Royal Mail unlawfully charged for delivery

[wakame-chan]

I have posted a large letter (under 100g) at  the post office till. I saw the postal worker attach the stamp for which he charged me £1.55. I also have a receipt that proves I have paid exactly what I was charged at the till, together with a proof of postage that shows delivery address.

Now buyer has sent me a picture of a grey card that they have been asked to pay £5 fee as seller did not pay for postage. Buyer paid the fee before contacting me. 

What do I do now? Am I obliged to refund the buyer if I have a proof I paid the postage? Can this proof be used by either of us to make a Royal Mail claim? Their website says fee is non refundable but surely they have no right to charge in these circumstances? 

[arkwebus · Accepted solution]

Contact Royal Mail Customer Service FREEPOST Plymouth [by letter - they are good with those] and make a fuss!

I would certainly refund the £5 to the buyer

@wakame-chan 

[myriad*seller]

Items can move around inside the letter and then become too wide for the slot for large letter, which then pushes them into small parcel size, so the buyer gets surcharged.

Alternatively, the stamps you bought fell off by the time they got to the buyer

You can contact RM to argue for a refund of the fee but they may argue the contents moved in transit and made the package too wide for LL size, in which case the additional fee IS due.

It helps to tape stuff to a piece of card to stop it moving about and prevent this in future if you think this is the issue 

[wakame-chan]

That would make sense however I only sent some prepackaged stickers, nothing to move around plus it was a very thin envelope to begin with (just about 3mm). The only plausible explanation the stamp fell off, however Im not the one who attached it which I probably won't be able to prove?

[wakame-chan]

Thank you, I will do that!

[myriad*seller]

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@wakame-chan wrote:

That would make sense however I only sent some prepackaged stickers, nothing to move around plus it was a very thin envelope to begin with (just about 3mm). The only plausible explanation the stamp fell off, however Im not the one who attached it which I probably won't be able to prove?

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Ask the buyer for a photo of the front of the package showing the sticker which will show whether the stamp was present or not. You will need it for your RM claim. Also a copy of the grey card the buyer was given. 

[wakame-chan]

thank you for the tips!