Have I Been Overcharged By The Post Office Here?

[SHawking]

So I posted a letter today (a single piece of A4 paper folded in half and put into a C5 size envelope), wanting a 1st Class Signed For service.

I used this stamp, as I had some laying around my desk.



I was under the impression that I would not need to pay anything extra with this stamp attached, but when at the Post Office, the lady only assigned a value of £1.45 to the stamp, meaning I needed to pay an additional 90p for the 1st Class Signed For service.

It's not the end of the world by any means, but just for curiosity (and for future posting), I wanted to know if I've been mistakenly overcharged by the Post Office, or was everything done correctly?

Many thanks!

Here is my receipt confirming this.

[clashcityrocker]

It would appear so.
Perhaps she thought it was only a large letter stamp and didn't notice the Recorded Signed For down the side.

[SHawking]

Thanks for the reply.

Is the price (or value) of a 1st Class Large Letter stamp £1.45? If so, then I think you hit the nail on the head.

[BenacreNick]

Recorded delivery in reality has ceased as no customers have signed for their letters or parcels since March 2020 (ie pre-covid).

We are not allowed to hand over the Pda machine to capture the signature- because of the covid infection risks.
I understand its not directly related to your question S Hawking.

[SHawking]

Thanks BenacreNick, that's very useful information!

So if you get the Signed For service now, although a signature won't be requested/uploaded, will you at least know that your letter has been handed to a physical person at the address? Essentially I just need to know that the recipient was there and accepted the letter and that it wasn't just posted through their letterbox for example.

[clashcityrocker]

Recorded delivery in reality has ceased as no customers have signed for their letters or parcels since March 2020 (ie pre-covid).

We are not allowed to hand over the Pda machine to capture the signature- because of the covid infection risks.

The DWS (Delivered without signature) ended some weeks/months? ago.
I hand my PDA over and people sign for their items.

[fb1969]

As above, the PDA should be handed over and this has been the case for some months. There is still an option for the postie to sign themselves, but they MUST confirm that the recipient is happy for that to happen.

@SHawking - regardless of who physically signs for the item, it will be scanned and the signature should be uploaded. The name of the recipient should be obtained but the actual signature my not be theirs. As you can probably tell there is some confusion within RM staff (as a communication company the level of communication is abysmal) so there is no guarantee at all that the item wasn't just put through the letterbox regardless of whether anyone was in the building.

[ted_e_bear]

As above, the PDA should be handed over and this has been the case for some months. There is still an option for the postie to sign themselves, but they MUST confirm that the recipient is happy for that to happen.

@SHawking - regardless of who physically signs for the item, it will be scanned and the signature should be uploaded. The name of the recipient should be obtained but the actual signature my not be theirs. As you can probably tell there is some confusion within RM staff (as a communication company the level of communication is abysmal) so there is no guarantee at all that the item wasn't just put through the letterbox regardless of whether anyone was in the building.

That's what I would also confirm, the procedure is that there has to be someone present to take delivery of the item who will provide their surname when asked by the postie, they can then either sign the PDA or if either party is unhappy to do so the postie can sign it DWS (delivered without signature)

I don't think this important aspect of what the sender has paid for is being fully adhered to these days.

[Snaggletooth]

Back to the original question, I would say yes, you have been overcharged. That stamp should have been more than enough to pay for the item.

Just as a bit of context, those Signed For pre-paid stamps were withdrawn years ago due to lack of use. They were pretty obscure even when on sale. However, Non Value Indicator (NVI) stamps such as this should retain their real value forever, so it is still sufficient payment for a large letter sent Signed For.