We operate a Post Office in our village convenience store and we offer Euros and Dollars on demand. It’s a great service for our community that has many people who travel regularly.

On Wednesday this week the Post Office network suffered a major technical problem with all card based transactions that affected every branch. Disaster. No cash withdrawals, no card transactions – in fact it was cash only for most of the day.

During the morning one of our regular customers tried to buy Euros with his debit card, but the technical fault stopped the transaction in its tracks. The customer returned late in the afternoon to post a letter and I asked if he still needed his currency as we were by then operating fully again; which he did.

The Post Office offers an enhanced exchange rate for Euros and Dollars and as our customer was looking to purchase €400 he would not have got the better rate. I suggested that he might have been interested in increasing his purchase to €540 as the additional Euros could be bought at €1.17 to £1. This he was pleased to accept and I upped our sale.

This may not have made up for the lost transactions from earlier in the day, but it allowed me to end the day on a high. Understanding what we sell and knowing when to push will always provide good service to our customers.