Royal mail "Fee to Pay" card

[Classsix T]

I handle the mailing for a print firm and a decent set of scales will determine the weight pretty much without ambiguity, what's more difficult though is gauging whether the thickness will pass muster with the parameters set by Royal Mail.

 

I tell the guys stuffing the envelopes to put the spine (traditionally the fattest part of any fold stitched publication) of the magazine opposite the envelope's seam. But we've a couple of newsletters that regularly flirt with being over thick.

They'll come in at sub 90g all-up weight but I've also got a perspex thickness gauge, not the flimsy card gauge RM will give you. RM will tell you if it doesn't literally fall through the 5mm gap, it's large letter. If I was absolutely sticking to that rule, I'd have organisation Chairpeople and my governors on my back constantly bleating, "It only weighed 77 grams!". If friction stops a piece falling through but a light touch helps its passage, I'll send it letter.

 

But, regardless of weight, if I've got to PULL your mailpiece through the 5mm gap, you're paying large letter matey.

 

C6T.

[melmerby]

Conversely to my OP I have just had a larger letter than the one rejected with no stamp and no sign of ever having a stamp but franked where the stamp should be but I didn't get a "Fee to pay" card.

Inconsistent.

 

Keith

[hayfield]

Conversely to my OP I have just had a larger letter than the one rejected with no stamp and no sign of ever having a stamp but franked where the stamp should be but I didn't get a "Fee to pay" card.

Inconsistent.

 

Keith

 

Keith

 

Thats because its Christmas 

 

Seasons greetings

[melmerby]

Keith

 

Thats because its Christmas 

 

Seasons greetings

So why wasn't there any Christmas cheer from the RM for the first one?

 

Keith

[Oldddudders]

Decades ago, what has since become Royal Mail was famous for its arrogance. If you wrote complaining about a delayed letter etc you would be most unlikely to get any response. It seemed that holding a monopoly made customer relations irrelevant. Little has changed, it seems. I also sense that it remains one of the last bastions of grumpy industrial relations, as a disaffected workforce watch white van man and the Internet erode their remaining business.

[81C]

Decades ago, what has since become Royal Mail was famous for its arrogance. If you wrote complaining about a delayed letter etc you would be most unlikely to get any response. It seemed that holding a monopoly made customer relations irrelevant. Little has changed, it seems. I also sense that it remains one of the last bastions of grumpy industrial relations, as a disaffected workforce watch white van man and the Internet erode their remaining business.

They (the courier companies) employ many Eastern Europeans and pay them a pittance so that may dry up with the current climate.

Edited December 22, 2018 by 81C

[hayfield]

So why wasn't there any Christmas cheer from the RM for the first one?

 

Keith

 

 

He might be on Santa's naughty list

[34theletterbetweenB&D]

They (the courier companies) employ many Eastern Europeans and pay them a pittance so that may dry up with the current climate.

Unlikely in our area, it seems to be a trade dominated by West Africans. (Who are polite and speak good English.)

[81C]

Unlikely in our area, it seems to be a trade dominated by West Africans. (Who are polite and speak good English.)

 

Most nationalities tend to gather in the same area's it's normally word of mouth, nothing wrong with that it's the companies that exploit them

that pee me off.. 

[Cmax]

Decades ago, what has since become Royal Mail was famous for its arrogance. If you wrote complaining about a delayed letter etc you would be most unlikely to get any response. It seemed that holding a monopoly made customer relations irrelevant. Little has changed, it seems. I also sense that it remains one of the last bastions of grumpy industrial relations, as a disaffected workforce watch white van man and the Internet erode their remaining business.

 

Its not White van man as such, its legislation that lets competitors use the network for a pittance then just deliver the final mile, much like most telecom company's using the BT network. It's not beyond possibility that Royal Mail as we all know it, could disappear, sooner than most people think, then see how much it's costs to post from one end of the country to the other.

 

Gary

[hayfield]

They (the courier companies) employ many Eastern Europeans and pay them a pittance so that may dry up with the current climate.

 

 

I must have been very lucky as at both my previous and current address the postie was/is exceptionally good, a few years ago I had to claim for a lost parcel with Royal Mail and have nothing but praise at the way I was treated.

 

On the other hand have had issues with both the lower and higher end of the parcel delivery services, the good news being we now have a very diligent Hemes agent for the village, still slow delivery times compared with the RM but excellent service.

 

I still think the Royal Mail comes out on top, on both pricing and delivery, with the exception of larger parcels

[hayfield]

Most nationalities tend to gather in the same area's it's normally word of mouth, nothing wrong with that it's the companies that exploit them

that pee me off.. 

 

 

I think the delivery companies treat everyone the same, irrespective of nationality, religion or colour. The solution is to boycott the cheaper ones and use the more expensive services

[81C]

I think the delivery companies treat everyone the same, irrespective of nationality, religion or colour. The solution is to boycott the cheaper ones and use the more expensive services

 

I do.

[Jonboy]

Its not White van man as such, its legislation that lets competitors use the network for a pittance then just deliver the final mile, much like most telecom company's using the BT network. It's not beyond possibility that Royal Mail as we all know it, could disappear, sooner than most people think, then see how much it's costs to post from one end of the country to the other.

 

Gary

In my workplace it was the series of strikes around 10 years ago that made us reduce our reliance on Royal Mail. We used to post invoices, statements, marketing materials etc out to customers and the strikes actively made us implement other solutions such as sending invoices with the goods (changing processes significantly to do so) and emailing statements and marketing. This reduced our business with RM by around 90%.... it may have come later with technology anyway but it was the direct actions and responses of the RM and their staff that forced the issue in the first instance.

[hayfield]

Its not White van man as such, its legislation that lets competitors use the network for a pittance then just deliver the final mile, much like most telecom company's using the BT network. It's not beyond possibility that Royal Mail as we all know it, could disappear, sooner than most people think, then see how much it's costs to post from one end of the country to the other.

 

Gary

 

 

Garry

 

There is a fine line between forcing a company to do things below cost or pricing competition out of business. I am no expert but there seems to be a levee playing field now in the petters/packets delivery business where healthy competition is increasing standards, parcels less so

[Sir TophamHatt]

In my workplace it was the series of strikes around 10 years ago that made us reduce our reliance on Royal Mail. We used to post invoices, statements, marketing materials etc out to customers and the strikes actively made us implement other solutions such as sending invoices with the goods (changing processes significantly to do so) and emailing statements and marketing. This reduced our business with RM by around 90%.... it may have come later with technology anyway but it was the direct actions and responses of the RM and their staff that forced the issue in the first instance.

 

Which is exactly the reason I don't agree with striking on the railway.

It doesn't really hurt anyone apart from the public who really NEED the railway.  I'm sure some people have found with the timetable changes of earlier this year, and strikes, it's better for them to find another mode of transport.

[Classsix T]

That's a contradiction. If you NEED the railway there is no alternative.

 

And to have yourself in a position of total reliance upon one mode of transport says more about the unavailability of alternative transport options (at the behest of local or national dictat most probably) than it does the personal circumstances of the user.

 

C6T.

[hayfield]

That's a contradiction. If you NEED the railway there is no alternative.

 

And to have yourself in a position of total reliance upon one mode of transport says more about the unavailability of alternative transport options (at the behest of local or national dictat most probably) than it does the personal circumstances of the user.

 

C6T.

 

 

For many there is no alternative other than use public transport, whether it be bus or train. Think of the chaos if everyone who commutes used their own transport, roads would be log jammed then no where to park when they got there. Few are lucky enough to have alternative routes/modes of transport

 

There is a train of thought that people should work locally and reduce their commute to a few miles, however we are where we are.

 

Workers do have the right to withhold their labour during disputes, but then they also have to accept they also have a responsibility to keep the disruption to the travelling public to a minimum. At the same time the train operators should be held more accountable for maintaining a service (thinking about the recent timetable issues) what ever the cause. 

 

With a public service like transport there should be a legal requirement on both parties that mediation should take place first, perhaps with an independent adjudicator whose decision is final before any strike occurs, sadly unions strike too frequently and the rail companies seem too inflexible all too often.

 

I have witnessed the decline of two local industries, basically caused by 2 strong overpowering unions, which in the end saw the loss of many hundreds of jobs and the closure of the two largest employers in town. I have several friends who were made redundant from well/over paid jobs, the unions and workers got too greedy and killed the goose that laid the golden eggs. Had friends that laughed about how the union ruled the roost and got away with murder, in the end the businesses were closed down

 

Thankfully the Royal Mail seems to have come through its dark place, its employees on the face of it have better rewarded employment than its competitors, and certainly is giving a better service to the public. I would agree that the excess payments are a bit high but have only had to pay it once myself, on the whole I appreciate the service the business and employees have given me, nothings perfect and is operating in an imperfect world with a very few customers intent on abusing the service 

Edited December 24, 2018 by hayfield

[Geoff Endacott]

The last time I collected an item with insufficient postage it turned out to be a bundle of leaflets from another model railway club with a request to put them out at our next show!

 

Geoff Endacott