Black Friday Bah humbug to barmy barcode, says JENNIFER SELWAY

[TrueBlueTerrier]

https://www.express.co.uk/comment/expre ... is-comment


In 1971, the cost of a first-class stamp was 3p. I can even remember when the cost of a stamp was 3d - as in the old money, pre-decimalisation... but we won't dwell on that. On that basis, allowing for inflation, the cost of a first-class stamp should now be just over 50p. But it is 95p.

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The most recent price hike of 10p was in April. The Royal Mail introduced stamps with barcodes last February as part of an "extensive and ongoing modernisation drive". Customers, lucky us, can scan the barcodes and watch Shaun the Sheep videos if you download the Royal Mail app.

So far I have never heard of anyone ever watching a video on a stamp. Has anyone ever said: "Don't throw away that old envelope whatever you do. I must watch the Shaun the Sheep video first"?

In a bid to further alienate their customers, the Royal Mail has now said that stamps without barcodes will no longer be valid after January 31.

A couple of days ago I was in the queue at my local Post Office where the woman ahead of me was complaining bitterly. She spoke for us all.

Sure, you can swap up to £200 worth of non-barcoded stamps for the new valid ones by filling in a form and sending them back. But that's another chore one can do without. And it's inevitable that thousands of pounds worth of stamps will be lying around in people's kitchen drawers and wallets, unused and unusable. In a grudging concession, the Royal Mail has said that Christmas stamps without barcodes can be used after the deadline. Big deal.

Like many people I tended to buy a lot of stamps at one time, congratulating myself that they were a sort of hedge against inflation. No matter how old the stamp was or how much you'd paid, the Royal Mail would honour its obligation to deliver your post. Now it feels as though it is wriggling out of that contract.

The Royal Mail is not just any old delivery service. It's part of our national infrastructure and we have a deep emotional attachment to it. During lockdown, the sight of our post lady was always cheering. Yet the service has got worse and worse.

Even the presence of a first-class stamp is no longer a guarantee of a first-class service. Our local Post Office is due to close down soon too. Don't get me started on that.

The ruling on postage stamps feels like the end... the end of an abusive relationship. They've gone too far this time.

[enskied]

Here here.

[pieoftheday]

Well if they keep putting the price up less and less will use the service so the need for the walking postie will dwindle, job done Rm, well done