New Royal Mail Postage Costs

[sarahq1962]

Hi, I normally use signed for at my local post office. I am thinking of changing to Tracked 48 from next week as the prices seem better. It says you can do this now from a post office but my post office still doesn't know anything about the changes....has anyone else found this? TIA

[**incy**]

You buy the postage online with Royal Mail & then take the QR code to the Post Office & they will provide the postal label for your package.

[sarahq1962]

Hi, that was the old way of doing it - I can't do this. However, Royal mail are saying from 2 April you can take the parcels to a post office like signed for and they will deal with it there.....https://www.royalmail.com/sites/royalmail.com/files/2024-03/our-prices-april-2024-v1-ta.pdf

It's not just online anymore.....

[irt303]

@sarahq1962 - "... has anyone else found this?" - do you mean: has anyone else found that their Post Office doesn't know about the changes? If so, then yes. I asked about RM Tracked 24/48 last week when I went in to post an item. The staff didn't have a clue, and said something along the lines of "We're always the last to know".

At least one member of staff there is not very competent - she keeps making very basic errors like entering the wrong postal service even though I've just told her which one I wish to use, then gets increasingly flustered and irritable. When she's not getting in a pickle, she's quite affable, but her customer service skills aren't great, and I don't like the fact that I always have to be careful to ensure she's processing the item with the correct type and class of postage. Then there's the time - on this particular occasion it took over 5 minutes to complete a transaction that should have been done in a minute. She had to ask a colleague to show her how to do a very basic thing (produce a label with a QR code), and snapped "Alright, alright!" at me when I very politely, very respectfully, and very quietly (so as not to be heard by people in the ever-lengthening queue - I had no desire to belittle or embarrass her) suggested that she needs some extra training on how to do this. 

I'm repeating myself here, as I posted about this on a different thread, but my local PO is inside a WH Smiths, and the staff are employed by the latter, and I can't help but wonder whether there's a difference in the level of training they got/get compared to actual 'proper' PO staff.

So, returning from my tangent, my local PO didn't know about Tracked 24/48 when I enquired last week. April 2nd is only a few days away, so I'm assuming that they have been officially informed by now. Given that the aforementioned staff member struggles with simple, everyday processes that the PO has used for years, I do wonder how she'll cope with these new (to the PO) services.

Tracked 24/48 looks like a good service. I'd like to use it, but I have a load of stamps to use up (I affix them to the package, then pay any extra needed at the PO counter), and I've been reliably informed on these boards that I won't be able to use them for this service.

Sorry for going rather off-topic. The long and short of it is that the PO will be offering Tracked 24/48 from April 2nd - whether they are aware of it or not (but surely, they must have got the memo by now). 

[sarahq1962]

Hi, yes it is mad isn't it - my post office still hadn't got details of how it is going to work a days ago and it is due to start next Tuesday! I am not sure whether to alter my listings with Tracked 48 or not? Mad x 

[**incy**]

It's not the old way it is the current way, I have just done one for taking to Post Office today.

So if I am understanding you correctly you are saying from April 2nd you can buy 24Hour & 48Hour over the counter at a Post Office.  Where does it say that as I could not find that info?

[sarahq1962]

Hi, yes that is exactly what I am saying... it's in the red booklet that you get at a post office - https://www.royalmail.com/sites/royalmail.com/files/2024-03/our-prices-april-2024-v1-ta.pdf

  and mentions it here https://www.royalmail.com/termschanges

[irt303]

@sarahq1962 - Ha ha, it is a bit worrying, isn't it?!

Like I said, not too much of an issue for me personally (that staff member will probably have left by the time I've exhausted my stamp supply), but yeah, you'd like to think that all PO staff will have been made aware by now, and that they'll have had some training in how to process the transactions, so that they are prepared come April 2nd. Meanwhile, in the real world...

Just out of curiosity, do you know whether your PO is a 'proper' one or a franchise-type one?

[sarahq1962]

Hi, it is a franchise one - maybe a main post office would be worth going into and see what they say....I guess it will all work out in the end - but mad that we know more online than the staff do....

[irt303]

@**incy** - Hi, the change was posted on these boards (somewhere! - please don't take that as an insinuation that you should have seen it!), and, as sarahq1972 said, it's also in the new RM booklet. Yes, from April 2nd you'll be able to do the whole transaction at the PO counter. Whether that's more convenient is down to the individual, but at least it's an added option.

@sarahq1962 - If you're unsure, you could always leave that service out of your listings until you're confident that the staff in your PO are up to speed with it.

[**incy**]

Thanks for the info, yes I see it now under changes from 2nd April.

I think it will just be updated on their Horizon system over the Easter weekend & then be treated like all other mail as it should just be an option for them to select when the customer chooses that postal service.

[irt303]

@**incy** - Yeah, hopefully it will be that straightforward!

One thing I don't get is why I can't use my stamps as postage towards Tracked 24/48 - stamps are no kind of barrier to tracking.

Obviously, it would be impossible for me to use my stamps if I were purchasing postage online - but if paying at the counter, I don't see what the problem would be. I'll test the waters next time I go in, maybe my informant was sincere but not entirely correct.

@sarahq1962 - It is a bit crazy, I agree, and probably a bit embarrassing for the staff to be told by a customer about impending developments that they themselves are unaware of!

Although not as crazy as having to micro-manage a transaction to make sure the staff member is doing things correctly! I'm increasingly coming to regard her as a liability. If she goofs up, it is potentially my seller status (and buyer experience) that is adversely affected. If I 'get' her again, I may just ask the person behind me (if there is one, obviously) if they want to go next.

I'm making light of all this in my posts, but the more I think about it, the more I see it as an issue - yet another frustrating aspect of selling online. Not singling eBay out there, although the platform does seem to have an unprecedented number of issues, bugs etc. at the moment.

I don't have much confidence in a satisfactory resolution should my PO mess up a transaction, either. I had cause to formally complain about it before, and customer services - WH Smith customer services, that is - were, frankly, useless.

Hopefully, my experiences are not reflective of the majority. At the end of the day, all I want is the reassurance that the staff are competent. If they're friendly and helpful, that's a bonus (although that should come as standard, too), but expecting staff to know how to do their jobs is hardly asking for the world - is it? (Says someone who has engaged with eBay CS on many occasions, and very seldom with a positive result.) 

[jckl1957]

I think a lot of sellers will have to 'gently insist' that the service is now available over the counter as staff get used to the changes.

I will definitely be switching to Tracked 48 (no signature) for large letters that I would have previously sent Second Class Signed For.

Compensation on Second Class Signed For has dropped to £20 and the price for a LL over 100g will be £3.25  to £4.40.

Tracked 48 will cost £2.70 up to 750g for a LL with compensation up to £150.

I think 'Signed For' is on its way out.

[irt303]

@jckl1957 - Yes, some of the postage increases and reduced compensation amounts are very disappointing, and I can understand why you're keen to switch.

I may end up using Tracked 24/48, too. If it does turn out that I can't use my stamps towards postage, then I may just forget about them (or sell them on). The service does look like it ticks a lot of boxes for better seller protection in the event of a dispute, as well as being quite competitively priced.

I dread the prospect of "gently insisting" to the lady I've been talking about!

[**incy**]

Yes it is a better service all round up £150 cover & tracking number updates several times along the way & usually a photo as proof of delivery.

[bungalowbill*1961]

Print the labels through eBay and the PO will simply scan them into the system. I also drop small stuff into my nearest post box, when that is emptied (9am weekdays, 7am saturday) it also gets scanned into the system and saves using my car. I send everything Tracked 48 now.

[jckl1957]

It will probably be as quick (for me anyway) to hand address my parcels, as I do now, and get the labels done at the Post Office.

Until this latest price increase (April 2nd) you could not actually buy Tracked 24 and 48 at the Post Office but you will now be able to do so.

[sarahq1962]

Hi, thanks for that - can I just check is it one label to a page? and you have to stick them on? That could take a while - and they say tracked 48? At the moment - I use stick on address labels and it is quick and then stick the signed for label on.....not quite sure how this new thing would work for me.....

[tommystrezures]

To the OP and everyone else.

Yes Tracked 24/48 will be offered from post offices from next week, however on the system (as of yesterday the relevant buttons to offer the service are not available yet. 

Typically within the post office the buttons will appear on the day of use, assuming the post office has left their equipment on overnight to allow for the software updates, this is how it usually happens. There to date has been no communications that I am aware of to sub postmasters etc, apart from the RM price list and some earlier PO documents when the price changes were announced.

There was a new service this week offered over the counter that we were not informed about which may be also pertinent to many of you who use the post office. If you now create your customs forms online before visiting the post office you should now be issued with a passcode/or barcode of somesort (we haven't seen one yet at our PO!) which we can enter at the point of submitting the customs data which auto populates our end and saves the time in us having to enter the details.

[sarahq1962]

Thanks for that information. Do you know will there be labels at the post office for the tracked 48 - like signed for? or how will it work practically....I take my parcels at the moment with addresses on and signed for sticker and do drop and go......