Real-life MMD: Should I keep paying postage shortfalls?

XRAT

Were I the sender I would be mortified that you had lost out. I would want to know, so that I didn't make the same mistake again.

Kiama

You could always get one of those postage guide leaflets and post it to them, I wouldn't say who its from but just put on front important changes.

xx

JulieM

As others have said, many problems arise with greetings cards having some kind of decoration like a bow or some beads on, making them too thick for a standard letter stamp. The back of the card usually states 'large letter' but not everyone realises this, or bothers to look, I've had to point it out to several people.

janiebquick

Royal Mail has got itself a nice little earner here and the only loser is the customer - ie, you and me. It is my experience that, if you check with the Post Office before sending, they often claim it's a large letter when it isn't and a packet when it's a large letter. I've even had my local PO claim that an item had to be sent as a packet simply because it was not in an envelope or - get this - because the postie would have to push it through the letter box (how else is it going to get through?). Conversely, I have heard of cases when people have posted items in good faith only to have the Royal Mail at the recipient's home claim it's a large letter when it's not.

Royal Mail claims it's revenue protection when it clearly isn't anything of the sort, and I do think it would be good for customer relations if they were a bit lenient at Christmas. I refuse to go and pay for any of these items anyway.

custardy

janiebquick wrote: »

Royal Mail has got itself a nice little earner here and the only loser is the customer - ie, you and me. It is my experience that, if you check with the Post Office before sending, they often claim it's a large letter when it isn't and a packet when it's a large letter. I've even had my local PO claim that an item had to be sent as a packet simply because it was not in an envelope or - get this - because the postie would have to push it through the letter box (how else is it going to get through?). Conversely, I have heard of cases when people have posted items in good faith only to have the Royal Mail at the recipient's home claim it's a large letter when it's not.

Royal Mail claims it's revenue protection when it clearly isn't anything of the sort, and I do think it would be good for customer relations if they were a bit lenient at Christmas. I refuse to go and pay for any of these items anyway.

they are
the mass majority of underpaid items go through due to the sheer volume of mail,poorly addressed items,manual handling etc
same as they gave grace on the 1st Christmas and IIRC the 2nd at least.
It would be great customer relations if Tesco simply charged less than the advertised price at Christmas............

elizabethhull

The solution below is the obvious and kindest route. Some people on this thread are so ungrateful and combative I'm surprised they get any cards at all!
Yes, some people are careless, some are simply unaware of their mistake - if we all got our strictly just deserts, the world would be an arid place.

pennypinchUK wrote: »

Isn't there a very easy solution? Simply phone/write/email the people saying "Thanks very much for the card. It's really not a problem, but I thought you might appreciate knowing there was a small surcharge as the postage wasn't quite enough. Happy New Year."

Sorted.

panda60

I took a birthday card to be checked at the post-office when large letter stamps were quite new and was told it was ok to go standard... needless to say Mum didn't get her card on the day and a few days later had to 'pay up'. I complained and got the fees back... hopefully the system is better now! There are details on the Post Office website re sizing.. could be worth printing off...:)

Ivana_Tinkle

I've lost count of how much I've paid out over the last few years so my kids can get birthday/Xmas cards from their grandmother. (Plus we're in the middle of nowhere so it's petrol costs, not just the fine.)Every time, I tell her, very nicely, what's happened, and her response is that it's a stupid system and she can't be bothered with it. AAARRRGGGHHH!

custardy

Ivana_Tinkle wrote: »

I've lost count of how much I've paid out over the last few years so my kids can get birthday/Xmas cards from their grandmother. (Plus we're in the middle of nowhere so it's petrol costs, not just the fine.)Every time, I tell her, very nicely, what's happened, and her response is that it's a stupid system and she can't be bothered with it. AAARRRGGGHHH!

Be cheaper to send her some large letter stamps
remember you dont need to collect them
you can pay online

caci

Just after the new rules came in, I posted birthday cards, with badges, to my niece and nephew. The cards were the same size, and thickness, posted to the same address, on the same day.
One was delivered, the other not. My brother realised the item with excess postage to pay was from me, so didn't collect it from the post office.
After a couple of week, the card was returned to me, by Royal Mail, FIRST CLASS