Post Office - Weight Error

Oneday77

I went to post a heavy book that I have sold on Amazon. After fees I am left with £7.13 so I thought nice enough result.
I went to the post office and asked to send it the cheapest way possible - answer £7.08 please :eek: would leave me with 5p, their weight 2226g. It just didn't seem right so I took it back. I brought it back to my work and weighed it on our franking machine scales - 1849g £4.41. Which is a lot healthier.
Just not sure which way to go, challenge the post office and complain or just stump up incase work is wrong, which I doubt. 400g of a difference is a lot to be out by. I can't just frank it at work as it's 'wrong' and the person who would say just do it is on holiday

TurkishDelight

Well if you're sure then print your postage online and take it to the PO for a cert of posting.

I'd test your scales first though, with stuff you know the weights of.

a_confused_mum

maybe try another post office? if thats accessible? we have 2 within a short distance.
or go back on a different day as I thinkt hey have to calibrate regularly???

soolin

Post Office scales should be well calibrated, if they are substantially incorrect then there must have been huge numbers of complaints so phone head office and explain what happened and see if they are aware of anything already reported.

I would be more inclined though to believe that either your office scales are incorrect or that someone was leaning against the scales at the PO when they weighed your book. The latter has happened to me, someone at the next desk was just brushing against the scales and pushed the weight up enough for me to have noticed.

Oneday77

Thanks all.
I will double check the scales here and then take it from there. It's just my local post office just seems to give postage the hard sell and i get suspicious of them at times. They always try to upsell the postage I ask for. You would think after sending about 50 parcels recently over various occassions I would know what I was doing .

dawyldthing

If I was you I would use these:

http://www.collectplus.co.uk/

as its 3.99 (sorry I can't get the pound sign to work on this) I had a job lot of books to sell and if I had sent them by courier/ royal mail or any other way it would have been well over thirty pounds, but because I sent it in batches it cost 12 pounds I think it was. I made a fair bit from the postage too from it, plus it means that the person is not in for days on end waiting for it. It is a bit slow, but brillant tracking as you get an e-mail when its been sent, when its been received by the shop and finally when the person has got it, so you have a fall back as to where it is.

Hope it helps

soolin

dawyldthing wrote: »

If I was you I would use these:

http://www.collectplus.co.uk/

as its 3.99 (sorry I can't get the pound sign to work on this) I had a job lot of books to sell and if I had sent them by courier/ royal mail or any other way it would have been well over thirty pounds, but because I sent it in batches it cost 12 pounds I think it was. I made a fair bit from the postage too from it, plus it means that the person is not in for days on end waiting for it. It is a bit slow, but brillant tracking as you get an e-mail when its been sent, when its been received by the shop and finally when the person has got it, so you have a fall back as to where it is.

Hope it helps

And a neg from the buyer who doesn't get the book shipped to his address as he believed it would be.

No way on earth am I trundling round shops collecting a 2kg book which I would then have to lug home. Couriers should be stated up front especially couriers that merely drop ship to a shop somewhere.

custardy

also IIRC cyberbob had a nightmare with them sending an item out

emweaver

Try another post office mine OFTEN do this add on extra weight, sometimes its de to them reading the scales on a angle so obviously you dont get a correct reading. I posted a toy before xmas at a new post office outside of town cost £2 something, next day posted the identical one in my main post office wanted £7+ for posting. When I queried it they said oh yes your correct. Really annoys me as 50% of the time they do this and all the things Ive sent before I realised what was happening or when dh posts as he doesnt check at all

Needless to say I now travel the extra mile to pay the correct postage unless its heavy snow etc. I did ring and complain to the post office and they must have got a call from head office when I was in there the next day as they was on the phone whilst messing with the scales

HannahIOW

To check your office scales, why not weigh a 1kg bag of sugar?

TurkishDelight

soolin wrote: »

And a neg from the buyer who doesn't get the book shipped to his address as he believed it would be.

No way on earth am I trundling round shops collecting a 2kg book which I would then have to lug home. Couriers should be stated up front especially couriers that merely drop ship to a shop somewhere.

For me it would be a item not recieved.

I'd never have it (no car, and hermit sensibilities) and the only proof they can provide is that it got delivered to a different address.

And then I'd neg them.
If I wanted to go to a shop to get the things I wanted I would.