Post Office/Royal Mail problem?

thriftwizard

Earlier this week, I was puzzled to receive a card asking for £2.50 to have something re-delivered "as the sender has underpaid the postage." I almost ignored it as I couldn't think of anything I'd ordered that would cost that much to post. But it could have been for one of the DDs so I coughed up & it was duly delivered yesterday - a small packet of tiny seeds in an envelope with a Large Letter stamp on it, weighing just 17g and much less than 1cm thick. The explanation was "invalid stamp." This morning I went to the sorting office to ask why and was told, "oh, they've used a stamp bought at the Post Office - there's no bar-code." I pointed out that it says on the Royal Mail website that you can still use these until 31st July. "That's just not the case. We're getting hundreds of these! People aren't supposed to be using these cheap stamps any more. I can't help, you'll have to ring Customer Services." Which is not a free number...

Anyone else feel this is blatant profiteering/just plain wrong?

Katiehound

having jumped through loads of 'hoops' I got to this page:
Personal- complain

https://personal.help.royalmail.com/app/webforms/contact/c/310

think you will have to cut & paste the link

If this doesn't link then you go to complaints on Royal mail... and eventually the contact us page appears!

Absolutely complain & expect some compensation for having to go the sorting office, use your valuable time for something that is  totally inaccurate

Hope you have the name of the postman/woman at the sorting office. Make an official  complaint that they don't know the rules....

this from Royal mail website:

"Know where your old stamps are?

You now have until 31 July 2023 to use them. Alternatively swap them out."

Auntycaz

That's disgusting. I'm going to have to check my niece hasn't had to pay extra for the birthday card I sent last week.

thriftwizard

Thank you, @Katiehound, have done so and will resort to Twitter if I don't get a sensible answer! But how many other people out there are falling foul of this?

MSE_ForumTeam5

Hi @thriftwizard we've moved this across to the Ebay, auctions, car boot sales, post & parcels board which is where everything to do with stamps and deliveries are discussed.

We'd also be interested to hear if the same thing has happened to anyone else.

Katiehound

Thinking about this I'm wondering if it might be: in breach of Royal mail contract, illegal, extortion!

I had an old stamped letter delivered yesterday- so the problem is not happening here.

I think you need to identify the area in which it is happening and I would be getting in touch with local radio & local television station because then everyone in the area will be aware of the problem and it will possibly go national.
You should be able easily to email your local newspaper on the news desk.
In the past local papers were searched for stories for TV...... guess that might still happen

Also a national paper that has a consumer champions column... I can think of one national that does except i don't know which paper that is!

soolin

I was going to post about issues on here , so I am glad this has been highlighted.

On the various Royal mail groups there are quite a few people commenting to say that they have been surcharged for using up old stamps with RM apparently not realising that their own rules state they will be honoured for a short period. In fact I have a few large letter 1st class stamps non barcoded left, and I am too nervous to actually use them and may have to go through all the bother of sending in less than £10 of stamps to the swap out scheme. 

NBLondon

Absolutely complain.  The sorting office should know better.

There is a possibility that the stamp was a forgery - which was detected on the way 
https://blog.norphil.co.uk/2019/12/machin-postal-forgeries-again-some-good.html   in which case - you have a case to complain to the seller.  (I'm assuming here that the seeds were something you ordered).

thriftwizard

I did indeed order the seeds, which are microscopic. The stamp looks perfectly genuine, exactly like the couple of older ones I still have - and am now a little afraid to use! A FB post has garnered another "victim" in the next town along, whose letter had also been weighed and stamped in a proper Post Office on sending; they have a different sorting office to us. I'm wondering whether some sorting offices have soft- or hardware that needs an update to reflect the extended deadline? 

Katiehound

^^^^
All this is why I suggested you contacted local press/ radio/ television so that other people, if caught, can take action.

NBLondon

thriftwizard said:

 I'm wondering whether some sorting offices have soft- or hardware that needs an update to reflect the extended deadline? 

That's not impossible - but damn incompetent.  You need to complain so that can be checked.    Scan or photograph the envelope and stamp and any proof of how you paid the £2.50 as these may have to be sent on with your complaint.

The person you spoke to at the delivery office (not the same thing as a sorting office) was talking rubbish.  If the stamp is genuine; you should not be surcharged to receive it as there is a grace period to the end of July.  Nothing to do with whether the stamp was bought in a Post Office  The only thing they could imply by referring to a "cheap" stamp is that the sender had bought forgeries.  That's a separate complaint.