Postage stamps without barcodes will be unusable from 31st July

[macliam]

Sod's law came into play and the day after non-barcoded stamps became unusable, I found £50 worth.

No problem, I thought, I'll get them swapped, so went online and ordered a form. No email from Royal mail to confirm.

Then I read about the scam where Royal Mail are telling people that their stamps were counterfeit....

Yesterday, still no form over a month later - and no contact details to query anything. So I ordered the form again. No email from Royal mail to confirm........

Anyone get the idea they're trying to save money?

[pabenny]

You can download the form here:
https://www.royalmail.com/sites/royalma ... s-v1.6.pdf

[macliam]

I know. However, they seem keen to have an excuse to reject claims, so printing off my own copy doesn't seem a good idea.

The offer to provide a form is there, so it's one less reason for them to reject the claim.

[Sarah]

they seem keen to have an excuse to reject claims

I had no issues and haven't heard anything like that. What are you referring to?

[dannyluis]

No problems here having downloaded the forms and used them a number of times.

[macliam]

Good, check online about returned stamps being declared as counterfeit, amongst other things.

I can't comment personally, as over a month later I've still had no contact with them.

[Sarah]

Hopefully you'll be okay if you follow the instructions correctly. Perhaps not everyone does that, e.g. in particular, self-adhesive stamps must still be attached to their original backing when sent for swap out, not stuck to the form. I doubt that printing the form yourself makes any difference (if you can do so using a colour laser printer, the result will be practically indistinguishable from a form supplied by Royal Mail anyway).

[macliam]

Hopefully you'll be okay if you follow the instructions correctly. Perhaps not everyone does that, e.g. in particular, self-adhesive stamps must still be attached to their original backing when sent for swap out, not stuck to the form. I doubt that printing the form yourself makes any difference (if you can do so using a colour laser printer, the result will be practically indistinguishable from a form supplied by Royal Mail anyway).

Agreed, just not got that warm feeling. If I had access to a colour laser printer I'd not worry, but I don't and I've seen enough ink-jet disasters.

The fact they don't acknowledge your order or provide a contact is more than a bit annoying though, let alone getting nothing after a month.....

[moi]

I've printed a form twice on an old inkjet printer (probably in fast draft mode.) No problem with form. The only issue was it took them longer than the 7 days they estimate to send the exchanged big stamps.

Unrelated, I used their online page to order a pre-printed form to be sent by post (to my uncle.) Many weeks later, it never arrived.
I requested the form again a couple of weeks ago. He still hasn't got it.

[macliam]

I've printed a form twice on an old inkjet printer (probably in fast draft mode.) No problem with form. The only issue was it took them longer than the 7 days they estimate to send the exchanged big stamps.

Unrelated, I used their online page to order a pre-printed form to be sent by post (to my uncle.) Many weeks later, it never arrived.
I requested the form again a couple of weeks ago. He still hasn't got it.

Not really unrelated, as that's my experience.

If a service is offered, it should be available - but the lack of any acknowledgement of the order or ability to query it makes me doubt the intention to supply.

I may just print off the form and try, but I wanted to avoid any possible hiccoughs in an already totally unnecessary imposition. Privatization of Royal Mail and the Post Office has, like most previous privatizations, been an unmitigated disaster. Monopolies and near-monopolies should never be made into private cash-cows.