Forum Moderators: buckworks
Is this:
[news.bbc.co.uk...]
Royal Mail are currently thinking of pricing packages by size instead of weight. How would that work then? It would be a right pain to sort it all out if this happens. Time to move into shipping lead weights, and get rid of all the posters ;)
It is complicated as it is not based on size instead of weight - it is based on size AND weight. So to price a parcel, it needs to be measured and also weighed. The Post Office staff are going to love that - so you can bet that they will file an official complaint with PostCom or whatever they are called.
It raises lots of questions that have not been answered, such as:
1) Why would a very think letter (say 6mm thick) be more expensive to send than splitting it into two letters (2 x 3mm thick)?
2) If compensation is 100 x basic rate of First Class (currently £28 max compensation), would we be insured for £93 for small packets (as the basic rate for a packet would be 93p)?
3) If they Royal Mail state they will make no more money for it, why are they changing it? Shouldn't they concentrate on getting letters there on time, first?
4) Why should some customers get a huge price rise (thus businesses may close or lay off staff) and others get a huge price reduction (and the manager pockets the money)?
5) How much longer will queues at Post Offices be? Will they need to reopen closed branches to cope with the extra time it takes them to weigh AND measure packet sizes?
6) Will it affect eBay sellers and buyers? (Apparently eBay has been an significant influence on the Royal Mails recent profit announcement)
7) Is a 310% increase in price (28p to 93p) acceptable by the Monopolies commision? Should this price structure go hand in hand with the abolishing of the Monopoly?
8) How many people will be sending Christmas cards with a 28p stamp on them, when they are large sized and should really cost 42p?
9) How many extra stamps would a 'normal' person be required to buy? (At the moment 21p and 28p are the normal sized stamps whereas there will be 4 types a home user will be expected to use - 21p, 28p plus large size second and first class for those HUGE A4 letters they may need to send)
10) Will sales of A4 envelopes crash? And DL shoot through the roof?
11) Will the Royal Mail cover insurance claims where goods have not been packaged properly due to the thin packing being slightly smaller (getting the cheaper price) and then the Royal Mail damage the product?
12) Will I really be expected to pay 65p extra postage when someone sends an item to me which is over the 5mm thick restriction? (Plus the £1 fine - thus £1.65)
13) Will every postman and woman be issued with a ruler?
I suspect that this trouble they are going through is pollitically motivated so the Gov can sell it off and say what a vast improvement the private sector operation is.
Yawn.
According to a news story I saw they will cost over £1.50 if the proposed changes come in. This will increase my costs (we offer free delivery) and is not really good news.
I haven't been able to find a list of the propsed new prices, can anyone help?
