Pensioner forced to shell out for unsolicited letter from BL

[TrueBlueTerrier]

Pensioner forced to shell out for unsolicited letter from British Legion

http://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north-w ... -29431099/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

A PENSIONER has spoken of his dismay after being forced to shell out unpaid postage for a letter – which turned out to be an unsolicited charity appeal.

Peter Evans received a card telling him he’d have to pay £1.36 for a underpaid item.

But after handing the money over to the post office, the letter turned out to be from the Royal British Legion to announce their Poppy Appeal.

The 77-year-old from Trefnant near Denbigh, who was a collector for the Legion for 10 years, said: “I couldn’t believe it when the letter came.”


“I never asked for it to be sent and I didn’t find out what I was paying postage for until it arrived two days later.

“I’ve taken the matter up with Royal Mail and the Post Office but I haven’t had my money back – I even mentioned it to my postman and he said there has been a batch of them that have gone out without having been franked properly.”

He added: “I don’t in any way blame the Legion and if I get my money back, I will give it to the Poppy Appeal. It’s just the principle.”

Regional manager for the Royal British Legion, Christine Denham apologised profusely and said: “For this to have happened is very regrettable.

“We are very reliant on the generosity of the public for donations and are extremely sorry this has happened.

“Our fundraising department were made aware that a small batch of underpaid letters had gone out last week, but by that time, it was too late to retract them.

She added: “For those people who have had to pay postage for our letters, we would like them to know that we are more than happy to refund their expenses if they get in touch with us.

“I will also be writing to Mr Evans to express our apologies and reimburse him.”

[DGP1]

Surely RP should have picked this up and just charged the Legion the correct postage Seen plenty of mail coming through 'Correct postage raised by Revenue Protection'.

[feduppostie]

he was hardly forced to was he

he chose to go get it

he could have said no thanks I dont want to pay it

it's not RM's fault that they didn't pay postage

it amazes me that we are always the bad guy when this happens - you wouldn't expect to walk out of Tesco's without paying why should people expect that a letter without postage wouold be delivered free?

[Stormproof]

Why did he take the matter up with RM & PO? The problem is down to the sender, nowt to do with us.

[NWpostie]

When in the Locker, I do have customers asking to look at the letter before deciding to pay up, this gentleman could have done the same, he could then weigh up if its worth it or not, some are a bit cheeky to ask if they could open it up before paying ! not a chance ! it goes back if its unpaid, if the sender gets it back, he may then decide if its important enough to resend with the correct postage this time.

[POSTMAN]

I don’t in any way blame the Legion

Twas 'their' fault mate!

[Talell]

doesn't make sense

poppy appeal comes through as DSA, so any lack of revenue would be charged to the company (DHL or TNT iirc), wouldn't be charged to the addressee

the "correct revenue raised" on RM letters is for meter items only (iirc), you have to be licenced by RM to frank mail, so we have their address on record, what we do is send them a letter saying that they underpaid an item, and to put a meter print on a letter which gets sent to the franking team in manchester

stamped items get a surcharge sticker on them, goto the do, and the customer receives a "give us money" card, pays for it, and receives the item

ppi surcharges just get charged to the customers account directly

anyway, what's wrong with a company wanting to get paid correctly for the work that it performs?

[not me]

When in the Locker, I do have customers asking to look at the letter before deciding to pay up, this gentleman could have done the same, he could then weigh up if its worth it or not, some are a bit cheeky to ask if they could open it up before paying ! not a chance ! it goes back if its unpaid, if the sender gets it back, he may then decide if its important enough to resend with the correct postage this time.

he didnt collect it

“I never asked for it to be sent and I didn’t find out what I was paying postage for until it arrived two days later.

anyway its a non story
some old duffer kicking up a fuss over a simple error on the senders part

[Lounge Lizard]

When in the Locker, I do have customers asking to look at the letter before deciding to pay up, this gentleman could have done the same, he could then weigh up if its worth it or not, some are a bit cheeky to ask if they could open it up before paying ! not a chance ! it goes back if its unpaid, if the sender gets it back, he may then decide if its important enough to resend with the correct postage this time.

he didnt collect it

“I never asked for it to be sent and I didn’t find out what I was paying postage for until it arrived two days later.

anyway its a non story
some old duffer kicking up a fuss over a simple error on the senders part

So he stuck stamps to the value of £1.36 on the grey card, posted it and got the item two days later.
His fault for not thinking whether it was worth checking before paying.
Overall though the British Legion's fault for not prepaying the postage.
And he could always just not buy a poppy for the next couple of years rather than making such a song and dance about it all.

[arnold cheshire]

Who FORCED him to pay ? i thought it was optional

[Straight4ward]

Who FORCED him to pay ? i thought it was optional

"Pensioner chooses to shell out for unsolicited letter from British Legion."

Nah, doesn't have quite the same impact does it?

Never let the truth get in the way of a good story.