Morning Peeps. Nothing to share today, just scouting for a bit of feedback to see if others are experiencing problems with Royal Mail extorting extra fees to deliver items which they claim have been sent "underpaid"?
I have read one or two comments about a scam and am now beginning to think there is some substance to it after experiencing the same problem on a number of occasions in recent weeks/months.
Running a few challenges means I need to post off a good few prizes and packages and as our Post Office is a drive away up in the village, I try and wait to hear from all winners with their addresses each month and then make one trip to the PO to dispatch everything in one go.
The lady in our PO is a bit of a 'jobsworth' and insists on weighing everything and double checking before passing across the stamps or labels for each item.................there are always more than a few tuts in the queue when I am there as it takes ages, but at least I know everything I send has been properly weighed and stamped. They provide a combined receipt, but when I asked about individual ones but they say it takes too long for multiple postings and you need to use a signed for delivery option to get that........more money. I have no doubt their scales are accurate as I usually have a quick weight at the office to get an idea of how much it will all cost and the two always seem to correlate closely, something the PO lady commented on recently.
So how is it that in the past few months I have been made aware by several recipients of packages I have sent, being charged an 'underpayment' fee and of course each time they add "£1 handling fee', a nice little earner if you ask me. And those are just the ones I know about which leaves me wondering if there are more.
One such example which I find impossible to comprehend are the packets I sent early December, all identical contents and packaging to seven of my DT's (all in the UK). Five were delivered fine and two had cards left by the postie claiming extra fees. And to add insult to injury, two of the recipients were in the same town, one delivered OK and one charged a fee.
Back in October, I sent six identical packages, two overseas (USA and New Zealand) and four to the UK (second class). The USA one arrived in three days (unbelievable) before the UK ones and of those four, one was charged an additional fee for delivery.
And the final straw for me is I heard yesterday that one of the packages I posted on Tuesday to a UK address (as always weighed and stamped at the PO) was charged a fee to collect her package.
Back in December I wrote to Royal Mail about this and got a wishy washy reply that unless a letter/package is sent by Special Delivery there is no way of checking anything.................how very convenient. And of course that takes me to my other hobby horse...........how did they manage to lose my package of 20 odd cards for Stamp Addicts Create and Craft TV programme back in October ? Oh sorry Royal Mail, you did say I could "pop along at your convenience to our lost property centre"................where is it I asked, Northern Ireland. No problem then, just a quick two day trip from Cambridge !!!!!!!!!!!
And judging by our incoming post at work this is on the increase, whereas one of the underpayment cards used to be an infrequent event, now we get several every week. So I am really beginning to think there is something dodgy going on with our postal service.
I am going to take this up with them yet again, but I have little evidence other than my combined receipt and copy of one of the underpayment cards because when you collect your item they retain the card, again covering their own backs.
In conclusion, I can only apologise again to anyone who has received something from me and been charged to get their package. And to anyone reading this who may in the future get an underpayment card for anything they receive via Royal Mail from any source, make sure you copy it before you collect your item and give your delivery office grief.
I would love to hear your thoughts on this as I am sure I am not alone here.
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