Swap out stamps

Abbifleming

I recently sent some stamps back to Royal Mail as part of the Swap Out Scheme. 95 second class & 8 first class. RM took 5 weeks to replace my stamps and when they did, they sent back ALL first class with a covering note explaining that it is not always possible to replace ‘like for like’. I’m furious as I’m pretty sure RM shouldn’t be running low in stock of second class stamps. I really have no need for first class stamps. I’ve worked out they’ve short changed me 27 stamps @ 68p or £18.36

Jeremy535897

I got all large first class. Next time I am near the Post Office I will see if I can swap them there.

NBLondon

Abbifleming said:

I recently sent some stamps back to Royal Mail as part of the Swap Out Scheme. 95 second class & 8 first class. RM took 5 weeks to replace my stamps and when they did, they sent back ALL first class with a covering note explaining that it is not always possible to replace ‘like for like’. I’m furious as I’m pretty sure RM shouldn’t be running low in stock of second class stamps. I really have no need for first class stamps. I’ve worked out they’ve short changed me 27 stamps @ 68p or £18.36

Have they shortchanged you in the value of the stamps?  If so, you have the right to complain.  Or are you just short on the actual number of stamps?  The T&C do say that the "like for like" exchange is where possible and you accepted that when you sent them in.

Jeremy535897

The letter I received from Royal Mail said:

"Please find the enclosed 68 barcoded stamps to the value of £98.60.
This may differ from the number of stamps you sent in. We replace non-barcoded stamps with their like for like barcoded equivalent. Where this is not possible, either because of stock or where a stamp is no longer produced, we add 2nd class barcoded stamps to make up the equivalent total postage value."

What they actually did was replace 68 non-barcoded stamps (large 1st, standard 1st and standard 2nd mixture) with a value of about £75 with 68 large 1sts, so I gained about £14 in value. I could just use the large 1sts for everything, but I am going to see if the Post Office will swap me some large 1sts for some standard 1sts and 2nds, so that I get the benefit of the extra £14 rather than wasting it.

paul2louise

Glad i found this conversation although reading the comments concerns me. I sent back a lot of first class and large first class stamps. I was worried that the total cost was quite a lot. I will be needing stamps for Christmas so looks like I wont be getting them back in time, especially with the strikes. 

knightstyle

Just got all these, I sent off all my old unused stamps and several 50p booklets which included 1p and 1/2p stamps.  I definitely got back more than I sent so really pleased.

pchelpman

Clarification please - has the 'use by deadline' been extended from 31st January 2023 to 31st July 2023?

MSE and many other news sources say yes but RM's own website still says 31st Janaury.

molerat

pchelpman said:

Clarification please - has the 'use by deadline' been extended from 31st January 2023 to 31st July 2023?

MSE and many other news sources say yes but RM's own website still says 31st Janaury.

The RM site gives all the details

https://www.royalmail.com/sending/barcoded-stamps?iid=HP_M2_3_BARCODEDSTAMPS

The cut off date is still officially 31 Jan but ..........

What happens if I use a non-barcoded stamp after 31 January 2023?

Mail posted with non-barcoded Definitive stamps after 31 January 2023, will for the first 6 month be delivered as normal, no surcharge will be raised. After this 6 month grace period, an item with a non-barcoded stamp would be treated as if there is insufficient postage. Any item that has insufficient postage is subject to a surcharge. Surcharge fees can be found on our website.

olgadapolga

RM's website does say 31st January 2023 BUT they have added a statement that if non-barcoded stamps are used after 31st January, then they will be delivered as normal, for a period of six months (whereas before they said that stamps used after 31st January would be treated as insufficient postage and would incur a surcharge on the recipient). It's in their FAQS:
 https://www.royalmail.com/sending/barcoded-stamps#:~:text=It's fine to keep using,your non-barcoded stamps by.

p00hsticks

pchelpman said:

Clarification please - has the 'use by deadline' been extended from 31st January 2023 to 31st July 2023?

MSE and many other news sources say yes but RM's own website still says 31st Janaury.

If you think about it logically, as it is the recipient who faces having to pay if the incorrect postage is used, you can't really have a single hard deadline for the cut-over.

It wouldn't be fair to allow someone to perfectly legitimately post a letter with an old-style stamp on the 31st January deadline but  then charge the recipient an excess postage amount a few days later because the stamp was no longer valid - there has to be a reasonable grace period.

Although even with these strikes going on, five months for a letter to complete it's journey does seem to be a bit extreme!

pchelpman

Thanks all. You found what I clearly missed.