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

petersy

jon81uk said:

petersy said:

We received a batch of stamps on 19th April.

We sent stamps in booklet format - Royal Mail returned stamps in sheet format.

Hardly a like-for-like swap (as per their enclosed letter) is it? Why can't they send booklets?

Again, no additional £6.85 in stamps to cover the special delivery service that we used to send the stamps.

So we called Royal Mail, and after a 12 minute wait, someone answered the phone.

They said they would forward the £6.85 but could not deal with the like-for-like problem and would have to make enquiries and call us back.

Of course, we received no call back, so we called them again today (20th).

We were told that RM are not sending out like-for-like (as stated in their letter) so no booklets, only sheet stamps.

What a shambles.

Where does it state they will swap like-for-like?
The form just says " We will swap your old stamps to the value of today’s tariff." which is what you have got.

It says like-for-like in the letter you get back with your stamps.

petersy

Spoonie_Turtle said:

petersy said:

We received a batch of stamps on 19th April.

We sent stamps in booklet format - Royal Mail returned stamps in sheet format.

Hardly a like-for-like swap (as per their enclosed letter) is it? Why can't they send booklets?

Again, no additional £6.85 in stamps to cover the special delivery service that we used to send the stamps.

So we called Royal Mail, and after a 12 minute wait, someone answered the phone.

They said they would forward the £6.85 but could not deal with the like-for-like problem and would have to make enquiries and call us back.

Of course, we received no call back, so we called them again today (20th).

We were told that RM are not sending out like-for-like (as stated in their letter) so no booklets, only sheet stamps.

What a shambles.

The booklets have a different number of stamps in them (4 and 8 instead of 6 and 12) so offering an exact swap would not be possible.  And what do you expect them to do about partly-used booklets?  What do you expect them to do about the odd value stamps that people are sending in, stamps that aren't produced any more?

The solution here is simple, cut off a section of the sheet, fold it in half, and ta-da!  A makeshift booklet.

We sent full booklets, so sending full booklets back would not be impossible as you say, as they have them in stock.

Doc_N

petersy said:

Spoonie_Turtle said:

petersy said:

We received a batch of stamps on 19th April.

We sent stamps in booklet format - Royal Mail returned stamps in sheet format.

Hardly a like-for-like swap (as per their enclosed letter) is it? Why can't they send booklets?

Again, no additional £6.85 in stamps to cover the special delivery service that we used to send the stamps.

So we called Royal Mail, and after a 12 minute wait, someone answered the phone.

They said they would forward the £6.85 but could not deal with the like-for-like problem and would have to make enquiries and call us back.

Of course, we received no call back, so we called them again today (20th).

We were told that RM are not sending out like-for-like (as stated in their letter) so no booklets, only sheet stamps.

What a shambles.

The booklets have a different number of stamps in them (4 and 8 instead of 6 and 12) so offering an exact swap would not be possible.  And what do you expect them to do about partly-used booklets?  What do you expect them to do about the odd value stamps that people are sending in, stamps that aren't produced any more?

The solution here is simple, cut off a section of the sheet, fold it in half, and ta-da!  A makeshift booklet.

We sent full booklets, so sending full booklets back would not be impossible as you say, as they have them in stock.

Why would they bother, though, given that it’s simpler just to stick to sheets. I’m just relieved they’re not trying to get out of the original ‘forever’ promise on a technicality.

molerat

It would have been  nice to get books back but you sent in 1st class stamps and got 1st class stamps back.  Just tear them off in strips of 4 x 2 and fold in half into a booklet, simples.

petersy

molerat said:

It would have been  nice to get books back but you sent in 1st class stamps and got 1st class stamps back.  Just tear them off in strips of 4 x 2 and fold in half into a booklet, simples.

I think you've missed the point.

We purchased booklets from the RM website (which is what we paid for and what we wanted) and now through no fault of our own we have to change what we originally purchased with no recourse. Would you accept this with any other product purchased online? I doubt it.

soolin

petersy said:

molerat said:

It would have been  nice to get books back but you sent in 1st class stamps and got 1st class stamps back.  Just tear them off in strips of 4 x 2 and fold in half into a booklet, simples.

I think you've missed the point.

We purchased booklets from the RM website (which is what we paid for and what we wanted) and now through no fault of our own we have to change what we originally purchased with no recourse. Would you accept this with any other product purchased online? I doubt it.

Of course we often have to accept things that are slightly different. I returned an item last month, I’d paid in cash and had handed over £10 notes and they gave me a £20 and a £5 plus some coin back, should I have demanded £10 notes? 

I really think there are better things to worry about other than worrying you sent little booklets and got sheets back .

Spoonie_Turtle

petersy said:

Spoonie_Turtle said:

petersy said:

We received a batch of stamps on 19th April.

We sent stamps in booklet format - Royal Mail returned stamps in sheet format.

Hardly a like-for-like swap (as per their enclosed letter) is it? Why can't they send booklets?

Again, no additional £6.85 in stamps to cover the special delivery service that we used to send the stamps.

So we called Royal Mail, and after a 12 minute wait, someone answered the phone.

They said they would forward the £6.85 but could not deal with the like-for-like problem and would have to make enquiries and call us back.

Of course, we received no call back, so we called them again today (20th).

We were told that RM are not sending out like-for-like (as stated in their letter) so no booklets, only sheet stamps.

What a shambles.

The booklets have a different number of stamps in them (4 and 8 instead of 6 and 12) so offering an exact swap would not be possible.  And what do you expect them to do about partly-used booklets?  What do you expect them to do about the odd value stamps that people are sending in, stamps that aren't produced any more?

The solution here is simple, cut off a section of the sheet, fold it in half, and ta-da!  A makeshift booklet.

We sent full booklets, so sending full booklets back would not be impossible as you say, as they have them in stock.

You missed my point, the booklets contain different amounts of stamps.  Multiples of 4 for the new ones (because the new stamps are physically larger) instead of multiples of 6. 

The questions I asked may not be relevant to your own circumstances but the scheme has to account for all the thousands of stamps they'll be swapping.

petersy said:

molerat said:

It would have been  nice to get books back but you sent in 1st class stamps and got 1st class stamps back.  Just tear them off in strips of 4 x 2 and fold in half into a booklet, simples.

I think you've missed the point.

We purchased booklets from the RM website (which is what we paid for and what we wanted) and now through no fault of our own we have to change what we originally purchased with no recourse. Would you accept this with any other product purchased online? I doubt it.

You bought stamps.  You didn't pay any different price for the specific format, you only paid for the stamps when you bought them.  You sent stamps to be swapped, you got stamps back.  I fail to see the actual problem.  Mild inconvenience perhaps, as somebody previously mentioned booklets were a bit more convenient to store, but no actual *problem*.

NBLondon

Ahem - I mentioned booklets several pages back....  I sent in booklets of 4xLarge 1st so I hoped for booklets of 4xLarge 1st in return.   Without SwapOut I would have been re-selling those booklets on eBay (which is why I'm discussing on this thread).   I got part-sheets in return - which although they are like for like in terms of postal use they are not the same if I'm intending to sell them on.  So that's an extra inconvenience to me.

But since I made no agreement with RM about what I was going to do with those stamps - I don't have any recourse.

Olinda99

probably a silly question but wouldn't you get the same price if you sold say 1 x booklet of 10 barcoded new stamps and a sheet of 10 of the same stamps ?

soolin

I sent a bulk order on Wednesday 13th and got mine back today. I've checked all my totals both for stamps and for value and have definitely got back my special delivery fee plus I have 2 extra 1st class LL stamps that were not included in the total.