HM greetings cards can be expensive for the recipient...

stilernin

I had to collect something from the sorting office yesterday after getting a card telling me I owed £1.06 for underpayment.

When I got there, it looked like a standard size card with a little present (?) in it, I handed over the money. It didn't seem very heavy, but we know how the post has gone up. The weight wasn't the problem though, it was because the envelope was too fat.

Imagine how I felt when I discovered that it was only a card with decoupage on little sticky pads!!:mad: And from a relative who I've not seen for over 10yrs.......... To add insult to injury, the card was posted well before Christmas and the underpaid card was only put through my door on 4th Jan.

So, MSE ers............. save your money by making cards, but please check on how fat they are if you are going to post them.

celyn90

Yep - it is worth remembering that some things need large letter stamps now. Some cards with badges on do too.

I had this with an advertising note from the bank - £1.03 - 3p underpaid postage £1 handling fee! Not that I am now going to open an ISA with then; as if they can't weigh a package properly, I'm not going to trust them with any money! cel x

csarina

As a general rule I only give my hand made cards to people I do not have to post them too, mine have embroidered insets, so usually the 'fatness' would not be to hick. I did send one card by post and it went through ok.

ivyleaf

My husband had to pay excess postage + £1 handling charge to collect a Father's Day card from our DD. After some discussion we decided we should let her know, so that she wouldn't send any more "fat" cards to anyone without checking. She was quite upset, because the assistant at her local Post Office had said it would be fine at the normal rate, but at the Sorting Office the man showed my husband that it wouldn't fit through their perspex guide.

mrbadexample

I had a few hand-made (not by me!) cards to send this year. I took them to the Post Office, and pushed them through the 5mm slot. They went through ok, but not without scraping the edges. The chap behind the counter said that although they went through, he could not guarantee an excess charge would not be applied by someone else, so I paid for the large letter stamps.

I consider this a complete rip-off. There's no way I'm going to post a card to Grannybadexample if there's any chance of her being hit with an excess payment, so I paid the extra to make sure - despite the fact it went through the slot.

This is just the Royal Mail trying to recoup some of the revenue they don't make any more because everything goes by email. IMO it's specifically targeting eBayers.

There should be a system whereby if you take it to a Post Office, and it goes through the slot it is then marked as "measured" so no further charges can be applied.

Grrrrrrrrr! :mad:

mary43

I make all my own cards and one of the members of the birthday group I belong to forwarned me of the charge. I had a minor panic as I'd already done mine but they were fairly simple and not a problem with postage thank goodness.
I think it was a bit of a cheek on the part of the post office.........whether they're hand made or not, so many cards now have badges or things on.....why should there be such a charge on collecting them ? Normally, if postie comes to out door and something won't go through the letter box he knocks and if I'm in I take it, no problem..........if I'm not he pops a card through and I collect it, no charge. Mind you thats always assuming its got through the sorting system that now seems so complex.........well to me anyway.

stilernin

mary43 wrote: »

I Normally, if postie comes to out door and something won't go through the letter box he knocks and if I'm in I take it, no problem..........if I'm not he pops a card through and I collect it, no charge. Mind you thats always assuming its got through the sorting system that now seems so complex.........well to me anyway.

Mary43.... I think the 'underpaid' stuff isn't' brought to the door 'cos the postie isn't allowed to collect the money these days.

Elf'n'safety!!

Churchmouse

mrbadexample wrote: »

There should be a system whereby if you take it to a Post Office, and it goes through the slot it is then marked as "measured" so no further charges can be applied.

Grrrrrrrrr! :mad:

What a simple yet brilliant idea:D What do you reckon on the chance of them adopting it:rolleyes: Same chance you'll get mown down by an airborne division of pigs:rotfl: :rotfl:

Can you tell we've been *stung* too:o

NickiM

I have got a £1.06 thing twice. Once it was because of a tiny Green and Blacks chocolate which was in the envelope...I can't remember what the other one was for.

izoomzoom

A couple of years ago, I got a request to pay £ 1.06, 6p shortage and £1 fine. Imagine my disgust when I opened it to discover an application form from Sainsbury's - one I had actually gone into the store to pick up, but because they didn't have any, they offered to post it to me.

And the cheek of it, they never even asked me to come in for an interview :mad: .

Jasminda

I've had this happen too, it is very annoying.
It can happen with customs charges too -a silly friend of mine in the US once estimated the value of the things she was sending me... and wrote it on the customs label; as it was over a certain amount I got charged, and it was a substantial amount too. Imagine the disappointment when I found that all she had sent me were two heavy candles and a mug -and the mug was broken!!

Anyway, does anyone know what happens if you don't pay for the undelivered mail? Does it automatically go back to the sender and do they then have to pay to have it back??