Two weeks ago, I visited both my sons, (they are long term sick registered disabled) I take food, produce from garden, one my oldest couldn' tget soya milk or paracetamol, I posted him 2 blister packs, in an A4 envelope which I folded in half securly sellotaped, 2 first class stamps, after more than a week,they had not arrived, I sent another 2 strips same packaging, 2 first class stamps, THEY arrived, then he received a card from Royal Mail saying the first pack required an extra, wait for it, sit down people £3.50, I dont think so!!! Hubby just returned from visit to DIY store all annoyed demanding to know where the pack of blue surgical masks were, well, for a start he's never worn them he doesn't like them, wears a washable one, plenty of them, (bought another pack this week from a very well kown store, it's not just a mask it's ****** mask,informed him most had been used ONCE then disposed of.
Found this on the Royal Mail site. It's dated 2015 so I don't know if it's still valid.
"Royal Mail is introducing a new flat-rate charging structure for
letters and parcels where insufficient postage or no stamps have been
attached. Previously, the surcharge was a £1 handling fee, plus the
remaining postage due for the particular item posted.
From today (5 October), Royal Mail will introduce a flat fee only of
£1.50 for a letter or large letter where insufficient postage has been
paid. Where no postage has been paid, the fee will be £2. A flat fee of
£3 will apply to a Small Parcel where insufficient or no postage has
been paid."
Royal Mail said that the changes “are designed to reduce delays in
processing underpaid mail and minimise inconvenience for customers”.
Believe that last bit you'll believe anything. It's all about profit.
Royal Mail is a business. Like any other, it needs profits to keep itself running. The best way to avoid such surcharges is to get the postage right in the first place.
Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
"The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
The grumpy-making thing is that of the two packets, the same size and weight and the same stamps, one got stopped for insufficient postage but not the other. Was it right or not?
Two first class stamps would be more than enough for a Large letter up to 100g weight, which it sounds like these were. I would have been annoyed about it.
Doncaster, South Yorkshire. Soil type: sandy, well-drained
Royal Mail is a business. Like any other, it needs profits to keep itself running. The best way to avoid such surcharges is to get the postage right in the first place.
Unless you have the Royal Mail sizing guage and a set of scales, determining the required postage is a black art in the UK. I asked for a guage in our local post office and was told they don't have them.
I found out that there’s no difference in time sending 1st or 2nd class. I sent some plants out 1st class on a Monday, they arrived on the Saturday. I sent some 2nd class they arrived next day. If you use the post office web site they tell you the weights and sizes, although I do have one of those gauges for letters, I can send a big box of plants for £3.00 ,2nd class I’m happy with that. You need scales weighing in grams it’s up to 2kg weight.
Gardening on the wild, windy west side of Dartmoor.
It's the time of year when well-meaning family ask you what you want for Christmas. I'm of the age when I've got most of what I want. And anything I haven't, I want to pick for myself. Garden tools, you have to bond with. They need to be as balanced as a pair of well-matched Purdeys. Plants, they haven't a clue - the bonding thing again. Perfume and cosmetics, I want to sniff for myself. The giver thinks vouchers are a cop out (who knows if the company will be trading in January anyway) At this time of year, at my age, it is more virtuous to receive than to give.
Can anybody suggest a way out of this conundrum? What on earth can I ask for😵?
Posts
Where can I get that stuff?
From today (5 October), Royal Mail will introduce a flat fee only of £1.50 for a letter or large letter where insufficient postage has been paid. Where no postage has been paid, the fee will be £2. A flat fee of £3 will apply to a Small Parcel where insufficient or no postage has been paid."
Royal Mail said that the changes “are designed to reduce delays in processing underpaid mail and minimise inconvenience for customers”.
Unless you have the Royal Mail sizing guage and a set of scales, determining the required postage is a black art in the UK. I asked for a guage in our local post office and was told they don't have them.
If you use the post office web site they tell you the weights and sizes, although I do have one of those gauges for letters, I can send a big box of plants for £3.00 ,2nd class I’m happy with that.
You need scales weighing in grams it’s up to 2kg weight.
I'm of the age when I've got most of what I want. And anything I haven't, I want to pick for myself.
Garden tools, you have to bond with. They need to be as balanced as a pair of well-matched Purdeys. Plants, they haven't a clue - the bonding thing again.
Perfume and cosmetics, I want to sniff for myself.
The giver thinks vouchers are a cop out (who knows if the company will be trading in January anyway)
At this time of year, at my age, it is more virtuous to receive than to give.
Can anybody suggest a way out of this conundrum?
What on earth can I ask for😵?