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Special Delivery Guaranteed loophole to save money?

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C2019
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Special Delivery Guaranteed loophole to save money?

Post by C2019 »

I heard something interesting yesterday from the lady at the post office and today it happened so it must be true. I normally post important items and always send them special delivery by 1. On most days it’s £8 but I never post on Friday to arrive Saturday morning before 1 because the price jumps from £8 to £14.50! However……
I got told that I could arrange for special delivery by 1 to arrive on Monday if I’m posting Friday but the assistant at the post office said that Royal Mail always deliver the items on Saturday anyway to get them out of the way and that the extra fee is meaningless because it will arrive before Monday so you’re just wasting money.
She wrote on the parcel for it to be delivered Monday, I paid £8 as i normally do and I checked the tracking and it actually arrived at 10am this morning, saving me £6!
She also told me that if it didn’t arrive Saturday even though I’ve not paid the extra fee that I could claim postage back and that Royal Mail were legally obliged to deliver on Saturday regardless of the extra fee or not.

P13
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Re: Special Delivery Guaranteed loophole to save money?

Post by P13 »

If it reaches the delivery office on Saturday it would probably be delivered , you definitely won't get a refund if its delivered on Monday
Snaggletooth
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Re: Special Delivery Guaranteed loophole to save money?

Post by Snaggletooth »

My understanding is that most, but not all, Delivery Offices try to get rid of the Monday Specials on a Saturday if they can. But it varies by location, so you can’t rely on it.

As for legally obliged to deliver on Saturday if you don’t pay the extra … that sounds like rubbish to me.
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POSTMAN
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Re: Special Delivery Guaranteed loophole to save money?

Post by POSTMAN »

100% you CAN'T get your money back if it is not delivered on the Saturday.

Working days are Monday-Friday unless you've purchased Saturday Guaranteed delivery.
https://www.postoffice.co.uk/mail/uk-guaranteed

Although as previously said, a lot of the time most are delivered, but it's not guaranteed.
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yellowbelly
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Re: Special Delivery Guaranteed loophole to save money?

Post by yellowbelly »

C2019 wrote:
23 Oct 2021, 12:40
.............. and that Royal Mail were legally obliged to deliver on Saturday regardless of the extra fee or not.
True as with any mail that arrives for delivery, but at our office if it's not a Saturday guaranteed we deliver them as we get to the address on the Saturday whatever time it might be and NOT necessarily by 1pm - our managers concur with this.
TrueBlueTerrier
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Re: Special Delivery Guaranteed loophole to save money?

Post by TrueBlueTerrier »

She is nearly right.

We are not obligated to attempt delivery on Saturday for Special Delivery Items. Therefore unless the Saturday Guaranteed is purchased a sender would NOT be able to claim for one that was delivered on Monday as the specification was met.

However, the rest of the stuff she said is roughly correct. Normally, unless there are operational issues all Special Delivery Items due on Monday will be attempted on Saturday.

However if for some reason they can't cover everything they may not be able to attempt delivery of all items.

Basically, if you want it to arrive on Saturday I would always recommend buying the extra coverage, but if Saturday or Monday delivery is not an issue I would opt for the cheaper one.
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