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a
Jacky To: Lynn Hobbs/e/POSTOFFICE
3 Sent by: Michele cc: Sarah Howard/e/POSTOFFICE
if Graves ce: flagcaseadvisor Gi
Subject: Flag Case: FCT 2877 > Re! Haiizén helpdesk failure - Hardwick
05/09/2008 09:29 Post Office -
Lynn
Please see below an email trail related to ongoing Horizon issues at the above branch. Please note
that the branch operates from the village hall and is only open on Saturday mornings.
As you can see, Andy Macleans team are looking into the continued problems but Alan wanted you to
be aware for your wider input into the situation at the branch. Can you please let feedback any
relevant info and your views re how we move forward once the Horizon issues are fixed.
Feedback is required by cop Wednesday 17 September please.
Thanks Michele
Adam , Mark
Andy has asked me to reply to this flag case (for a second time) but before I send the reply to
Alan,Mike etc he would like you two to take a look.
Before I respond I need to give Fujitsu the opportunity to comment on the accusations made. Once I
have their response ( hopefully tomorrow) I will send a draft through.
Gary
Live Service and Business Continuity Manager
Post Office Ltd
Service Delivery
‘keeping effective channels to market open, whilst continuously improving the customer experience
and value for money’
1st Floor, Post Office Ltd, Cortonwood Business Park, Cortonwood Drive, BARNSLEY, S73 0TB
Postline: i
» Fax: N/A, : N/A, Mobe:
External Email: gary.blackburn@
---- Forwarded by Gary Blackburn/
I Mobile: [
GRO i
OSTOFFICE Gn 04/09/2008 16:46 ---—~
Andy Z McLean To: Gary Blackburn/e/POSTO! Alan
04/09/2008 16:15 Cook/e/POSTOFFICE:
ce: flageaseadvisor{—
Young/e/POSTOFFIC!
Subject: Re: Fw: Horizon helpdesk failure - Hardwick Post Office}
Gary,
Can you get the history together on this one?
Andy McLean
Head of Service Delivery
Post Office Ltd
Operations
80 Old Street,
London EC1V 9NN
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Mobile: I
External Email
Alan Cook
Alan Cook To: flagcaseadvisor, .
4/091 4 cc: Mike Young/e/POSTOFFICE 4] Andy Z
94/08/2008 18:44 McLean/e/POSTOFFIC!
Subject: Fw: Horizon helpdesk fai ‘ost Office
This one sounds grim. The reply should go from me but I am copying to Mike and Andy because it
feels like it needs senior attention. We may also need to involve either Lynn or Adele (probably Lynn I
would have thought) to assess the wider picture relating to his branch
fall he says were true, a gesture from us may be appropriate but it is difficult to assess until we have
all the facts
Alan Conk
Managing Director
Post Office tid
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“Diane & Christopher To: <alan.cookl,
Perry-Yates" ce: <tracy.abberstein_
Subject: RE: Horizon helpdesk failure - Fiardwick Post Office
04/09/2008 15:26
Dear Alan,
It is with some dismay that I find myself having to write to you again regarding the service that I have
received from Fujitsu Services. I am saddened and disappointed that my treatment at their hands has
been so poor. It is even more insulting to find that, after having been unable to serve any customers
for 13 weeks, I have received my August pay advice to find that I have been paid only£80 as a
goodwill payment, which equates to only£6.15 for every week closed!
As I stated to you in my earlier emails, I work as a consultant and have had to turn down several days
of work to be in for various engineer visits, many of which failed to materialise Although Fujitsu
advised you that the Post Office was back up and running on 17 July, it was in fact not until21 August
that the fault was finally rectified and I could run a service to those very few customers that have had
the patience to stick by me. I am sure you will appreciate that, to receive £80 for all this inconvenience
and lost revenue, both through my consultancy work and Post Office work, is quite frankly an insult of
the worst kind and not something I would have expected from the Post Office after nearly 12 years.
service.
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On the support front, I would say that it was only after your intervention, which I appreciate, that Fujitsu
and the Horizon helpdesk kept me up to date with what was happening to sort out the problems;
however I do feel that there are still lessons to be learned, especially by Fujitsu themselves For
example, I received a telephone call from ‘Adam’ at Fujitsu Services who advised that the Horizon
system was very fragile and subject to failure if there were frequent power cuts and storms in the area
He then proceeded to tell me that I should install an Uninterrupted Power Supply(UPS) unit to the
Horizon equipment to protect it, When I asked if this is something that they or the Post Office would
supply to me I was told that it was not something that the Post Office would fund and that I should buy
it myself. I am sure you will appreciate that I am not in a position to purchase equipment that would
cost hundreds of pounds to protect equipment that doesn't belong to me.
I am now left with a Post Office that hardly anyone uses as they have given up and gone elsewhere
after 13 weeks of waiting. This will impact on my future ability to sell products and earn any Sales Tier
Payments. When I took over 12 years ago, the Post Office had 6 regular visitors and I have spent time
building this up to 30+ in this community. I am now back down to lower customer numbers than when I
started. It would be helpful to know what the Post Office proposes to do to help me both in terms of
the customers and my lost income both in the past and potentially in the future
I have also suggested to Fujitsu that they may like to consider a small donation to the Village Hall
which people pay to use as their enjoyment of the village hall has been impaired when Fujitsu have
turned up to sort out the system. I look with interest to see if Fujitsu have a community spirit or
consider themselves far too large to worry about small community groups.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Kind regards,
Christopher Perry-Yates
Hardwick Post Office {
-----Original Message~
From: tracy.abbersteini_
Sent: 22 July 2008 0:
‘To: perry.yates
Subject: Fw: HOrz6it Helpdesk failure
[mailto:tracy.abberstei:
Dear Christopher
Following your email earlier this week about the problems you have had with Horizon on line
services at Hardwick Post Office branch, I am very pleased to be advised by the service team that full
service was restored on 17 July.
lam equally pleased to learn that arrangements have also been made to collect the excess cash being
held in your branch.
As you know, however, I am as concerned as you to learn how long you had been experiencing
problems and of the difficulties you have had along the way. We fully recognise the impact on
subpostmasters and customers alike when a branch is off line and every effort is made to restore
service as quickly as possible. In the vast majority of cases faults are resolved quickly but some
faults are more difficult to identify and then it can be very much a process of elimination to
determine the underlying cause.
The Horizon service team advise me that from our records it was thought that the fault initially
reported in mid May had been resolved. However Fujitsu Services, our supplier, have confirmed that
they continued to monitor your system to make sure it was operating correctly did identify a possible
problem towards the end of May. Investigative work was already underway ‘behind the scenes’ -
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manifest themselves in the branch and can often be resolved remotely,
. Your subsequent call to the helpline on 3 June, however, confirmed this
problems may not alwé
without impact on servi
was not the case here.
An engineer visit was agreed for Saturday 7 June but unfortunately the engineer was unable to gain
access to the village hall and despite his best efforts, he was unable to make contact with you on the
telephone number provided. As I understand it, it was a further week before alternative contact
details were received and a visit was then rescheduled and agreed for Tuesday 17 June. Regrettably
when the engineer called you on the day to confirm someone was on site, he was again unable to
make contact with you and consequently decided to cancel the visit.
As I understand it an engineer eventually visited the site on 28 June and replaced the faulty part but
also identified a communications problem with the telephone line which Cable and Wireless, the line
provider, fixed with two days. Following a further call from you to the helpline on 4 July reporting a
further fault. I am advised that engineers did not turn up as promised on 5 and 12 July, due to
attending an emergency call and then being able to resource a replacement part in time. This is not
acceptable and you certainly should have been contacted. Please be reassured that this has been
taken up with Fujitsu Services to minimise the risk of this happening again.
am advised that although a successful hardware replacement was carried out on 15 July, this
identified a further telephone line problem, which necessitated BT repairing BT maintained
equipment, which is not part of the Horizon system, located within the village hall.
It is clear to me that a combination of factors have contributed to the delay in getting your branch
back on line, although this does not excuse the fact that the level of service you were provided has, at
times, certainly fallen short of what you, and I, expect. In terms of being paid for your lost time,
whilst not diminishing the undoubted inconvenience and frustration you were caused by the engineer
‘no shows’, I do not feel that a compensatory payment is appropriate and it would be unfair to other
subpostmasters for me to agree to make an exception. I realise this will be disappointing to you but I
hope you understand why this this case,
in line with an agreement between Post Office Ltd and the National Federation of Subpostmasters,
however, a goodwill payment for the actual time you were without service will be made in your
remuneration. Normally this is made within three months of the closure of the incident but I have
asked that, exceptionally, payment is made to you as soon as possible.
I trust that you will have no further problems and wish you well for the future.
Kind regards,
Alan
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