Always annoys me around this time of year,and also mothers/fathers day,that revenue protection staff go looking round all the areas of the mailcentre for oversize/underpaid cards to surcharge!
I would imagine the majority of Christmas cards that are underpaid are sent by the elderly,and its just an easy target to slap a surcharge on them.The least they could do would be to maybe put the card in a similar bag that you use for brokes,with a price/size guide inside,so at least they would know the amount of stamps needed for future reference?
Its a bit of a sick irony that while these poor old dears are being "taxed" by RM,we handle millions of DSA items at a cost!
I agree.
When someone puts two first class stamps on a "large letter" because they don't have the correct stamp, no-one rushes to offer them a refund. But the slightest anomaly in a xmas card and the surcharge is slapped on.
Frequently in the callers' office I have struggled to find a reason for the surcharge and just hand it over for free.
The societies of consumption and squandering of material resources are incompatible with the idea of economic growth and a clean planet.
Why should we deliver at a loss because people can't be bothered to put the correct postage on? Yes I realise we deliver DSA at a loss but this is outside our control and is down to the regulator not us. tbh they should charge more than £1 as a handling fee as well as this does not even cover RP costs.
PhilthyPhil wrote:Why should we deliver at a loss because people can't be bothered to put the correct postage on? Yes I realise we deliver DSA at a loss but this is outside our control and is down to the regulator not us. tbh they should charge more than £1 as a handling fee as well as this does not even cover RP costs.
I'd agree if post offices knew the correct pricing but half them don't.
hubbahubba wrote:Always annoys me around this time of year,and also mothers/fathers day,that revenue protection staff go looking round all the areas of the mailcentre for oversize/underpaid cards to surcharge!
I would imagine the majority of Christmas cards that are underpaid are sent by the elderly,and its just an easy target to slap a surcharge on them.The least they could do would be to maybe put the card in a similar bag that you use for brokes,with a price/size guide inside,so at least they would know the amount of stamps needed for future reference?
Its a bit of a sick irony that while these poor old dears are being "taxed" by RM,we handle millions of DSA items at a cost!
"the majority of Christmas cards that are underpaid are sent by the elderly" and received by the elderly too, so as often as not I explain it to them and they are grateful to me for taking the £1.12 in for them and delivering the underpaid item to them the next day. That doesn't get away from the fact though that it's the senders responsibility tpo put the correct postage on. And our system is probably preferable to underpaid items being either destroyed or returned to sender as happens in some other countries.
A lot of the public 'should' be aware of how it works by now,obviously some don't.
I have seen some very risky charges,charges that i would ignore if i could,some are very blatant.
While i don't know how it works,how the charges get pulled,for the RP team to go round on certain occasions with hardons looking for them,is very low.
I Wrote-During Covid-Which is still relevant now
It's good to get these types of threads, the ridiculous my manager said bollox, so we can reassure ourselves that while the world is falling apart, Royal Mail managers are still being the low-life C***S they have always been. My BFF Clash The daily grind of having to argue your case with an intellectual pigmy of a line manager is physically and emotionally draining.
Hertsmail wrote:You wouldn't go into a card shop and give them £1.50 for a card that costs £2 so why should RM be any different.
Difference is the cards have the price CLEARLY DISPLAYED.You think most people that post things underpaid do so knowingly?Would you send someone a card bearing a happy Christmas knowing that they will have to pay to receive it? Do me a favour!
Most people in the mailcentre don't know the correct postage for an oversize envelope,so how is a member of the public,without going to a post office,supposed to know?(If you can find one that hasn't been shut down!).It's not in RM's interest to tell people,otherwise they would lose out on all those lovely surcharges.
Cards should have a pricing guide on them, there's a code for the price so it wouldn't be beyond the realms of possibility to add another code to denote the postage.
I'm preparing myself for the zombie invasion, rule number 1 - Cardio
A lot of cards already do, there's a envelope symbol on the back, which tells you letter or large letter, maybe a lot of people don't notice, some probably can't be bothered.
janitor wrote:A lot of cards already do, there's a envelope symbol on the back, which tells you letter or large letter, maybe a lot of people don't notice, some probably can't be bothered.
Don't know, I have no friends so I don't buy any cards
I'm preparing myself for the zombie invasion, rule number 1 - Cardio
Hertsmail wrote:It's not in RM's interest to tell people,otherwise they would lose out on all those lovely surcharges.
RM actually lose money on surcharges because the £1 handling charge is below cost and underpaid first class items are only surcharged to the second class price.
That doesn't get away from the fact though that it's the senders responsibility tpo put the correct postage on. 
Do me a favour!
Don't know, I have no friends so I don't buy any cards 