Royal Mail rant

[Mike.S]

My father had posted me a birthday card last Friday week, by 1st class post, to reach me by the following Monday (28 July). Didn't arrive, but yesterday we received a card from the Post Office saying mail - with postage underpaid - awaited me at my local sorting office. I'd need to pay 11p postage plus £1 handling charge to get it.

Recognising the red envelope as containg the missing card I paid up. The postie explained that it was overweight, hence the first class stamp was insufficient. Got it home, popped the card on the digital kitchen scales and found it weighed 41g versus the max permitted weight of ....40g :evil:

Bearing in mind the envelope had a post office sticker on it, pointing out the transgression, one wonders what tiny weight excess some jobsworth had decided made it worthy to delay the delivery and cause extra work/expense for all parties. Not sure whether I feel anger or despair at such pettiness.

 

[dc_ni]

I'd imagine it doesn't involve a human beyond the PICNIC* that programmed the system. If it was a human sorting/weighing i imagine they would let most go through. I know that won't make you any less annoyed or frustrated though, because i know it doesn't make me.





* Problem In Chair Not In Computer

 

[Harbo]

I had a similar problem with a slightly oversized Christmas Card ( about 5mm longer on one side!) Not only had to pay the fee but also meant a 6mile drive each way!!
And it was Christmas - a bit of spirit missing I think?

Rod

 

[dickm]

"Royal Mail" is a private company now, so they need to cover their costs ....................

 

[Baldhead]

"Royal Mail" is a private company now, so they need to cover their costs ....................

Time they dropped the 'Royal' bit of their name then.

Baldhead

 

[doorframe]

This gets my goat.

There must be a set figure of 11p + £1 rip-off.

Here's the reply I gave an ebay seller recently when I purchased some tropical snails for my fish tank and 1 week later Royal Mail were 'decent' enough to inform me they didn't deliver because....

Turned out to be 11p short on postage. They held on to the package and charged £1 for admin. About 12 snails were still alive.

These were live animals that would otherwise have arrived safely and alive.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

I had an A4 envelope this morning, very neatly folded right through the "Please do not bend".

 

[MIGNAL]

I've got an idea. To avoid such problems, in future simply make sure the letter/parcel conforms to the weight that your particular stamp covers. :roll:

 

[doorframe]

I've got an idea. To avoid such problems, in future simply make sure the letter/parcel conforms to the weight that your particular stamp covers. :roll:

Rather presumptuous of you to assume the postage paid was wrong. In fact, more rude than presumptuous.

In the case of my ebay seller, the package was posted over a Post Office Counter, and the sender paid the amount demanded. (I won't be rude enough to put the 'rolling eye' smilie)

 

[Vic Perrin]

I sent a letter to our County Council and after not hearing from them I contacted them and they explained that the documents that I had sent were more than likely to be over the size limit for a first class stamp and understandably they will not pay the excess postage charge. They told me to contact their local Royal Mail office as the letter may still be held their. I contacted the Councils Local Royal Mail Office in Stafford and they informed me that they only hold the oversize mail for a short time and that the letter had more than likely by now had been sent to the Regional Office in Stoke on Trent. Another call to Stoke on Trent and I was informed that the letter had been forwarded to Belfast as this is the only centre that can open mail to return to sender. Some weeks later I got a letter through the door postmarked Belfast! Upon opening the letter it contained the original documents that I had sent to the Council . I was not charged anything for the return of my mail and the sticker on my original envelope indicated an excess charge of 11p.

I know it was my fault for under estimating the original cost of posting but blimey how much did it cost for the journey that it made.

Vic

 

[marcros]

This gets my goat.

There must be a set figure of 11p + £1 rip-off.

Here's the reply I gave an ebay seller recently when I purchased some tropical snails for my fish tank and 1 week later Royal Mail were 'decent' enough to inform me they didn't deliver because....

Turned out to be 11p short on postage. They held on to the package and charged £1 for admin. About 12 snails were still alive.

These were live animals that would otherwise have arrived safely and alive.

It is quite disappointing when the package would have been clearly marked "URGENT – LIVING CREATURES - HANDLE WITH CARE" as per the requirements on their website.

 

[wizard]

Here in Cornwall most post office scales vary some use very old bathroom scales i only send things if i weigh them myself. If any item is over 2kg it will go with UPS

 

[doorframe]

This gets my goat.

There must be a set figure of 11p + £1 rip-off.

Here's the reply I gave an ebay seller recently when I purchased some tropical snails for my fish tank and 1 week later Royal Mail were 'decent' enough to inform me they didn't deliver because....

Turned out to be 11p short on postage. They held on to the package and charged £1 for admin. About 12 snails were still alive.

These were live animals that would otherwise have arrived safely and alive.

It is quite disappointing when the package would have been clearly marked "URGENT – LIVING CREATURES - HANDLE WITH CARE" as per the requirements on their website.

It was clearly marked. He was/is a reputable seller. Also included a heat pack as they were tropical.

Your tone is sadly cynical. Do you have any idea what you are talking about, or are you just quoting and trolling?

 

[Phil Pascoe]

I've got an idea. To avoid such problems, in future simply make sure the letter/parcel conforms to the weight that your particular stamp covers. :roll:

It's the mail we receive that's the problem, not the mail we send. :roll:

 

[marcros]

This gets my goat.

There must be a set figure of 11p + £1 rip-off.

Here's the reply I gave an ebay seller recently when I purchased some tropical snails for my fish tank and 1 week later Royal Mail were 'decent' enough to inform me they didn't deliver because....

Turned out to be 11p short on postage. They held on to the package and charged £1 for admin. About 12 snails were still alive.

These were live animals that would otherwise have arrived safely and alive.

It is quite disappointing when the package would have been clearly marked "URGENT – LIVING CREATURES - HANDLE WITH CARE" as per the requirements on their website.

It was clearly marked. He was/is a reputable seller. Also included a heat pack as they were tropical.

Your tone is sadly cynical. Do you have any idea what you are talking about, or are you just quoting and trolling?

Yes I do. But I have better things to do than argue with strangers on the internet.

If it was clearly marked, then Royal Mail are at fault to delay such a package. I would expect that that is precisely what the marking is to prevent happening, otherwise why would they request that it be done. The trouble is finding somebody who actually cares to complain to when they will assume that it is about the £1.11 rather than the underlying problem.

 

[MIGNAL]

I've got an idea. To avoid such problems, in future simply make sure the letter/parcel conforms to the weight that your particular stamp covers. :roll:

Rather presumptuous of you to assume the postage paid was wrong. In fact, more rude than presumptuous.

In the case of my ebay seller, the package was posted over a Post Office Counter, and the sender paid the amount demanded. (I won't be rude enough to put the 'rolling eye' smilie)

The letter was 41g. The limit is 40g. Do keep up!!

I've got an idea. To avoid such problems, in future simply make sure the letter/parcel conforms to the weight that your particular stamp covers. :roll:

It's the mail we receive that's the problem, not the mail we send. :roll:

See reply above. :roll:

 

[Mike.S]

Well, 99% of the time I'd have just swallowed the situation, but this time I complained. Just received this reply:

Dear Mr S******

Thank you for contacting Royal Mail.

I was sorry to hear of the problem you've had with an item of mail which was surcharged £1.11 and I can appreciate your concerns.

It may help if I explain that our Post Offices, Mail Centres and Delivery Offices all use the same measuring and weighing devices, however, the different people operating these devices may interpret or use results differently - and I apologise if this kind of human error has caused you inconvenience on this occasion. There is also the possibility that, if some of the contents were loose, they may have moved during transit causing the item to become thicker than it was when originally posted.

I do apologise for the inconvenience we have caused and will log and report the full details of your complaint. I have also arranged for a book of stamps to be sent to you as a means of refunding the surcharge you paid.

Once again, please accept my sincere apologies on behalf of Royal Mail for the problem you've had, and our thanks for taking the time to make us aware of this. Please be assured that we take letting our customers down seriously and will use this information to make further improvements.

I hope that this explanation resolves your enquiry and concludes this matter for you. However if you are unhappy with my response you can contact the Escalated Customer Resolution Team who will re-investigate your complaint. They can be contacted by emailing: [email protected]. Alternatively you can write to: Escalated Customer Resolution Team, Royal Mail, PO Box 466, Plymouth, PL9 7HJ. If you do contact the team please can I ask you to quote your reference number 1-3112640188.

Regards

Nicole Johnson
Customer Service Advisor
[end quote]

Ok, it comes across as a standard reply - hence the 3rd paragraph (my problem was the envelope weight, not the thickness) - but an admission of error and a refund is an encouraging step in the right direction.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

I've got an idea. To avoid such problems, in future simply make sure the letter/parcel conforms to the weight that your particular stamp covers. :roll:

Rather presumptuous of you to assume the postage paid was wrong. In fact, more rude than presumptuous.

In the case of my ebay seller, the package was posted over a Post Office Counter, and the sender paid the amount demanded. (I won't be rude enough to put the 'rolling eye' smilie)

The letter was 41g. The limit is 40g. Do keep up!!

I've got an idea. To avoid such problems, in future simply make sure the letter/parcel conforms to the weight that your particular stamp covers. :roll:

It's the mail we receive that's the problem, not the mail we send. :roll:

See reply above. :roll:

Yes. It was mail he'd received, not sent.

 

[Eric The Viking]

Royal Mail seem determined to put themselves out of business.

They have such an overwhelming advantage in terms of infrastructure, compared to their competitors, and the taxpayer even picked up the pension fund deficit pre-privatization, it amazes me.

How can you not manage to make that operation successful? If it's volume they want, why are they encouraging internet small traders, etc. to find third parties?

I got caught the other day, too. Well Steve Maskery did: I sent him some screwdriver bits, as we'd gone into Toolstation who were completely out of sense* at the time, so I bought some later and posted them on. The packet, containing two screwdriver bits, was apparently "too thick" for first class post.

Wasted his time; made me feel skinflintish (could only find a first class stamp in a rush), angry at Royal Mail for wasting everyone's time, and just ill disposed towards them generally.

Our local posties are less than complementary about the new management too. If RM remember in time that they're selling a service, not a commodity, they might survive, if not people will desert them in droves for more accommodating carriers.

I had a letter arrive last week with an unusual stamp on it, from a bicycle courier service in the city. I intend to investigate further, as it looked really interesting (the service, as well as the stamp).

E.

*they had them in stock (lots of them) but had run out of the sense necessary to actually find them to sell to us.

 

[RogerP]

The packet, containing two screwdriver bits, was apparently "too thick" for first class post.

... probably to thick for letter post which has a limit of 5mm but it could have gone "first class large letter" which has a maximum thickness of 25mm.

Here's a useful RM page ... http://www.royalmail.com/personal/help-and-support/Tell-me-about-size-and-weight-formats