Tag: UK

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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Postal density charge plan attacked

Posted by | Aug 21, 2006 | |

Radical plans by Royal Mail to charge customers different rates according to the density of deliveries in each geographical area have been attacked by business.

The dominant postal operator is today launching its biggest price overhaul in decades, which will charge customers according to the size, thickness and weight of mail, rather than just weight alone.

But Royal Mail has also applied to Postcomm, the postal regulator, to extend zonal pricing to some bulk business mail from April, albeit with a six-month transition period.

The system is already used in some Royal Mail services, and would cut prices for delivering in densely populated areas and raise them for less dense zones.

It would not apply to stamped or frank consumer mail or erode the Royal Mail’s commitment to deliver to every address. But bulk mailers, in particular, would be affected.

Postcomm began to open up bulk mail to competition three years ago, with the entire market facing competition from the beginning of this year.

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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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First time buyers are overstretched and under protected

Posted by | Aug 21, 2006 | |

Nearly half (48 per cent) of first time buyers (FTBs) would only be able to meet their mortgage repayments for six months if they lost their regular income tomorrow, reveals new research by Post Office® Financial Services.

With the average house deposit now at GBP 11,710, many FTBs are left overstretched financially. A third then face the additional shock of household running costs, which are much higher than they expected.

The Post Office® research reveals that despite these financial pressures, many FTBs are skimping on protecting themselves. Almost half (45 per cent) of FTBs don’t have any kind of protection against loss of income, from accident, sickness or unemployment (Payment Protection Insurance). Of those who are unprotected, the majority (44 per cent) have avoided doing so because they think it’s too expensive. Almost a third just don’t think they need it.

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Find the best post offices in Britain

Posted by | Aug 20, 2006 | |

Your local post office could be based in an unusual venue such as a pub, tearoom, church, or farmyard. Or maybe you live in a city and value the friendly service of your busy urban branch. Whatever the case, your Post Office needs you.

In a nationwide competition organised by the Post Office and launched by TV presenter Ben Fogle, customers are being asked to nominate the best rural, urban and most innovative branches.

Your local post office could be based in an unusual venue such as a pub, tearoom, church, or farmyard. Or maybe you live in a city and value the friendly service of your busy urban branch. Whatever the case, your Post Office needs you.

Prizes will be awarded in six categories. There is one for the best rural branch, the best town or city branch, and the best main branch directly managed by Post Office Ltd. Then there is the ‘above and beyond’ prize for the staff and branch that has gone the extra mile for its customers, a charity and fundraising prize for the one that has done the most for charity or community action, and finally a ‘most innovative’ branch award.

Cash prizes of between Pounds 500 and Pounds 1,000 will be made to regional finalists and national winners will also receive a prize of Pounds 1,000 with the same sum donated to a local charity or community project of their choice. The prize money goes to postmasters, who can distribute it as they wish.

With the network of post office branches in chronic decline, what better way to send a message of support than vote for your own?

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