Royal Mail

[wymberley]

Unless I have tasked and paid this mob to deliver something for me, I have no agreement or contract - call it what you will - with them. Consequently, could anyone tell me what right they have to charge me £5 if one of their clients has sent me a package on which whoever posted it used counterfeit stamps. Apparently, they're working hard to stop this. If they've learned anything from the Post Office as is they make haste slowly they're on a nice little earner

[welsh1]

15 minutes ago, wymberley said:

Unless I have tasked and paid this mob to deliver something for me, I have no agreement or contract - call it what you will - with them. Consequently, could anyone tell me what right they have to charge me £5 if one of their clients has sent me a package on which whoever posted it used counterfeit stamps. Apparently, they're working hard to stop this. If they've learned anything from the Post Office as is they make haste slowly they're on a nice little earner

You don't have to pay, they will just not give you the package, after all if it's a counterfeit stamp they have not been paid to deliver it, the package would go back to the sender who would be asked for payment.

[Yellow Bear]

51 minutes ago, wymberley said:

If they've learned anything from the Post Office as is they make haste slowly they're on a nice little earner

Particularly as they seem to have difficulty telling the difference themselves  The report I saw showed that some 40% of those collected that were rejected were in fact genuine

[JKD]

These counterfeit stamps are apparently originating from China, where their government are doing fig all about it ! They are available online and in some smaller outlets, who are buying them online thinking they are getting a bargain, as these online sellers are advertising them at less than face value,,,, DOHHH !!!

Work is ongoing to attempt to stop these forgers, and to stop those already available getting sold to the British public. According to the news this morning.

[JohnfromUK]

I read of someone who had only had stamps direct from Royal Mail (exchange swap out for non QR code stamps) and they were condemned as counterfeit.  The truth is that Royal Mail seem to be completely clueless about what is genuine and what isn't.

[Yellow Bear]

5 minutes ago, JohnfromUK said:

The truth is that Royal Mail seem to be completely clueless about what is genuine and what isn't.

Now there's a surprize

[vmaxphil]

13 hours ago, Yellow Bear said:

Particularly as they seem to have difficulty telling the difference themselves  The report I saw showed that some 40% of those collected that were rejected were in fact genuine

They must be using horizon software 😄

[JohnfromUK]

The underlying reasons that forging stamps has become (apparently) so widespread are:

1. They have become so expensive (£1.35 for a 1st class) that there are decent returns to be made
2. If they can be forged easily then something is lacking in the security measures/features
3. If the Royal Mail (RM) are having trouble deciding which are counterfeit, then something is lacking in the security measures

Does anyone know what benefits the addition of the QR code was supposed to provide? 

• Better security?
• Better/easier traceability?
• Cheaper/easier automated mail sorting?

Google suggests that the new stamps will "enable the introduction of added security features and pave the way for innovative services for customers. This includes allowing customers to use the barcodes to access videos".  Apparently the QR codes are "unique to each and every stamp".  Presumably then RM can (in theory) check/trace every one from printing to final delivery office ............ but I suspect that in fact they don't use the QR code (or at least not fully) in the vast majority of cases - if even any?