowledgeable

They know what they are talking about.

Again they're very busy, but they are quite knowledgeable.

They know what there talking about.

They seem to know the post office quite well

Because they know what they are doing and are conversant with their procedures
Know what they are talking about

More knowledge than others

Quick

Quick and easy

quick and efficient

We had a breakdown and it was sorted quickly
Quicker and a lot more efficient.

We always get an answer from them quickly
They answer queries quickly

Answer quite quickly

Always call back with answer

They always come back with the answer

We have to wait for them to get back to us which always takes a while
They always answer your question and if not they call you back

Easy to contact
Atleast they answer
Easy to contact

Passed around

Passed from pillar to post when we have a problem needing sorting out.

They weren't any help at all. They just fob us off. In fact every time we ask a question, they
pass us on to another colleague, and vice versa. We never seem to get anything resolved by
them.

They pass you around a bit, but help eventually.

They always refer to a colleague

They don't know much, and they put you through to another colleague.

They have to keep referring me

They just keep referring

Had to pass me on, could not sort out query. Other desk impossible to get through to.
They are slightly better than horizon, but even they are guilty of passing you around
Pass you around, fob you off, don't know anything,

They refer you a lot

Passed on all the time would prefer one helpdesk only

Very uncooperative. I am sick of being a "ping pong" ball - keep referring, passing me
around. Didn't want to help me.

They passed to another dept did not know anything

Keep moving you about

Variable/depends who you get

12Some are good some are very rude and unhelpful. He didn't ring back.

Sometimes they're quick with the answer and other times they are slow

Sometimes they are not very good but they know what they're talking about

Notas bad as previously, but once I rang up with a query and got two totally different
answers for one problem.

They sometimes don't know the answer with the problems

Because sometimes they can't answer the query

c:\temp\appendixxmashorizon.doc 68

POL00028441
POL00028441

They can't answer everything

Sometimes they were unsure of the answer themselves because they were also learning
Those who answer the phone straight away don’t seem to know much-it's only when they
put you through to someone higher can my query be answered

They are also unsure of some of the answers to our questions

Sometimes they don’t know the answer

The people can't answer anything and if they can it takes them too long

They help sometimes, but always a different person

Slow to answer

It sometimes takes too long

Quite often I will ring them and the phone will just continue to ring and then go dead
It's a lengthy procedure to go through

211-Sometimes they keep you hanging on

Very long-winded

It takes forever

Takes too long to answer.

Very slow in answering phone. Also someone has given me completely the wrong
information.

Wait to long to get an answer

Wait too long to get help

They don't respond very quickly

It just doesn't seem to help-it takes too long

Unhelpful

Once didn't help

Haven't really helped.

They do try to help, but are still vague.

They don't know the answers to all my questions, and it isn't a quick response.
Haven't dealt with couple of queries I had.

Every time I have rung them up I have been fobbed off - they don’t know what they are
talking about

They can't help.

No-body knows the answer to my query

Not of much help.

They give rather vague as opposed to specific answers

Cannot get a proper answer. This is no good when a customer is waiting.

Directed to HSH

Half the time they refer you back to the horizon helpdesk.

They tend to refer you to the other helpdesk

They just refer me to the other number

Used them occasionally, but they passed me to the other helpdesk.
They try to help, but tend to pass you to the other helpdesk.

They transfer you between helpdesks

OK, but they often referred us to the other helpdesk as well.

Unable to help us sometimes. They often refer us to the other helpdesk.
Passed on to other helpdesk so no much contact

They pass on to other helpdesk but before they were fine

Lack knowledge

Lack of knowledge

When you phone them they don’t always have the knowledge and they sometimes have to
refer you

Their knowledge is stretched on travel because they're not local anymore

Lack of knowledge

c:\temp\appendixxmashorizon.doc 69

POL00028441
POL00028441

Don't seem to know much

It takes so long to get through to them. They didn't seem to know much more than I did
They are still learning but try there best

Lack of knowledge

They don’t always give you the right answer

Useless

There haven't got a clue, it’s not worth calling.

Absolutely useless.

They aren't of any help what so ever.

Hopeless....they can never seem to give you an answer to your queries
Total waste of time. They don't have a clue what they are talking about

Too many questions

It used to be fine, but nowadays they don't seem to know what they are talking about.
They have also introduced this long-winded series of I d. Questions at the beginning. It can
put customers off, and can get tired of waiting for you to get off the phone

There is a very long security procedure-all we want is a quick answer

Once again it takes too long identifying yourself and they keep referring you to other
people

Ask to many questions when we are busy

Other

There all so unorganised.

Because I have sent off forms and still waiting for a reply

They understand where we are coming from

They actually called me today, and asked for a member of staff I didn't have. They don't
seem to know what is going on.

They are rude, they don't call back for ages, what's the point.

They are mostly non-p o staff

Preferred the old system

They have always been there

Not sure if we rang or not rang so many numbers

Was told they could not get a RNM to help us, so we had no support for one balance
(horizon helpdesk useless)

Not as good as horizon helpdesk.

I could get a hold of someone late at night

People seem not to be experienced in sub post office matters

Because their backup system is good

Could not help but tried

They helped me when horizon could not. They are more knowledgeable than horizon
system helpdesk.

Not stated.

Not stated.

Not stated

Not stated.
Not stated.
Not stated
Not stated.
Not stated.
Not stated.
Not stated.
Not stated.
Not stated.
Not stated.

c:\temp\ appendixxmashorizon.doc 70

POL00028441
POL00028441

Notstated.
Not stated.
Not stated.
Not stated.
Not stated.
Not stated.
Not stated.
Not stated.
Not stated.
Not stated.
Not stated.
Not stated.
Not stated.
Not stated.
Not stated.
Not stated.
Not stated.
Not stated.
Not stated.
Not stated.

Not used

Don’t use them.

No need yet.

Never need to

Haven't used it

Have not needed it

I haven't used them

Haven't had to use it

Haven't used them.

Never had to use it

Never felt need to use it

Have not needed to.

Haven't used it

Haven't used it.

Haven't had any contact

I have not needed it.

Haven't used them

No need

Can't comment because I haven't really used it.
I have not needed to use it

I have not needed to use it

Haven't really used them.

I have not needed it

Don’t know why I have not used it. I just use the helpdesk
Haven't used it.

Haven't used them

Only used the horizon helpdesk
It has not been necessary to use
Never used them.

Not used

Not been in touch

Haven't used it

Haven't phoned them

Haven't used them

Haven't used it

c:\temp\appendixxmashorizon.doc

POL00028441
POL00028441

Didn't need to use them

No need

Haven't used it

Just used the horizon helpdesk
Haven't used them

Haven't used it

No need

Don't use it

No need

Never needed to

Not needed to

Haven't used it

Never needed it

Only used the horizon system
We haven't come across any problems
Haven't used them

only use the horizon helpdesk
Never need it

Help out well when used don’t need them now
Don't use them

Never needed

Don't use it

Don’t use myself

No needed it

Haven't needed it

Haven't used

Never needed it

No contact

Haven't needed them

No need for it

Haven't used it

Haven't used it

Never needed

Rarely used
Very rarely needed to use it. I almost exclusively use the horizon helpdesk
Not used it enough to say

*98 Don’t use them much.

Haven't used it enough

Haven't had to use ita lot

I haven't used it enough

Haven't used them that much

Only used once so I couldn't comment
Only rung once

Have only used once

don’t call them that often

Who?

Who are they? :

am not familiar with this (person has been in the job only 2 months)

Iam not sure what you refer to. Is it the one in Birmingham? If so it was very good
Never heard of it

Never heard of it. I suppose I have never needed it.

Not heard of it.

Who are they.

Only vaguely heard of it

c:\temp\ appendixxmashorizon.doc

POL00028441
POL00028441

I don’t know what itis.
I have not heard of it.

I have never heard of it.
Not aware of this place

c:\temp\appendixxmashorizon.doc 73
POL00028441

POL00028441

Improvements

More training

Increased training time. Why so many ways of recording stamps?

think the main worry would be training, we need longer and better training.

Training should be longer and less to take in on one go, user friendly help book with a
good index.

All I can fault is the training, it needs at least a week.

Before roll over get the back up working. People are always checking up on things - - far too
many checks. A lot more training needed. Left hand didn’t know what the right hand was
doing, and that is bad especially at this time of the year.

Better training, longer in depth training. Balancing training...better back up.

There needs to be at least two full days training with much greater concentration on
balancing. The venue for training needs to be prepared in advance (most of the time our
trainer was busy on finding a venue for the 2nd day!). There needs to bea facility

Not really except that training could be longer than one and a half days, and the training
for balancing could be more detailed and involved.

think more training is needed

More instructions to take you through each product

I think have extra training and preferably help during the balancing period. The system
needs speeding up, for back office.

There could be a lot more training. The system needs to be far more user- friendly, with
more prompts on the screens. We are still not fully automated. E.g. We can't use the printer
for girobank transactions, Also, the printer is quite slow. I could writ

Longer training.

More training

None really, except that training could be longer - at least two days.

There needs to be more training. One and a half days of lots of information crammed into
short space of time.

More training, more help with the balances, trainers with more experience. Some thing
should be done about the lottery on balancing days.

The training should be far more intense and a little longer.

More support and more training.

More support, and training.

They need more training, especially balancing. Also training for the lottery.

Training could be a little longer and the field support officer could remain with one a bit
longer

The training needs to be lengthened.

The training could be spread over a couple of days allowing it to sink in

The training should be lengthened

More training & support on balancing, this is a very strong point. The support on
balancing was very poor

The training needs to be longer than it is

Longer training

More training, and the system improved vastly (simple things but they all mount up to
make life extremely frustrating)

Training for the management needs to be lengthened also we have to check our pensions
and allowances before we cut them off. We need a suspending point so we can check the
accuracy of our work that day

More training and the installation should be done before they go on-line and there should
be someone with you for the first month’s balances

They need more time to train people

The training needs to be longer and the helpdesk needs to be improved

Longer training

c:\temp\appendixxmashorizon.doc , 74

POL00028441
POL00028441

I feel that the training should be longer and that all the equipment should be up and
working and understand how we run our post offices

More prolonged training so that one is more fluent with it at the outset.

Just extra training needed.

More practical training for counter staff. In an existing post office, one already with a
system.

We need much longer training, and on occasions the screen has things on it which we
didn't put on. The screen needs speeding up too.

The training could have been longer, and some practical experience of using the system
beforehand would have been very helpful.

There should be much more training. Also, once a month we should have on-going
training.

Hope they are learning more training needed at start

Longer training - perhaps in a post-office. I think the system has slowed us down, and
customers are losing out.

Much more training please! Perhaps training on a dummy system before we go live.
Helpdesk needs improving a lot - more info and accurate technical advice.

The people who trained us need more training-it was far too intense-we didn’t have
enough training for ourselves. The system is busy when we try and balance. Sometimes the
helpdesk gives you the wrong information.

The training needs to be longer - especially for balancing

More training needed 1 and half days not sufficient on the balancing side OK for counters
Longer training horizon man should come over two Wednesdays to show the system
It needs longer training

Needs to be more time to explain it better

More and better training by people who know post office procedures. Also more help
from your HFSO.

More training time needed

More and better training on balancing needed

More training and more time to settle down

The amount of training given needs more

More training to improve system

Improve training

The training needs to be vastly improved. It was insufficient - we asked questions about
operating the system and told it wasn't their area! Offered training but meant having to go
miles away for it. Programs could be made simpler, easier to use.

They should give better training, they need to show us how to balance our dailies, and we
need longer training.

We need our questions answered in training. More training is necessary. Quicker system,
better backup.

More information regarding training.

The training could be better and more hands on experience

Training could be a lot more detailed - a day and a half is inadequate. A week at least is
needed. Some training in fault finding cure is needed.

Improve the training, in length too. I'm putting in more hours; it’s not good.

Training- the trainer should be ex-post office who knows what it is like running the post
office before horizon. Just knowing about computers is not enough - they need to know about
post office procedures. It makes it difficult for us.

Should be some office training, more people available to help face to face.

On the training session they should also teach you about forms/admin.

Well, definitely the training needs looking at. The system is bad and needs improvement.
Only the training. The rest of it is fine.

The training and installation has to be a Jot more flexible-and not just a technical advisor,
someone who also understands the post office. I have also lost 2 members of staff due to this
system. You should get your act together and consider the individual.

c:\temp\appendixxmashorizon.doc i)

POL00028441

POL00028441

Training is inadequate - I was in the dark a lot. Better training = less problems. Also, we
putin a lot more hours during the beginning but with no more pay.

There should be much more on-sight training, to help us understand how to use the
system better.

You should be able to use the system a week before it goes live

Have a postmaster at training day who can give confidence and positive info on how
good the system can be. Need more training on end-of-week cashing up process and
faultfinding on horizon system. Courses should be designed specifically for different types
I think they need to get their act together with the training.

The training should improve and the system has a complicated way of paying out
cheques. The period of time the system gives us to serving customers should also be
extended.

The worst thing is the training. It was just not adequate! They tried to cram too much into
too short a time. I don't think horizon provides a good customer service. It is slow and
laborious.

Getting the training act together, lack of communication between counters and pathway.
It should be more interpreted for post office shop front rather than all this jargon, which is
somewhat unnecessary. Balancing was skimmed over.

More hands-on training on the computer.

The training needs to be improved.

When they're sending future people for training they should have separate sessions, one
for computer literate people and one for those who aren't.

Training needs improvement - not to group together sub-postmasters with main post
offices and not group together those who have used computers with those who have not.

The training at the school needs vastly improving. We need a whole day devoted to
balancing and better way of monitoring individuals. The first balance needs you to have
someone with you there - perhaps the RNM or HFSO.

The training should cover a lot more of the things we do in post offices. The HFSO should
have more training themselves. And we should have support from some- one during the 1st
balance - we had none.

More help with training side perhaps

The training.

The training needs to be improved e.g.: Administration

Much better training needed. And the help-line should be available to post offices outside
" office hours" in the first week, especially on a Wednesday when you are balancing for the
first time.

The training and helpdesks need improving radically - they are both in a shambles.

No need to involve counter staff in such technical training that they have had more
technical training for supervisors or sub postmasters & a recall & retraining once familiar with
system. Staff have been better trained by myself than going to horizon

Get the training sorted out. The installation of the electrics needs to be streamlined.

Better and more training.

The trainers need to be more aware of post office business and procedures. There is such a
diversity of things being sold in post offices.

Field support system needs to be more aware of P.O. environment and procedures,
Trainers need to sympathise with staff. 2nd balance needs support as well as 1st balance - this
is vital. The training needs to be vastly improved (my trainer was plucked out

The training could be more tailored to help us out when we go live

They must improve on the training

Better training and a lot more of it, and having the terminals inside the shop a week
beforehand (so that we can practice on them) would be a great idea. We would also like a
replacement screen too.

Training has to be improved

Lack of training i.e. Hands on. The system is currently under utilised. Ability to scan
pension books would speedup service.

c:\temp\ appendixxmashorizon.doc 76

POL00028441
POL00028441

The training should have been done by someone with at least 3 months experience of
using the system in a post office. And the training should have involved some hands-on
experience in a post office situation.

Sort out the training and its logistics.

Just to improve the training and it is also difficult to balance your cheques only ity you're
very busy though

Improve the training, especially for balancing. The time allowed should be doubled to3
days.

Training needs to be more informative. There was no training at all about balancing. Also,
we were told misleading and wrong information at the training. The course also needs to be
at least two days, and needs to be run by someone who knows the post off

These days Fridays are the quietest days. Perhaps training could incorporate a day's
lecturing, and a day's hands-on training at a P.O. (ona Friday) which has already been on line
with horizon (with the office's consent of course). This way the training

Perhaps the training could involve "role-play" in that it makes training more pertinent to
the actual day to day use of the system

The training should be tailored for individual's needs. Our training included stuff for
manual offices, which was of no use to us, because we had the ECCO system before.

Better training, better information before you go live. The helpdesk needs to be improved.
Better training and better programme

A lot of improvement in the training and software needed

Improve training

An extra course for people with hands on experience

The training is far too intense

Better training. The system is more geared to the big post offices not the small ones

Training on balancing

Give far more attention to the accounting training, as compared to transaction training,
because you get used to transactions quicker (as you use it every day). Also, there needs to be
some way of tracking back on a week's work, in order to find errors -

The training needs to be longer for balancing. The printer needs speeding up and we need
the correct stationary for the printer.

There must be a lot more concentration on the training for balancing and accounting. The
first week I didn't have a clue; the second week I just stumbled through.

Training for sub-postmasters, the balancing, should be a whole day. The shared
individual stock balances and declare stock and adjust stock - more details please

More training on the balancing side on the manager's training course. The second day
needs to be in greater depth. Helpline does not help much.

We were disappointed with the training for balancing, and the procedure ona
Wednesday for balancing can take too long and have problems. Needs to be sorted out.

There should definitely be additional training (half a day at least) on balancing. Also, we
should be supported for the first few balances - not just the 1st one only.

A little bit more training on the balancing process

There needs to be more training on the balancing side

The training could have a little more time spent on the balancing side

Training on the balancing should be lengthened

Training should concentrate more on balances less on counters, which is easier to
understand

Better training on balancing for the managers

Need longer training on balances this is the problem area to sort out

Better training needed for cash account

More help on the accounts side of things - especially the training

Better training on balances needed and more consistency with the training

The longer training on balances needed and longer notification needed before training
day so that you can plan the staff

Longer training on the balances needed

c:\temp\appendixxmashorizon.doc 7

POL00028441

POL00028441

Organisation of training

Inadequate prior notice of when training was going to be given- so it was difficult to
arrange rotas at very short notice

More notice of training. Had to pay for training. Cost lots. Needed more time for training.
They should give more warning when the training is

The training needs to be better- organised, needs to be longer and more detailed. Location
of training needs to be convenient for staff - people have had to travel miles. It was all very
badly organised - and would have been better for the training to have

More notice to sub post masters of training, little more concentration on administration
and the lottery.

The training wasn't organised very well and they are very inflexible

The training needs better organisation, as well as migration. Postmasters need to be
consulted perhaps 3 months later to find out what lessons need to be learned. The whole
system needs speeding up.

More notice needed for the training...we had only 3 days notice.

We could have done with more notice of when the training was going to take place

The dates of training need to be communicated earlier. The gap between going live and *
the first installation are too long. We put an extension into the ISDN box-and we had to wait 5
hours for this to happen

Earlier notice of installation and training. More hands on training.

Logistics of training preparation needs improving. I had to chase up myself to get
training.

Appointments for the training.... We had to ring to find out when our training was.... So
the organisation of the training needs to be vastly improved because this was hopeless.

There should be more notification of training

Putting people into an office that already have horizon live-hands on experience

They send postmasters to offices with it already installed. Hands on experience would be
quite beneficial.

Balancing

Just the balancing needs to be sorted out

The losses and gains could be made easier. And being in control more.

There needs to be more time developed for cash accounting. The balance system needs
looking into.

Not really, except that the balancing procedure could have been easier for me.

The balancing should offer more support than we got e.g.: More training or better backup
More details on balancing needed.

They could do something about the balancing

Balancing process should be made easier

Would like to be able to balance on a daily basis

Balancing speed

They need to speed up the accounting. Computer slows me down. The end of week
accounts are very slow. Double check mode.

The balancing is very slow, it is awful, it isn't clear.

A back-up terminal, because a terminal is used at the counter and it annoys customers
who are waiting and they see you working at a computer. Balancing needs to be speeded up.
Some screens need different colours in order to distinguish different processes

The balancing process could be quicker

Only more support with balancing.

More help on Wednesdays.

c:\temp\appendixxmashorizon.doc 78

>

POL00028441
POL00028441

Software/specific transactions

Many procedures are far too long-winded e.g. End of day. There are too many icons and
screens. Similar icons work in very different ways. Can't use bar codes on stamp books?
Separation of special issue stamps is a nightmare. Pensions and allowances section

They have to look at the system-there are a lot of things you can't get printouts for

Quick access buttons for popular services such as giro, pension etc.

Quick access buttons. Have to roll through screens. More training and more support.
General visits from officers to see if everything is okay. Maybe more trained people on the
helpdesk that actually know how a post office works.

When it comes up ‘is this the same customer' one does not always look closely at the
screen and then it wipes out all the transactions. The apt machine: 3 lots of receipts, I don’t
think it is necessary to get 2 printouts at the time of the transaction.

They could have a manual pension button on the first screen

would like to put more details into computer, especially for motor vehicle tax and giro
bank transactions, This would mean less handwriting when the printing comes off. It would
be better to have a lot more of it printed out from the computer.

The stamp icons on the screens could be given the same colours as stamp-books - i.e. Red
for 1st class, blue for 2nd class.

Scan stamp-books. Have the ability to put on milk tokens rather than the other way
around. We have had it six weeks and are just getting used to it. A lot more training,
especially with balancing, is needed. Training needed troubleshooting section.

I believe the desktop could be more in line with the office that is using it.

I just feel that it’s not even properly working yet it needs sorting, we can't bar code the
pension books, so that is ridiculous. Everything is time consuming; I really feel that they
should have got it up and running properly before they connected us all

The pensions part of the system - this should be first on the system so that it is ready for
me to use, rather than go through different screens. To sell some things is very easy, and
pensions should be made as easy as this.

I can't think of anything, except that when you do benefits it comes up with milk tokens.
Every time you do benefits, the milk tokens have to be taken out - which is silly because most
of our customers don't have them.

The counter screen could be more to do with the main things that we sell

I could suggest that the packages that are sent abroad should be shown on the screen.
There is nothing on screen for surface mail.

The layout of the icons needs to be improved

Better format on screen for POCL’s checks.

They could improve the speed of pensions and special stamps

When you went live part of your stock were not on the system. There is no uniformity in
stamp redemption.

The system needs sorting, to stop us doing things in a long-winded way. There is the
potential to make short cuts in the system - to make it more user-friendly. This needs doing.
Would like it all on the computer .

I think the whole thing could have been better programmed and more information in the
training and also when the training was

More simplified fewer screens needed

Helping us to remember all the many icons. It can take so long to sell something - please
simplify the system. There should also be the capability to work out change when you sell
something.

Problems with software

Personal banking service needs to be greatly improved

Simplify the system

Reprogram it, re-think the training schedule-install it earlier so you can play with the
system and also have electronic scales for sending parcels

c:\temp\ appendixxmashorizon.doc 79

POL00028441
POL00028441

Speed of system

Speed up the system in general. The second screen, which is pensions, is really slow. If a
customer has a query or dispute, the computer unlike ECCO, won't allow me to print in times
of the day, and although it does give a print out, it can take up to half an hour.

POCL should listen and act upon views of postmasters. Why no action and why always
surveys? The system needs speeding up. It takes too long, and needs to be more user-friendly
and customer-friendly. A person who understands P.O. should sort it out.

Speed up the rollover, because it's so slow.

Get the process working faster.

Made quicker. If there is a queue you don't really have the time to wait. The old fashioned
way is sometimes better. feel that the balancing if possible has to be made quicker

Speed it up a bit, the printer is useless, were still doing loads manually.

I don’t know. The system works too slowly - needs to be quicker. It disrupted business as
itis; I hate to think what it will be like when there is much more for it to cope with.

The system needs to be sped up and it also needs a lot of fine-tuning

Rolling over takes too long. The printer doesn't print out certain things. They need to
change some of the icons. The balancing program is rubbish and need s sorting. It all takes far
too slow - I have queues going outside the shop. It does nothing for

It needs to be speeded up.

Speed up the process

Printer

Quicker printer.

It's slower to do the printing out of all the cash accounts

The printer needs to be much faster. The whole system, particularly for balancing, needs
to be faster.

Just a quicker printer

We need a better desk printer. We have to wait to print 2 receipts. With apt we only
printed one because it had a copy underneath.

The printer should make carbon copies. It takes too long to get to stamps at a busy period
Get different printers

The printer is too small and slow and the letter writing is very small and there should be a
duplicate till roll

Helpdesk

The time you are on the telephone waiting for answers

More resources behind help desk sometimes they are inaccessible

Quicker service on helpdesk. Quantum help on service computer

The horizon helpdesk needs to be improved. It shouldn't be just potluck on who the
person is you get through to.

Getting through to helplines faster with less of these security questions

The helpline should stop wasting our time by not ringing back or referring us to other
areas

Helpdesks need to be improved a lot. Also, horizon needs to incorporate the ECCO
system where a transaction can be located by the time it was input - rather than having to go
through the whole day's transactions in order to locate it.

Support

The back-up support could be improved

More information. Be more aware, more contact so people feel more confident about what
is happening

If they gave more support after installation, things would probably be running much
smoother, training should have been spread over a longer period, and we only hada day and
a halfs training.

Better back-up and support, and also better training too. It would be very good if we
could use the computers before we go live - so we can get used to the system.

c:\temp\appendixxmashorizon.doc 80

POL00028441

POL00028441

Well, I'm on my own here so I really could have done with some more help.
Support for the second balance is needed

We should have a person in with your office for a week to help you out.
More back up help

Increase support

HFSO

Make sure proper assistance is available. Make sure no one is short of a field support
officer or stock-sheets. Don't give special 1st class stamps. Don't put some one live on the
busiest day/week of the month.

The HESO does not spend long enough with one. One needs longer to practise on the
balance - that definitely needs improvement

we need to be assisted more our computer keeps crashing. Where is our HFSO?

Communication

Better co-ordination from all levels and departments. It seems that some people are
unatare of what other people are doing. And the helpdesk service needs to be improved with
quicker response times.

Definitely more communication between POCL and pathway - things were getting
confusing about what was going on.

more communication between different teams to avoid duplication

Happy/pleased/satisfied
Quite satisfied. Name required with national insurance number. For benefits only.
Quite happy

Go-live timing

When the office is first contacted allow them to take some consideration of both personal
and business activities so horizon can be installed at a time that suits the offices. When office
returns have got to be made the system cannot be frozen

No comment on the roll out but the balancing could be improved by being faster. Notify
the post offices in good time about the installation instead of just the day before.

They must be more flexible about installing

On-line links

Equipment could be put on-line to make ordering easier

I believe it should be on-line to all the banks, utility companies and the bill companies
It has to go on-line with the banks and motor vehicles

Road tax, girobank, telephone and national savings could all be put on-line. This would
be an improvement.

Remove it

Get rid of it. Get rid of the help line and the guy who thought it up. (his own words) this
system will kill the post office. I'm disgusted with the threatening behaviour with the training
horizon system.

Take the system back and get it right

They should scrap the whole system. I wish we had never had it installed.

Pay

We have been told that are salaries will be cut because there is less work, but we seem to
be working longer hours, Every transaction is longer. Balancing takes forever.

We need more money

c:\temp\appendixxmashorizon.doc 81

POL00028441
POL00028441

Other

Better if it was installed out of hours.

Technology will speed up the process

Choose what you are going to do, and don't try to do too much

Train more people quickly because I do not have any relief people I can call on - and I
cannot have a holiday until my relief lady is trained

Pensions and allowances need to be handled with a plastic swipe card. We have to do it all
manually which is a very long process. It was designed for the plastic card but the DSS
decided against it. Now the system has not been tailored to meet our need

Before training we went to a seminar - we would have liked a little more time looking at
the computer but did not get the opportunity because there were too many people around.
Suggest small groups

Much better surveying and in many areas the software needs re-writing

They should have waited until it was fully functional

I think the post office will become more adept with horizon only in time; it is only in its
infancy. No other comments.

Everything should have been up and running before it was installed

Rolled out prematurely.

To many chiefs not enough Indians. Practical help is most important

All the stock books should be put on separately then bought together

When migrated should spend 2 days here to help

Far better organisation needed and better quality staff at the top.

POCL need to understand the term "logistics".

The a.p. 1's could be numbered.

It would take far too long to explain

Should all be automated still doing manual work need to keep staff here all the time
Needs time to settle down

Like another terminal only one need 2 set up for 2

Make more in tune appointment schedule.

At the moment it's only half a system

No comment

No they are already improving the system.
No suggestions.

No not really.

No not really.

Not really

62No

No

No not at all, I’m generally pleased with it.
None at all I’m pleased with it really.

No

114No

No

Can't think of any.

157No

None

No

No.

No comment

Not really.

Nothing really. It is an excellent system
No

Nothing

No - because I don’t know enough to comment. But the procedures have added an extra
hour to the weekly balance and there is a lot of paper spewed out.

c:\temp\appendixxmashorizon.doc 82

POL00028441
POL00028441

No

No comment
No

Hard to say at this stage.
No

Not really
No

274No

No

No

Not really
No

No comments
No

No

No

No

No

Not really.
No comments
No

No

No comments at this time
371No

No

No

No

No comments
No

No

No

Can't think of anything about roll out
No

No comment
No

No

517No

No

No comment.
No

No

No

Not stated

c:\temp\appendixxmashorizon.doc

83