The Top Regular Savers Discussion Thread

happybagger

Just stick a stamp on it for goodness sake 

Bridlington1

happybagger said:

Just stick a stamp on it for goodness sake 

Or go to Mansfield and make a day of it.

Hattie627

I wouldn't technically know how to reproduce one of these bar code thingies on my envelope but I would doubt very much if this is legal. It's one thing to be "gifted" a reply-paid envelope by the Society. These belong to them and they can clearly choose to give them out to prospective customers if they so decide. But surely using their bar code without permission or invitation is akin to theft? Obviously it would be unlikely to lead to any formal criminal sanction, like many things which are technically offences,. At the very least, it would be grossly discourteous to use something like that without permission. Like walking into someone's house without being invited and helping yourself to their coffee and biscuits,

happybagger

Bridlington1 said:

happybagger said:

Just stick a stamp on it for goodness sake 

Or go to Mansfield and make a day of it.

Chesterfield is my choice 

masonic

Kim_13 said:

masonic said:

gt94sss2 said:

Can I suggest that people use a stamp rather than a business reply/barcode which is a specific service offered by Royal Mail (or just ask Mansfield for an envelope).
I know the aim of this site is money saving, but all it will ultimately do in the long run is encourage more organisations to refuse postal applications and/or offer less attractive products.

I think we do need to be mindful that asking Mansfield for an envelope results in them incurring a £3.30 postage charge (in my case) to send it with the other bumpf they include. Hence, asking for one has the greatest cost impact to them of the options being discussed.

But that is entirely within their own control. They could include a web address to the other bumph - everyone who is able to request a pack online rather than phoning for one will have internet access - or fit it more sensibly/send second class to reduce costs. As nice as Scottish BS’s welcome pack was, the passbook and a welcome letter could have gone as an ordinary letter. 

If societies accept requests for application packs, they are in control of how many prepaid envelopes they issue and can stop at any time. Using a freepost address they haven’t published themselves amounts to sending them mail they haven’t invited AND expecting them to pay for it. 

Section62 said:

masonic said:

gt94sss2 said:

Can I suggest that people use a stamp rather than a business reply/barcode which is a specific service offered by Royal Mail (or just ask Mansfield for an envelope).
I know the aim of this site is money saving, but all it will ultimately do in the long run is encourage more organisations to refuse postal applications and/or offer less attractive products.

I think we do need to be mindful that asking Mansfield for an envelope results in them incurring a £3.30 postage charge (in my case) to send it with the other bumpf they include. Hence, asking for one has the greatest cost impact to them of the options being discussed.

Depends what Royal Mail might charge Mansfield for delivering envelopes which a customer has DIYed the business reply licence details on - when it gets to people potentially attempting to reverse engineer the Royal Mail barcodes I think there is a line which is being crossed.

Royal Mail allow businesses to use the system under strict terms - the reason for the online generators is so the business can produce artwork which is compliant with Royal Mail's requirements.

I don't know how relaxed Royal Mail are, but it is likely they would be within their rights to treat items which have incorrect DIYed details on as postage due, and charge accordingly.  It is also possible an 'Adjustment charges' admin fee (currently £39.10 +VAT) might be charged, although it isn't clear from the T&C's when and how this would applied (but seems to be on a per month basis).

Unless we've got an expert on Royal Mail business reply licence policy and charging it might be better for us all to assume it could be costly to Mansfield (and other building societies) if people try to save the cost of a stamp by DIYing the details.

Agree that using the online generator or trying to reverse engineer a barcode is a step too far, but I do lament the cost to them of saving the customer a stamp. I wish I'd have known their £3.30 postage cost in advance before I requested mine. But I suppose it is their choice.

Slinky

Speculator said:

Slinky said:

I splashed out on first class stamps hoping to get a fast turnaround, although they were bought years ago so would have been way under the current rate.

bought approximately £850 worth of 1st and 2nd class stamps in 2011 just before 1st class jumped from 46p to 60p and 2nd class jumped from 36p to 50p.

In hindsight, I should have just bought 1st class stamps.

I'd buy about a thousand pounds worth whenever there was a price rise coming, as I recall, but it was for my business use. Think these may be the last of them, business long since sold.