Royal Mail now charging 16p with online Tracked 48 if taken to Post Office

tightauldgit

Buster_Danog said:

Does anyone know where the 16p is paid? I am currently buying a Tracked 48 with signature for £4.49 on the Royal Mail URL "https://business.parcel.royalmail.com" but I see no option to add the 16p charge to drop off at a post office.

Below the different options there is a message "A supplementary charge will apply for Post Office drop off. More information on these charges can be found here."

But that link doesn't seem to say much about Post Office drop off.

haven't had to do one yet all mine are collection

soolin

Buster_Danog said:

soolin said:

I've just done a test parcel, and yes, the prices for collection or drop off at a mail centre have reduced by 16p, but the 16p is added back on if you drop at a PO.

I was paying £3.45 for drop off but now it will only cost me £3.29. so I am quite pleased about that.

How are they added back on? If I pay the reduced rate by Paypal do they just take the 16p extra from my Paypal account if I drop off at a Post Office?

I assume the PO wouldn’t accept it , the label must show something on the scan to show whether it was a discounted one or not. If you just leave it without proof of postage I suppose there’s a risk the buyer would be charged the 16p plus some sort of penalty charge. 

soolin

Buster_Danog said:

Does anyone know where the 16p is paid? I am currently buying a Tracked 48 with signature for £4.49 on the Royal Mail URL "https://business.parcel.royalmail.com" but I see no option to add the 16p charge to drop off at a post office.

Below the different options there is a message "A supplementary charge will apply for Post Office drop off. More information on these charges can be found here."

But that link doesn't seem to say much about Post Office drop off.

When I did mine via RM click and drop it came up on one of the last pages, I had to choose how I was going to send it, with all the options being an extra £0 apart from drop at PO which was +£0.16

Buster_Danog

Thanks. If I use thiis RM link I see options for the 16p charge https://send.royalmail.com/

However, some years back I registered on the site that seems to be a business version. https://parcel.royalmail.com/

The second site doesn't appear to be updated with any option for the 16p charge although it repeatedly mentions it. Perhaps they have some way of adding the charge retrospectively, but they don't make this clear if it is the case. I'll try tomorrow on the first link.

soolin

That’s the site I use as well. 
https://parcel.royalmail.com/

the right hand sign is is for business accounts, the pricing is different depending on what service you use and the t and cs for claims is different. I gave up using my business account as it was getting more expensive than the standard site.

The left hand link is the one I use now (only where the eBay and RM prices differ) and that’d definitely shows the 2 different options I can use on the last but one page but both show the 16p charge but you can opt to make changes depending on whether you are paying the extra 16p or not. The best way to describe it is it’s similar to the way they hid the fact you could remove the collection option, you have to look for the right box to tick or untick. 

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

soolin said:

The left hand link is the one I use now 

The left hand link just redirects to 

https://send.royalmail.com/



When you buy as a domestic customer the collection is automatically added to the basket, once you delete it a pop up asks where you are going to drop off and if you select the PO the 16p is automatically added to the label price. 

If you have a RM business account I doubt you can drop Tracked off over the counter at the PO as mail needs to be bagged in sacks and tagged with paperwork to be scanned (although I assume sacks of mail can still be left at POs for RM collection). 

shapala

How strange. So has anyone tried this using RM's website and chosen 'delivery office' for free without the 16p surcharge and taken to their local PO instead? I've got a number of things to send and only saw this thread after I'd purchased the Tracked 48 labels (all under 2kg) for the normal £3.45/parcel via eBay. Tia.

HammerTiime

I had this today - I was trying to find the answer as I did a few parcels online and one of them for some reason didn't add the 16p but I needed to drop it to the post office. I did have to go back and edit it when I was ordering the label so wondering if that's why.

Anyway, I got fed up in the end and phoned RM, the advisor said that once it has registered properly through the  network it will update the charge to my card - there's a tickbox that says you agree to pay the specified amount so it gives them the ability to add any charges as required if something changes after you've paid.

Quite a relief as I'd have cried if they'd have charged my recipient an admin fee for a 16p cost 😂

HammerTiime

Also just as I posted that comment I had an email from RM telling me I've been charged a supplementary fee of 16p. So hopefully that is helpful for you all, now I can stop panicking 😊

Buster_Danog

HammerTiime said:

Also just as I posted that comment I had an email from RM telling me I've been charged a supplementary fee of 16p. So hopefully that is helpful for you all, now I can stop panicking 😊

Presumably you are then using the https://parcel.royalmail.com/ which goes to a business URL. Maybe they have the same ability with Paypal payments then. However, it is not good form for them not to make this clear.

To go on a slight rant both websites seem badly desgined for the user experience. Even the non business version of the site defaults to a Royal Mail parcel collection page where you have the ability to select the day of collection. It is only on the next stage of the order process that it is apparent you can opt out of this but it feels like you are opted in by default. It's no wonder I always used the business version of the site despite being registered on both.