postcard fail

[edwardfox]

this is a picture of a postcard i sent to a friend in germany. royal mail made such a fuss about introducing stamps with bar codes. we had to send in all our old stamps and have them replaced with the new ones, which would have all kinds of benefits. it turns out the new high-tech stamps are cancelled with a biro, and a huge rubber stamp that obscures the text of the card. and it took ten days to arrive!

[edwardfox]

is this something to do with brexit?

[clashcityrocker]

I don't think Caroline will appreciate having her address plastered all over the Net.

[simmo11]

What date did you post the card?

[edwardfox]

i posted it in a pillar box in london on friday 14 july. at night. i realize that sending a postcard to someone in this day & age is a bit like sending a telegram. but it's a retro-style activity i hope i can keep doing. people love getting postcards. originally, of course, there was something spontaneous about sending a postcard.

[edwardfox]

I don't think Caroline will appreciate having her address plastered all over the Net.

i have fixed that. thank you.

[simmo11]

i posted it in a pillar box in london on friday 14 july. at night. i realize that sending a postcard to someone in this day & age is a bit like sending a telegram. but it's a retro-style activity i hope i can keep doing. people love getting postcards. originally, of course, there was something spontaneous about sending a postcard.

Indeed. I'm an avid member of www.postcrossing.com and send multiple cards each week.

Some of the RM bods on here might be able to confirm but the stamp is linked to revenue protection as it states and probably stems from the fact that you've underpaid. The rate for an international postcard went up to £2.20 on 3 April this year, from the 1.85 you've put on which was the old rate.

Nothing to do with Brexit.

I don't know what "Revenue Recovered" signifies though, but either way it looks to be linked to use of an incorrect stamp.

[Snaggletooth]

So you underpaid but it still got to the intended recipient if a bit slow. Maybe you need to change the name of the thread to “Postcard Success”?

[edwardfox]

the price of a postcard went up to £2.20!? i didn't know that, and i do try to keep up with postage prices. i like to think i'm the last person in the country who knows the price of a first class stamp (95p, isn't it?).

thank you for the info. i am still huffing and puffing and effing and blinding over the fact that i went to great trouble to buy a sheet of £1.85 stamps, after conducting research which ended with the conclusion that the cost of postage for a postcard was £1.85.

i realise now that i had not checked prices since february -- aeons ago! silly me for my complacency!

[edwardfox]

So you underpaid but it still got to the intended recipient if a bit slow. Maybe you need to change the name of the thread to “Postcard Success”?

yes, in the light of information i have lately received on this forum about the revision of prices, i am grateful (in a grumbly way) that the card was delivered at all! imagine if the recipient of the card was informed by deutche post that an item was due to be delivered, but there was postage due of 35 pfennigs. no, don't imagine it; it will do your head in.

[simmo11]

the price of a postcard went up to £2.20!? i didn't know that, and i do try to keep up with postage prices. i like to think i'm the last person in the country who knows the price of a first class stamp (95p, isn't it?).

thank you for the info. i am still huffing and puffing and effing and blinding over the fact that i went to great trouble to buy a sheet of £1.85 stamps, after conducting research which ended with the conclusion that the cost of postage for a postcard was £1.85.

i realise now that i had not checked prices since february -- aeons ago! silly me for my complacency!

A First Class stamp is £1.10 since April. 95p is the old rate

As a rule consumer rates increase each Spring with the new tax year.

[Snaggletooth]

imagine if the recipient of the card was informed by deutche post that an item was due to be delivered, but there was postage due of 35 pfennigs.

...and pfennigs were abolished 20 years ago!

[BenacreNick]

Best thing to do is put your postcard in an envelope - so it looks like a letter and not a postcard.

[simmo11]

Best thing to do is put your postcard in an envelope - so it looks like a letter and not a postcard.

Why so, out of interest?

[BenacreNick]

Postcards, especially in the summer months, are given the lowest priority, so it's better to make your postcard into a letter/envelope, so it's processed and delivered as normal.