There’s something of a thriller happening on the Royal Mail — however nothing to do with the latest Publish Workplace scandal.
Reasonably it includes a surge in ‘counterfeit’ stamps and a hefty £5 penalty for many who obtain (and settle for) mail posted utilizing one.
Cash Mail has been contacted by dozens of pissed off readers who’ve been stung with the wonderful, whereas others who’ve purchased stamps from authentic sources say they’re mortified at sending out mail to family and friends which the Royal Mail then deems ‘counterfeit’.
Stunning: There was a surge in ‘counterfeit’ stamps and a hefty £5 penalty for many who obtain (and settle for) mail posted utilizing one
All of it started two years in the past when the Royal Mail launched stamps with barcodes, enabling mail to be tracked and providing a extra environment friendly, safe service.
For purchasers who had a stash of older stamps with out a barcode, the Royal Mail launched the Stamp Swap Out scheme, which meant they may very well be exchanged for barcoded ones.
Initially, stamps may very well be swapped solely by printing an internet kind, requesting a Stamp Swap Out kind on-line to be posted to you, visiting an area supply workplace or calling buyer providers.
However after a marketing campaign by our sister newspaper, The Mail on Sunday, kinds had been made accessible in native Publish Workplaces, together with a freepost envelope.
Thus far so easy. Nevertheless, though the brand new stamps portraying King Charles III have a novel barcode, which the Royal Mail says makes it harder for the stamps to be reproduced, this will not be the case.
Take Tony Marcella, a 54-year-old enterprise strategist from Rugby, Warwickshire. He was charged £5 by the Royal Mail to obtain a card from an previous good friend after a ‘price to pay’ card got here via his letterbox.
Fined: Cash Mail has been contacted by dozens of pissed off readers who’ve been stung with the wonderful
Had she used sufficient postage, he questioned. Sure — however the yellow sticker on the envelope had a field ticked with ‘counterfeit stamp’. Stamps are thought of a ‘safe print merchandise’ in the same strategy to financial institution notes, which implies it’s a crime to knowingly reuse or promote used or faux stamps.
Disgruntled, Tony contacted his good friend, who defined that this stamp was certainly one of 103 she had obtained from the Royal Mail after exchanging £95.69 value of nonbarcoded stamps via the Stamp Swap Out scheme.
Mortified, she instructed him she had despatched out greater than 20 playing cards with the stamps — if each recipient was charged the price then the Royal Mail would have made at the very least £100 in penalties from only one sender.
But given the provenance of the stamps, it appeared to Tony and his good friend that the Royal Mail itself was sending out what it subsequently marked as ‘counterfeit’ stamps.
‘I’m very indignant,’ says Tony.
‘I appeared on the floor of the stamp actually carefully and in contrast it with different stamps I had at residence and I’m satisfied the stamp marked counterfeit was real.’
Cash Mail contacted stamp specialists at Corbitts auctioneer, in Newcastle Upon Tyne, which additionally reviewed pictures of Tony’s stamp and confirmed that they imagine the stamp is real.
‘The price was once £1 for a letter with incorrect postage however now it’s gone as much as £5!’ says Tony.
Certainly, the £5 penalty is 4 occasions the worth of a regular first-class stamp, which is ready to rise to £1.35 on April 2, and greater than 4 occasions the unique penalty value.
It’s unclear at what level these ‘counterfeit’ stamps have entered circulation, and their supply — or whether or not they’re real and Royal Mail’s scanning know-how is at fault.
Nevertheless, one Royal Mail postal employee in Kent, who needs to stay nameless, says she doesn’t imagine there’s a felony community of postal staff earning money out of faux stamps, reasonably that both the machines used to scan the stamps on the sorting places of work or the printers that manufacture the stamps are defective.
The Publish Workplace says that it receives its stamps straight from the Royal Mail’s safe printers, which it delivers to its branches in safe vans or sends them by way of safe submit from its warehouse in tamper-proof envelopes.
A Royal Mail spokesman says: ‘Royal Mail makes use of a managed course of which is safe and sturdy for the distribution of our stamps and stamp merchandise, together with stamps equipped to clients via our Swap Out scheme.’
That is of little consolation to 78- year-old charity volunteer Pam James, from Nailsea in North Somerset.
The mother-of-two was charged £5 by the Royal Mail after she obtained a card from her former neighbour Lynn with a yellow label on the envelope which had a field ticket to say the second-class stamp was ‘counterfeit’.
She paid the cost however, bemused, Pam inspected the stamp with a magnifying glass but couldn’t see any discolouration, unusual marks or errors.
She says: ‘That is scandalous. The barcodes had been supposed to assist enhance issues. The worth of stamps goes up however the service goes down. I now ship individuals digital playing cards.’
Clients who purchase stamps at Publish Workplaces are given an itemised receipt, which is required by the corporate to analyze any allegations of faux stamps.
Shopper champion Martyn James says official stamps are by no means discounted.
The Royal Mail recommends checking stamps for uncommon colourings, uneven borders or lacking safety ovals.
Be careful for sheets of stamps that are bought in portions apart from 25, 50 and 100, it recommends.
If you happen to suspect that you’ve got by accident bought a counterfeit stamp, go to royal mail.com/report-stamp-fraud.
Royal Mail didn’t want to touch upon what number of penalties it had despatched out for ‘counterfeit’ stamps. It will additionally not verify whether or not an inside investigation will probably be carried out.
A Royal Mail spokesman says: ‘It’s important we will examine any occasion the place an individual believes their stamps have been incorrectly recognized as counterfeit or pre-used.
‘To do that, we require any buyer who believes they’ve been incorrectly surcharged to ship the envelope with the barcoded stamp connected to us, together with the precise location of the place the stamp was bought.
‘We’ve a sturdy, multi-stage course of in place when assessing whether or not barcoded stamps are real. We are going to at all times fortunately evaluation particular person circumstances and if an error has been made then we’ll after all appropriate it.’
Have you ever been charged £5 for utilizing a ‘counterfeit’ stamp? E mail a.cooke@dailymail.co.uk.
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