Size matters for the mail

Changes to the way people pay for postage will cause utter confusion and lead to longer queues at post offices.

From August 21, letters and packages will be charged according to a complicated combination of size, width and weight.

And consumer groups predict that Royal Mail’s new Pricing in Proportion system will cause a flood of queries to counter staff.

Postwatch spokesman Andrew Frewin said: “It is a massive change and it is not going to be easy. We don’t agree with Royal Mail when it says that 80 per cent of post will not be affected. Every time a person posts something, they will have to look at how much it weighs and how big it is. It will no longer be a case of just buying a card and shoving a stamp on it.”

Envelopes sized up to 240mm by 165mm (approximately 9in by 6in) and less than 5mm thick will cost 32 pence first class and 23 pence second class.

Larger letters measuring up to 353mm by 250mm (14in by 10in) and up to 25mm thick will cost 44 pence and 37 pence. And packets over 353mm by 250mm and 25mm thick will need stamps worth 1 or 84 pence.

However the cost of a letter and or packet will go up if it weighs more than 100 grams (3.5 ounces), 250 grams or 500 grams. Packages over 1kilogram (2.2lbs) will not be affected.

Every household is to be issued with a guide, to help work out costs.

Royal Mail says the changes are being brought in to reflect handling costs more accurately. But Postwatch’s Mr Frewin said: “Judging width could be especially hard for elderly people because they are used to imperial measures. There’ll be a lot of confusion.”

Pensioner Bob Rear, 75, of Gotherington, Gloucs, predicted that the changes would cause chaos. He said: “In Cheltenham Post Office, by the posting box, there are now two outlines for letters and large letters. There’s a slot for 5mm width and 25mm for the large letter.

“Can you imagine what sort of confusion that’s going to cause the public out there? It looks as if every household will need a thickness gauge just to go out and post something.

“It feels like an underhand way of getting more money.”

The Conservative MP for Tewkesbury, Gloucs, Laurence Robertson, said: “People accept that prices should reflect cost, but changes have to be properly explained.”

A Royal Mail spokesman said: “We have invested in a multi-million-pound campaign to ensure that everyone understands the impact of Pricing by Proportion on their mailings.

“It will bring individual price in proportion with the cost of handling an item of mail. Eighty per cent of mail will be cheaper or stay the same price.”

A spokeswoman for the independent regulator Postcom said: “We have accepted the case for change, with the big proviso that Royal Mail goes out and markets the changes to the public and post office staff.”