Advice re Royal Mail stamp swapout

NBLondon

Jeremy535897 said:

but I will now have to ask the Post Office if I can trade in some of the large 1st stamps for standard 1st and 2nd stamps, as there is no way I will use 68 large 1sts even in the next five years. 

If this is a small sub PO where they know you; then they might do an under the counter deal but otherwise they will probably tell you no go.

You could try returning them to RM using the info in the accompanying letter but you'd then need to pay to send them back Special Delivery and hope to get the right amount refunded.

I've seen various complaints that RM are sending out the wrong mix of stamps so clearly they have issues at the moment.

Like molerat says - if you put a Large 1st on a letter that only needs a standard 1st - it will be an overpayment but you aren't losing any money so do you care?

Or you could sell the Large 1sts (eBay or stamp dealers at a discount) and then buy standard 1sts as needed.  As long as you get more than 95p each for them (after costs have ben covered) you are still in profit.

Jeremy535897

molerat said:

Jeremy535897 said:

I have a different issue to report. I sent in a mix of standard 1st, large 1st and standard 2nd class stamps worth about £72. That was only a week or so ago. Today I have received back the equivalent number of stamps, but they are all large 1sts. I have therefore gained about £26 in terms of value, but I will now have to ask the Post Office if I can trade in some of the large 1st stamps for standard 1st and 2nd stamps, as there is no way I will use 68 large 1sts even in the next five years. The accompanying letter says they have provided like for like equivalents, but where this is not possible (due to lack of stock, or other reasons irrelevant to my case) they will "add 2nd class barcoded stamps to make up the equivalent total postage value", but they sent no 2nd class standard stamps at all.

A 1L will cover all the letters you send so does it really matter what stamp is on them ?

If I stick 1Ls on Christmas cards everyone will think I have gone mad.

olgadapolga

Jeremy535897 said:

molerat said:

Jeremy535897 said:

I have a different issue to report. I sent in a mix of standard 1st, large 1st and standard 2nd class stamps worth about £72. That was only a week or so ago. Today I have received back the equivalent number of stamps, but they are all large 1sts. I have therefore gained about £26 in terms of value, but I will now have to ask the Post Office if I can trade in some of the large 1st stamps for standard 1st and 2nd stamps, as there is no way I will use 68 large 1sts even in the next five years. The accompanying letter says they have provided like for like equivalents, but where this is not possible (due to lack of stock, or other reasons irrelevant to my case) they will "add 2nd class barcoded stamps to make up the equivalent total postage value", but they sent no 2nd class standard stamps at all.

A 1L will cover all the letters you send so does it really matter what stamp is on them ?

If I stick 1Ls on Christmas cards everyone will think I have gone mad.

I doubt that they'd even look at the stamp on the envelope!

Jeremy535897

For  say 50 stamps messing around on Ebay is not worth it. I know the people in my local post office and I will just see if I can swap some, rather than wasting 1L where I would use 2S.

liz_bartun

gt94sss2 said:

According to https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11421065/Ban-non-barcoded-stamps-delayed-summer-Royal-Mail-climbs-down.html the deadline for using old stamps has been extended to the end of July 23.

And there will be forms and pre-addressed envelopes in post offices:

"To make things even easier for our customers, we have also agreed with the Post Office to include the forms to enable customers to swap stamps alongside freepost envelopes in its branches.

This means that customers will be able to fill out a form, insert it into a freepost envelope with any remaining non-barcoded stamps and hand it over for posting in a Post Office branch."

DefJef

stampswapper said:

DefJef said:

I was shocked this morning to receive a letter from RM claiming that I had failed to enclose my returned non-barcoded stamps for swap out.  This is not true.

They request that I collect another form and enclose them this time. Hard to do when I've already sent them. They don't disagree that they received my envelope or form but they have either lost them or not looked in the envelope properly - or they have been extracted en route in a way that was undetectable.

Suggesting that I did not enclose them seems to insinuate that I am either incompetent or committing fraud. For me to reply that I did send them insinuates that they are one of those things, which is a pretty sorry stalemate.

So how could I prove the stamps were in the envelope? How can they prove a negative that they were not ? Was I supposed to video myself placing them in the envelope, sealing it and walking to the post box without any tricksy editing or sleight of hand noticeable?  Maybe RM do do that with each envelope that they open and can show me that? In which case I would have to accept that the undetectable removal of the stamps was carried out en route - or they are still in the envelope!  Also I cannot now attempt to resend stamps that I have already sent.

IMO this is Royal Mail's problem. They insist that you put any number of unused stamps in an envelope which you cannot even get a Certificate of Posting from a Post Office to prove you have sent it. The address will be obvious to anyone that sees it and will know it contains unused stamps - effectively as good as cash which RM will say would need Special Delivery and yet don't offer this service for free when they are the ones wanting to change their own stamps. Not wishing to accuse anyone of stealing the contents but you might just as well chuck your stamps in the bin and save all the hassle! For that reason I will hold on to my stamps until such time I have no choice and yes, maybe video myself putting them in the envelope.

Challenge Royal Mail - this is their problem and demand retribution or you will seek legal advice and maybe report this to the media.

Update. I contacted Royal Mail via their contact form, highlighting the points that I made in this comment. Today I received my replacement stamps and a letter confessing to an 'inputting error'. Apparently they have now put 'systems in place' so that it 'can't happen again'.....

DefJef

DefJef said:

I was shocked this morning to receive a letter from RM claiming that I had failed to enclose my returned non-barcoded stamps for swap out.  This is not true.

They request that I collect another form and enclose them this time. Hard to do when I've already sent them. They don't disagree that they received my envelope or form but they have either lost them or not looked in the envelope properly - or they have been extracted en route in a way that was undetectable.

Suggesting that I did not enclose them seems to insinuate that I am either incompetent or committing fraud. For me to reply that I did send them insinuates that they are one of those things, which is a pretty sorry stalemate.

So how could I prove the stamps were in the envelope? How can they prove a negative that they were not ? Was I supposed to video myself placing them in the envelope, sealing it and walking to the post box without any tricksy editing or sleight of hand noticeable?  Maybe RM do do that with each envelope that they open and can show me that? In which case I would have to accept that the undetectable removal of the stamps was carried out en route - or they are still in the envelope!  Also I cannot now attempt to resend stamps that I have already sent.

Update. I contacted Royal Mail via their contact form, highlighting the points that I made in this comment. Today I received my replacement stamps and a letter confessing to an 'inputting error'. Apparently they have now put 'systems in place' so that it 'can't happen again'.....

stampswapper

NBLondon said:

stampswapper said:

Who said anything about violence? Retribution simply means repayment for when something has gone wrong. If Royal Mail lose any of my stamps that they insist I send through the post then I will certainly expect them to pay up!

https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/retribution

You probably mean restitution.  https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/restitution

Quite possibly but the poster here was complaining that Royal Mail was insinuating that he was either incompetent or committing fraud and as he was not able to prove the stamps were in the envelope how could he re-send stamps that he'd already sent.

So, the theory of retribution is generally based on four basic claims: the principle of wilful wrongdoing, the principle of proportionality, the principle of necessity, and the principle of inherent justice. Take your pick but I certainly would not have let Royal Mail get away with such nonsense. Besides, the poster has now received his replacement stamps and no "violence" was needed - maybe just a few strong words did the trick!

NBLondon

stampswapper said:

So, the theory of retribution is generally based on four basic claims: the principle of wilful wrongdoing

There was no wilful wrongdoing by RM - so "demanding retribution" as you originally suggested was not appropriate.  Clearly requesting restitution was both appropriate and successful.

stampswapper

NBLondon said:

stampswapper said:

So, the theory of retribution is generally based on four basic claims: the principle of wilful wrongdoing

There was no wilful wrongdoing by RM - so "demanding retribution" as you originally suggested was not appropriate.  Clearly requesting restitution was both appropriate and successful.

So how do you know it wasn't "wilfull wrongdoing"? Who stole the stamps or are you suggesting the poster was incompetent or committing fraud? From the way the poster explained the problem it was quite possible that there could have been a deliberate attempt to avoid replacing the stamps or paying compensation. Please explain how he was supposed to send the stamps again as RM were asking him to when he'd already sent them or indeed how could he prove he'd even sent them in the first place? My reply was based on those comments and so either retribution or restitution is entirely appropriate.

When everyone knows that it is a stupid to put any amount of cash in an envelope and put it in a post box why are RM effectively asking people to do just that? Unused stamps are as good as cash so if they get lost in the post who is responsible and how are you supposed to get your money back? You buy stamps at a Post Office so if RM cannot allow anyone to swap them there then they should supply free Special Delivery envelopes - although even then you still can't prove how many stamps are inside!