Holloway shop caught charging over the odds for stamps

[TrueBlueTerrier]

http://www.islingtongazette.co.uk/news/ ... _1_4831247" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

A woman was sent into a rage after realising her local shop had charged her over the odds for 36 second-class stamps.


Fiona Hughes popped into Yours Supermarket and Off-Licence in Westbourne Road, Holloway so she could send Christmas cards to her friends and family.

But when she got home she felt a bit light in the pocket and after checking her receipt she realised she’d been overcharged. Second-class stamps cost 55p each, but she had to pay 65p.

When she went back to the shop to deliver the news, she claims the shopkeeper told her she was wrong and that they were, in fact 65p.

He apparently then refused to offer a refund when corrected and instead told her to buy 36 stamps somewhere else and he would buy them off her for the inflated price.

“This is absolutely terrible behaviour,” Fiona told the Gazette. “That is contravening their regulations as a post office stamps supplier, and ripping off the local community.

“How can we avoid big chains and support our high streets when our high street shops behave like this? When you add it together, that is £3.60 overcharged. This shop ripped me off, and refused twice to refund me. I want other locals to know not to shop with them.”

A worker at Yours Supermarket told the Gazette: “Some places are charging 90p. We charge the normal price – I think it’s 60p or 60-something. You speak to the other places first.”

A Royal Mail spokeswoman shed some light on the situation.

She told the Gazette: ​“Any retailer who buys their stamps from us for resale must, under our terms and conditions, sell them at face value or lower.

“However, if a retailer has acquired stamps from somewhere else, we cannot bind them to this condition.

“Royal Mail recommends that our customers purchase their stamps from a Post Office branch or another registered retailer.”

[wannabeek]

That's very interesting. I thought all had to be sold at face value, no matter where from, not even discounted.

Does that mean I could theoretically buy a massive bulk lot from RM, sell them to CornershopStamps'R'us PLC at a discounted price, who could then sell them on to independent retailers at a higher discounted price for retail at any price they liked?

Might sound like a silly example but I doubt many people check the cost of a book of stamps against what they were charged - I doubt many people even have the slightest clue what the actual price is supposed to be nowadays.