royal mail weighing every item and if slightly overweight delaying delivery

[trees_rock_2009]

I've sent 3 parcels recently that were very slightly overweight (I use bathroom scales so can't always be accurate to the gram). In the past I believe those items would have been delivered OK, but now it seems Royal mail are weighing everything to the gram and then delaying the delivery for up to a month and then charging the customer an excess payment to be delivered. Of course, in the meantime, the customer has opened a case which is found in their favour. Has anyone else had the same experience recently? The fault is mine, but like today, I took a parcel which I had weighed on my scales at just under 10kgs (and paid the correct amount) but at the Post office is was weighed at 10.25kgs so I had to pay extra to avoid a late delivery.

[john1297576]

It does pay to buy postage over the counter, it guarantees that postage is correct and prevents this sort of problem.

If you are going to continue with your scales suggest you weigh a few things with known weight to see how inaccurate they are, then allow for it in future. Better to overcharge buyer, you can always make a partial refund, rather than damage your account with late deliveries and refunds.

[trees_rock_2009]

Hi John, thanks for the reply, it makes total sense. Buying postage over the counter is not really feasible given the time it would take, and because buying labels at the Post Office is more expensive than on ebay, but in future I will check weights at the Post Office as I hand over parcels, and if overweight (which I will try and not let it be!), I can always pay extra. That's a solution, cheers

[tommystrezures]

Its not actually a solution.

If you use pre paid labels from ebay and your item is overweight when handed in at the PO they cannot add to the label the missing amount of postage, you would have to buy a new label.

The obvious solution is get some scales that are accurate.

[trees_rock_2009]

Yes, thank you, very sensible advice which I will get on with! 

On another note, has anyone noticed the compensation amount on 48 hour tracked has been slashed in half from £150 to £75??