Royal Mail Swap Out - Fraudulent stamps

p00hsticks

movilogo said:

I bought them few years back and was using them without any issue. I had no clue that they are not genuine.

From where did you buy them and how much did you pay ? If from e-bay,amazon or facebook at less than face value, then there is a pretty good chance that they were counterfeit.

movilogo

It was several years back so can't recall where from exactly. But either from Amazon or Ebay. Not necessarily cheaper but it was easier to get it delivered rather than walking to post office which was not nearby. 

An average consumer won't know whether stamps are genuine or not, hence Royal Mail should have compensated. Mind you, if I had not sent them for swapping it would not been detected and I could carry on using them (till they are allowed). So consumers are penalized for their honesty.

I’m not surprised they’re being unhelpful when you’re accusing RM staff of theft without a shred of evidence. Never a good idea.

Royal Mail should send the stamps back, marking as VOID but with evidence or proof why they are not genuine stamps. 

Jumblebumble

movilogo said:

It was several years back so can't recall where from exactly. But either from Amazon or Ebay. Not necessarily cheaper but it was easier to get it delivered rather than walking to post office which was not nearby. 

An average consumer won't know whether stamps are genuine or not, hence Royal Mail should have compensated. Mind you, if I had not sent them for swapping it would not been detected and I could carry on using them (till they are allowed). So consumers are penalized for their honesty.

[Quote]I’m not surprised they’re being unhelpful when you’re accusing RM staff of theft without a shred of evidence. Never a good idea. [/Quote]

Royal Mail should send the stamps back, marking as OID but with evidence or proof why they are not genuine stamps. 

I take that you don't run a business
If you did you would know that you would likely go broke if you compensated people who purchased fakes.
My understanding and I may be wrong is an offence to send counterfeit stamps in the mail 
At the very least RM have dodgy stamps  on their prohibited list so how do they return them to you?

Alderbank

movilogo said:

Royal Mail should send the stamps back, marking as VOID but with evidence or proof why they are not genuine stamps. 

As far as I'm aware, counterfeit goods, whether handbags, postage stamps or bank notes, are never returned to the 'owner'.

NBLondon

movilogo said:

An average consumer won't know whether stamps are genuine or not, hence Royal Mail should have compensated. Mind you, if I had not sent them for swapping it would not been detected and I could carry on using them (till they are allowed). 

They might have been detected when used and the recipient would have been surcharged.

Why should RM compensate you for buying fakes (even unknowingly)?   The person to chase is the one who sold you the fakes years ago.  That's going to be difficult.

movilogo said:

So consumers are penalized for their honesty.

Honesty in what?  You didn't know they were fake so you weren't actively being dishonest, just declaring to the best of your knowledge that they were valid for SwapOut 

movilogo said:

Royal Mail should send the stamps back, marking as VOID but with evidence or proof why they are not genuine stamps. 

The T&C of the SwapOut says they reserve the right to decline an order if they believe items to be fraudulent.   The form says they will not be returned.  So unfortunately, you agreed to that when you sent it in.

movilogo

Before this incident I had no clue that postage stamps could be fraudulent. 

[1] Even if I track the seller who sold me fraudulent stamps, how do I prove that if I don't have the said stamps with me?

[2] What prevents someone in RM replace my real stamps with fraudulent stamps? 

Hence I said there is no proof that my stamps were non genuine. Just because RM says so I am expected to believe this.

Not that I can do anything other than ranting here but the point still remains that RM did not provide any evidence or explanation to support their action.  The letter was generic claiming my stamps were either non-genuine or used. So they didn't even confirm whether they consider my stamps [a] used or [b] counterfeit. 

I know it is not related, but the Horizon IT scandal ruined people's lives because RM was arrogant and they could not accept they were in the wrong. If they are serious about preventing fraudulent stamps, they should have sent me an explanation how to detect fraudulent stamps in future so that I don't fall in the same trap again. 

eskbanker

movilogo said:

I know it is not related, but the Horizon IT scandal ruined people's lives because RM was arrogant and they could not accept they were in the wrong.

RM wasn't in the wrong there - the Horizon IT scandal was with the Post Office, not Royal Mail....

sheramber

Post Office and Royal Mail are separate companies

movilogo

Ah OK, I thought they are same but now realized the Royal Mail and Post Office are separate organizations.

p00hsticks

movilogo said:

The letter was generic claiming my stamps were either non-genuine or used. So they didn't even confirm whether they consider my stamps [a] used or [b] counterfeit. 

The letter's generic because RM will be sending so many of them out. Despite the spin that these new QR codes will enable people to send messages and view videos, a large reason for them being introduced is as an additional anti-fraud measure. You only had to look on ebay and Amazon to see how many of the old stamps were being sold cheaply and were almost certainly all fake.