Royal Mail – Package Pick up Centre

This probably isn’t the best place to post this. But I am extremely frustrated with Royal Mail’s customer service. So I just have to write them a review.
I ordered some holiday gifts for my in-​laws using Amazon UK.
They, in turn, used Royal Mail’s services to ship my order internationally.
I was advised to call Royal Mail in order to check the status of my order.
But their phone customer service is absolutely horrendous. After listening to their phone menus for 10 minutes, I had to wait for a representative. All I wanted to know was:
1. Will my order arrive today? (That’s what is stated on it.)
2. How will I know that it was delivered?
When I finally got the chance to speak to a representative, I received no answer to any of my questions. Instead I got nagged and patronized. And I had to listen to a 5-​minute explanation on «how busy they are, because it’s Christmas time.» Yeah, no joke!
The woman that I spoke to was extremely rude. Her tone was unprofessional. I can’t believe someone would get paid to talk to customers in such manner.
So my in-​laws’ Christmas gifts MIGHT arrive VERY SOON?! You’ve got to be kidding me…
At the end of the conversation the woman had the audacity to tell me that I should call them regularly and check if they’ve received it.
Does it cross her mind that I want to surprise them?
Ugh…
They can learn a lot from UPS’ customer service.

So the mailman comes to your flat to deliver a package. You’re not home because it’s the middle of the day. Where are you? Yes, at work. You work 9 – 5:30 pretty much like most people. So the postman leaves a slip stating you can pick up your package at this delivery center.
This is where the problems start. The delivery center in inconveniently placed out in the middle of nowhere interesting. It’s not accessible by tube. The hours are terrible. They’re only open while you are at work Monday through Friday, and on Saturday, the are open from 7AM –12PM. Who wants to wake up with the crow of the rooster to get their mail? Anyone anyone? I know that the workers have lives too, but there’s got to be some better way to schedule this!
I arrived a bit after noon to get my package and the man playing line-​warden told me I was too late. Ok… I walked 2.5 miles to get there, through the wind and rain and snow and sleet, uphill both ways with no shoes, and I’m being turned away? No. Not okay. It took me getting all upset and the aid of my fellow package-​picker-​uppers to convince the man to let me in. It was really the only time I could go, considering I work full time, but he would nearly deaf to my pleas.
It would be great if they changed the hours slightly to be more amenable to the working crowd. The process itself took only a few minutes, but getting all the way out there was trying.