£1.10 for birthday card delivery because it is 2cm too big

[POSTMAN]

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Royal Mail charge £1.10 for birthday card delivery because it is 2cm too big

With her husband’s birthday fast approaching Abbeymead mum Mandy Pellatt wasn’t too surprised to see a note through the door saying a package needed collecting from Royal Mail.

What she didn’t bank on was that package was simply a card – with an excess fee to pay because it was too big.

Two days later, exactly the same thing happened.

Twice, Mandy had to hand over £1.11 at Royal Mail’s Brockworth collection office – because cards posted to her husband Tim exceeded size limits by just 2cm.


Mandy, 45, said: “I made two separate trips to Brockworth sorting office to stand in a 15-minute queue with lots of other people clasping similar cards.

“Both times it transpired they were birthday cards for my husband.

“They both weighed way less than the 100g maximum weight for sending greetings cards, personal letters, postcards with a standard 62p first-class stamp and seemed pretty standard size, so one would assume that just one first-class stamp would suffice.”

Sorting office staff told Mandy the cards were too big.

She said: “The card, in the envelope, measures 185mm by 185mm. The maximum width, according to the Royal Mail website, for sending a greetings card or letter for 62p (the price of a first-class stamp) is 165mm – so it was 2cm too wide.

“I wonder how many people are popping birthday cards in the post thinking a standard first-class stamp is adequate.”

Royal Mail spokesman Mike Norman said: “Surcharging customers is the last thing Royal Mail wants to do and we would urge people sending mail to ensure they use the correct postage.

“The surcharge that is levied helps to cover the extra cost of handling items that have been underpaid. Royal Mail’s licence means that it must treat all customers in the same way.”

[5plusbonusball]

Must be at least 5 years ago when this system started , also some people tend to post cards as big as gift-tags which should be surcharged for being too small!
I think the problem is that P.O.'s are too few and far between and very unfriendly so a reminder could be placed on all pillar boxes about checking the size.

[janitor]

Most cards now have letter or larger letter on the back, so not really much excuse.

[blackadder]

can see why r.m. are clamping down on it but do think its a tad harsh. esp if its a kids birthday or a death

[Chelseablue]

Sent a small packet today ,classed as large and cost £3.20 . It's all a bit vague sending stuff nowdays

[PhilthyPhil]

Must be at least 5 years ago when this system started ,

Its been 8 years. Its really not that difficult to understand that larger letters and parcels cost more to sort and deliver than smaller ones and so cost more to post.

[mw7485]

The trouble is, most card suppliers buy in "really big bulk", and hold the stock for a good few years. It will be quite literally many more years before the "old stock" of cards that used to be small enough are all used up. Card sellers could help but of course, they want to shift their stock and so don't give a damn - after all, they don't want to be left holding a load of cards nobody will buy.