Tag: Europe

Financial winners and losers in post shake-up

Posted by | Aug 22, 2006 | |

Today is the Royal Mail’s red letter day. The price of post will now depend on the size of what you are sending.

The new system has three categories.

The letter classification, with maximum 5mm thickness, is equivalent to a standard birthday card and the large letter, 25mm, around the depth of a monthly magazine.

The packet category covers anything larger.

The Royal Mail has predicted more than 85% of stamped mail will be the same price or cheaper than the old system.

The new pricing structure is called “Pricing In Proportion”.

Ian McKay, Royal Mail’s director of Scottish affairs, said one of the easiest ways to save money under the new rules was to fold all A4 items in half and put them in a C5 envelope.

Watchdog body Postwatch said there would be financial “winners and losers”.

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No chaos as postal prices change

Posted by | Aug 22, 2006 | |

Yesterday was a just a “typical day” for Post Office customers despite predictions the new pricing system would cause “chaos”, said Royal Mail.

New rules which came into force yesterday mean postage costs will determined by the size and shape of the item, not just weight.

Lorna Clarkson, Royal Mail’s Director of Pricing, said: “This is turning out to be a typical day in Post Office branches. There is no sign at all of the ‘chaos’ some predicted!

“I am very confident that customers will quickly get used to the new pricing structure, and we’re grateful for the way they have been taking the time to read the information we’ve distributed.”

The changes were accompanied by a pounds 10m campaign, 27m households received leaflets about the plan.

A spokeswoman for Postwatch, an independent consumer body, had earlier warned “many people still don’t know” about the details.

Ms Clarkson said: “Of course, we are not complacent and recognise that we are making significant changes. We will take all the time they need to explain these changes.

“But every indication we have had from Post Office branches and our customer call centres show that most people are aware of the changes.”

Royal Mail have said they will not gain extra revenue from the changes, and the postage for 80% of the mail will remain the same.

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Chaos as customers are left baffled by 'confusing' new prices for post

Posted by | Aug 22, 2006 | |

Sending letters used to be simple – if increasingly expensive. Yesterday it got more complicated amid widespread confusion and suspicion that the Royal Mail was trying to make a fast buck.

From now on the cost of posting letters and packets varies according to their shape, thickness and weight. This replaces a long-standing system in which first class stamps cost 32p, second class stamps cost 23p and items weighing more than 60g varied in price according to weight.

A spokeswoman for the consumer group Postwatch said people were “utterly confused” by the change. The organisation registered deep concern about how the new pricing structure was being introduced.

Its study of more than 300 post offices in the first week of August showed that a third did not have any information for customers on the new system, called Pricing in Proportion (PiP).

The new system is expected to cause particular confusion among those buying greetings cards, which vary considerably in size, but less so in weight.

The changes attracted a mixture of bafflement and suspicion among customers. In a post office near St James Park, central London, Amanda Kershen said she found the system complicated, despite reading the leaflet she had received. “I’ll be very reluctant to send any packages. It’s going to cause pandemonium,” she said. “I was sent a sizing guide to my home which was helpful but the first thing I thought was, ‘this is going to be stressful’.”

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UK Royal Mail delivers new prices but are post offices ready?

Posted by | Aug 21, 2006 | |

Royal Mail introduces its new pricing system – Pricing in Proportion (PiP) – today. From today the price of postage will depend on the shape and thickness of the item as well as its weight.

Commenting on the introduction of PIP, Judith Donovan CBE, Chair of Postwatch’s Trade Association Forum, said: “Postwatch understands and accepts the rationale for today’s change. It is necessary for prices in a competitive market to reflect their associated costs. We are, however, inevitably concerned about the implementation of this fundamental change.

“As the customers’ representative Postwatch is concerned that today’s big change may not be fully understood by all customers. Confusion amongst residential customers and small businesses could lead to unnecessarily long queues at post offices.

“We are concerned that post offices are not ready to help customers. In the first week of August, we surveyed post offices throughout the UK to examine the efforts branches are making to alert customers to this major change. Of the 307 post offices Postwatch visited:

” 34 per cent did not have a measuring template displayed.
” 37 per cent were not displaying the PIP poster; and
” 32 per cent did not have PIP leaflets available.

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Gottschalk Brothers Carry Their Burden for DHL Päckchen. TV celebrities promote reduced costs for parcel shipping

Posted by | Aug 21, 2006 | |

Since May 1, the price for parcels (Päckchen) sent German-wide with DHL has been reduced from EUR 4.30 to EUR 3.90. Also, from August 21 until October 31, customers of the leading parcel and express provider can send their items abroad at a lower price: during this time, the charges are only EUR 7.90 instead of EUR 8.60 to send DHL parcels within Europe. Starting Monday, Thomas and Christoph Gottschalk will promote this offer in a major campaign, featuring themselves as the well-known defiant pair.

Themed “Only our prices are small” the Gottschalk brothers will be presented all over Germany on posters, advertisements, brochures and the Internet during the next three weeks. At a number of selected railway stations their images can be seen as so-called mega air posters. In metropolitan areas radio commercials will be aired and bulk mail distributed to 5 million households. More than that: 500 DHL vehicles will bear the campaign motifs and attract further attention.

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