Royal Mail barcoding stamps - existing stamps valid only until 31 Jan 2023

custardy

Chomeur said:

I have several thousand pounds worth. Has anyone used the service they offer for this which is mentioned on the swap out form for over £200?:

"The delivery of £2,500 or more can be accommodated by Tallents House but is by strict appointment only. To arrange an appointment,

please email: TH_Bookings@royalmail.com

"

This all seems a bit much really. I could have sworn the stamps were valid in perpetuity when I bought them. And why on earth don't they exchange them at post offices? It seems like a recipe for disputes having people send them in without anyone checking what is being sent before they go in the post box.

Well for starters as mentioned previously.
This is down to RM. How do you see POs having stocks to handle this ,time, ability to verify stamps and for a fee of ? from RM
Also why would PO want to deal with this? Mosrt already suffer from excess waits for customers queuing 
Tallents house is RMs stamp office. I would expect most would simply use SD for high amounts.
As for your comment on stamps. I was surprised they didnt raise the issue of stamp lifespan at privatisation.
Anyway as is often the case. Everyone's fine with change, until something changes

petersy

The current system is open to fraud.

1) The swap address clearly identifies what is in the envelope/package i.e. valuable stamps, which could potentially leave the package open to theft.

2) If Royal Mail contest the contents and value of the swap package, you have no recourse - their word is final.

A better idea would be to have the (local) Post Office check the stamp quantity and then issue the same quantity in barcoded stamps.

This way, both parties are covered.

Chomeur

The main purpose of this huge exercise, according to this page https://www.royalmail.com/sending/barcoded-stamps seems to be to allow people to watch a video of Shaun the Sheep. But they also mention that it enables the introduction of added security measures. I guess that means to stop use of fake stamps. 

I do wonder if the Royal Mail isn't in breach of contract in doing this, and whether you could sue them to compensate you for the time it takes you to sort this out.

jon81uk

Chomeur said:

The main purpose of this huge exercise, according to this page https://www.royalmail.com/sending/barcoded-stamps seems to be to allow people to watch a video of Shaun the Sheep. But they also mention that it enables the introduction of added security measures. I guess that means to stop use of fake stamps. 

I do wonder if the Royal Mail isn't in breach of contract in doing this, and whether you could sue them to compensate you for the time it takes you to sort this out.

The main purpose is to make it harder for people to counterfeit stamps. The Shaun the Sheep videos are to try to sell the idea to the public and encourage them to download the RM app.

Did anything in writing from Royal Mail state the stamps are valid forever, when do you think the contract was formed?

jon81uk

petersy said:

.

A better idea would be to have the (local) Post Office check the stamp quantity and then issue the same quantity in barcoded stamps.

This way, both parties are covered.

Post Office is a separate company so that would add a third party in who would need payment and training. I’m guessing Royal Mail don’t want to pay them to do the work for them.

Chomeur

jon81uk said:

Chomeur said:

The main purpose of this huge exercise, according to this page https://www.royalmail.com/sending/barcoded-stamps seems to be to allow people to watch a video of Shaun the Sheep. But they also mention that it enables the introduction of added security measures. I guess that means to stop use of fake stamps. 

I do wonder if the Royal Mail isn't in breach of contract in doing this, and whether you could sue them to compensate you for the time it takes you to sort this out.

The main purpose is to make it harder for people to counterfeit stamps. The Shaun the Sheep videos are to try to sell the idea to the public and encourage them to download the RM app.

Did anything in writing from Royal Mail state the stamps are valid forever, when do you think the contract was formed?

A Shaun the Sheep video isn't going to sell the idea to me. It would be better if they were more open about their reasons. 

The contract was formed when I bought the stamps obviously. The purpose of buying first and second class stamps is that you are buying the right to have Royal Mail send letters for you without having to worry about future price changes. So I think that, absent any statement to the contrary, it is implicit that they are valid forever. There was no statement to the contrary.

jon81uk

Chomeur said:

jon81uk said:

Chomeur said:

The main purpose of this huge exercise, according to this page https://www.royalmail.com/sending/barcoded-stamps seems to be to allow people to watch a video of Shaun the Sheep. But they also mention that it enables the introduction of added security measures. I guess that means to stop use of fake stamps. 

I do wonder if the Royal Mail isn't in breach of contract in doing this, and whether you could sue them to compensate you for the time it takes you to sort this out.

The main purpose is to make it harder for people to counterfeit stamps. The Shaun the Sheep videos are to try to sell the idea to the public and encourage them to download the RM app.

Did anything in writing from Royal Mail state the stamps are valid forever, when do you think the contract was formed?

A Shaun the Sheep video isn't going to sell the idea to me. It would be better if they were more open about their reasons. 

The contract was formed when I bought the stamps obviously. The purpose of buying first and second class stamps is that you are buying the right to have Royal Mail send letters for you without having to worry about future price changes. So I think that, absent any statement to the contrary, it is implicit that they are valid forever. There was no statement to the contrary.

Although you are buying the right to have them send letters for you, they don't gurantee that you don't have to worry about future price rises, thats very much something pur forward by sites such as MSE, Royal Mail themselves don't encourage stockpiling.

Money_Grabber13579

Chomeur said:

jon81uk said:

Chomeur said:

The main purpose of this huge exercise, according to this page https://www.royalmail.com/sending/barcoded-stamps seems to be to allow people to watch a video of Shaun the Sheep. But they also mention that it enables the introduction of added security measures. I guess that means to stop use of fake stamps. 

I do wonder if the Royal Mail isn't in breach of contract in doing this, and whether you could sue them to compensate you for the time it takes you to sort this out.

The main purpose is to make it harder for people to counterfeit stamps. The Shaun the Sheep videos are to try to sell the idea to the public and encourage them to download the RM app.

Did anything in writing from Royal Mail state the stamps are valid forever, when do you think the contract was formed?

A Shaun the Sheep video isn't going to sell the idea to me. It would be better if they were more open about their reasons. 

The contract was formed when I bought the stamps obviously. The purpose of buying first and second class stamps is that you are buying the right to have Royal Mail send letters for you without having to worry about future price changes. So I think that, absent any statement to the contrary, it is implicit that they are valid forever. There was no statement to the contrary.

In my view, Royal Mail have been very open about the reasons for introducing barcoded stamps and that is to stem the loss of revenue from people either reusing stamps or using fake stamps. The Shaun the Sheep video is just a curious addition in an attempt to boost the appeal to the public (but is unlikely to be influential either way).

When you bought your first and second class stamps, I’ll admit that it was implied that there was no expiry date and that they could effectively be used forever. However, I really don’t see what the fuss is about given that you bought a right to send a letter and even after this exercise is completed, you’ll still have that same right to send a letter, just with a different piece of paper to prove it (and it’s all at no cost as well, given that it’s either free post or Royal Mail will reimburse the special delivery cost.  As for reimbursing the cost of time, I really can’t see the argument for this - if you post the stamps back at the same time you’re posting other things, what additional time has it taken and if you’ve that many stamps, you clearly need to post lots of things anyway).

Did you have the same objections when we moved from paper money to plastic money? I know I just got on with it and spent my paper money, but if the worst happened, I just would have exchanged it at a bank.

molerat

Money_Grabber13579 said:

Chomeur said:

jon81uk said:

Chomeur said:

The main purpose of this huge exercise, according to this page https://www.royalmail.com/sending/barcoded-stamps seems to be to allow people to watch a video of Shaun the Sheep. But they also mention that it enables the introduction of added security measures. I guess that means to stop use of fake stamps. 

I do wonder if the Royal Mail isn't in breach of contract in doing this, and whether you could sue them to compensate you for the time it takes you to sort this out.

The main purpose is to make it harder for people to counterfeit stamps. The Shaun the Sheep videos are to try to sell the idea to the public and encourage them to download the RM app.

Did anything in writing from Royal Mail state the stamps are valid forever, when do you think the contract was formed?

A Shaun the Sheep video isn't going to sell the idea to me. It would be better if they were more open about their reasons. 

The contract was formed when I bought the stamps obviously. The purpose of buying first and second class stamps is that you are buying the right to have Royal Mail send letters for you without having to worry about future price changes. So I think that, absent any statement to the contrary, it is implicit that they are valid forever. There was no statement to the contrary.

In my view, Royal Mail have been very open about the reasons for introducing barcoded stamps and that is to stem the loss of revenue from people either reusing stamps or using fake stamps. The Shaun the Sheep video is just a curious addition in an attempt to boost the appeal to the public (but is unlikely to be influential either way).

When you bought your first and second class stamps, I’ll admit that it was implied that there was no expiry date and that they could effectively be used forever. However, I really don’t see what the fuss is about given that you bought a right to send a letter and even after this exercise is completed, you’ll still have that same right to send a letter, just with a different piece of paper to prove it (and it’s all at no cost as well, given that it’s either free post or Royal Mail will reimburse the special delivery cost.  As for reimbursing the cost of time, I really can’t see the argument for this - if you post the stamps back at the same time you’re posting other things, what additional time has it taken and if you’ve that many stamps, you clearly need to post lots of things anyway).

Did you have the same objections when we moved from paper money to plastic money? I know I just got on with it and spent my paper money, but if the worst happened, I just would have exchanged it at a bank.

Totally agree.

RM are not voiding any "contract" that was assumed present.  They have given almost 12 months warning that they are discontinuing the validity of these stamps but, in case you have not managed to use them, will exchange them for the new shiny ones.  The fact that some people have purchased what would seem to be in most people's eyes a ridiculously large quantity of stamps is not really of their concern.  Exactly the same as people with £Ks of old £10 notes stuffed in a mattress.

soolin

The argument about expecting stamps to be valid forever is illogical. Royal Mail are guaranteeing that the money you paid out to post in future is still there, they are just swapping one lot of stamps for another. So if you have, like me , around £1000 worth of stamps at todays value, I swap them and still have the same ability to post as I had before the swap.

Did no one notice the withdrawal of some old coins, or more recently bank notes- should we not have all complained that the £1000 in old paper £10 notes should still be able to be spent as before and not exchanged for new notes? I do wonder as well how people managed when we went decimal, possibly most people on this thread are too young to have lived through that!

Here on this board we have had various threads over the years about the blatantly fake stamps being freely available, it may seem harmless and a fun way of getting post cheaply but ultimately it costs all of us buying legitimate stamps more. If RM have worked out that the cost of this change will ultimately save money- and possibly stop some massive rate rises in future- then good on them. I imagine there are  a lot of sellers of fake stamps, and possibly some buyers holding stock as well that are seriously worried about this as they have a limited time to use stock and can't exchange them as the chance of being caught and prosecuted for fraud is far too high. 

Yes it is a bit time consuming to swap, and yes it is a bit stressful if like me you are racing to use some stock up and exchange some, but I can see the point of it.