Royal Mail Theft By Surcharge

[andybrussell]

Sorry yes, I posted this without putting our full situation.


We have been having these unreadable barcodes since the start of the year and are now at around 15 per week.

We have done literally everything, brand new print heads, print speed at the slowest, no dithering on the labels etc and yet they still come.

Since the 1st May we have also used a barcode scanner app on a mobile phone to verify that 100% of the labels applied to the packages read first time (every time)


There is no logical explanation to this.

Just a few points…

We had an item returned back to us due to the customer not collecting it from their sorting office. It just so happened that it had been over labelled, I was able to peel the over label off and still scan the original barcode with no problem whatsoever.

Last year there was a major problem with barcoded stamps and many were being flagged as fake (there are still articles online) and thus the recipient was fined £5 due to the fake stamp.

Royal Mail were adamant that the stamps must have been fake and thus continued with the fines, it wasn’t until it got media attention that they backed down and admitted their machines were at fault and turned that aspect the machines off.



I can’t post a link but if you Google “Royal Mail pauses fines for ‘fake’ stamps after apparent flaw in fraud scanners” there is a Guardian Article.



I think what is happening here is the same situation, the cameras on the machines are not capable of reading allot of barcodes as they pass through the machine (maybe they are passing through too fast?) and thus these items get rejected and over labelled. They are clearly not checking the rejects to actually verify if the barcodes are indeed unreadable.



We use Linnworks to generate our barcoded labels which is linked to our OBA, I have noticed that when creating a label directly in Click and Drop the 2D barcodes do not seem as dense as the ones on our labels. I am wondering if there is that much information contained in the barcode is causing the barcodes to misread?

We are honestly at the point of ditching Royal Mail as it’s not just these unreadable barcodes, it also 50g items they claim are 1kg items etc and the whole process of appealing is such a mess/time consuming.



The unreadable barcode charge is £1 now, but you can guarantee this will only increase.

The whole thing is definitely a Horizon style mess, where the machines are always right and the end user must be at fault.

I am genuinely not sure what to do about this but I think we need some sort formal representation to bring a case against Royal Mail.

 

[Gary Durn]

Try the GK430D or another with 300 dpi instead of 203 dpi. The print quality is a lot better

Before you spend our money trying things, do you know this will resolve the issue? Because the RM recommendation is 200dpi.

 

[Gary Durn]

@andybrussell Thanks for sharing your account - and it's a familiar account.

My view is IPROL surcharges are a general issue affecting at least a number of mail centres, and senior management have directed local staff to not budge an inch when investigating complaints. We all get the same stonewall treatment when escalating our concerns. I've never before seen a company casually alienating customers that wasn't facing imminent bankruptcy.

As you point out, RM have established a mechanism under which they surcharge according to operating conditions that they control. And sticking a new label on for £1 is by itself more expensive than the entire end to end handling of small letter post.

We should use the complaints handling process set out by RM before considering further action. Exchanging feedback helps others in the same situation know what's going on behind the scenes and move toward a solution.

I detest being ripped off more than the amount of money in question, so we're prepared for county court claims - although there are complications to that.

 

[LPB 123]

Before you spend our money trying things, do you know this will resolve the issue? Because the RM recommendation is 200dpi.

No, I couldn't know this.

What I do know is that the print quality is very noticeably better.

We have not had any of these unreadable barcode surcharges and we only use 300 dpi printers for our labels. It could be a coincidence, but it may be worth trying before the legal action.

 

[apricot]

If you go in to your e-invoicing account you should be able to see the documents with surcharges etc.

Ours have all been to do with weight and the docs are called "correctionsupplement" and they list the affected parcels individually.

I’ve looked into it many times, even discussed it with our Royal Mail account manager, and even he was surprised at how little information is available.

Another ongoing issue with Royal Mail is with tracked deliveries: we send them as tracked, but sometimes the items never get delivered. When that happens, we have to make a claim. The process requires filling out an online form, which takes ages and often crashes so you end up doing it all over again. The time and effort it takes to complete the claim costs more than the item itself - (not to mention it damage to mental health), I now end up not claiming it.

 

[Newchodge]

May I suggest that one of you sets up a group RM users wrongly surcharged, find an MP who hates Royal Mail and start a group action. or else you all just tell RM you will not use them again because you believe they are acting fraudulently.

 

[simplyjoshimo]

No, I couldn't know this.

What I do know is that the print quality is very noticeably better.

We have not had any of these unreadable barcode surcharges and we only use 300 dpi printers for our labels. It could be a coincidence, but it may be worth trying before the legal action.

I appreciate your suggestion of changing printers, however not all small businesses can afford this.

I for one work for myself and these zebra printers aren't cheap to buy. I bought the GK420D on recommendation of Royal Mail and it met all their requirements (and still does.) The printer is excellent quality, I haven't had any issues with scanning barcodes here, and no other courier I've used has encountered issues with scanning either.

This issue has been raised on other forums too if you have google.

I really think the responsibility here firmly lies with Royal Mail to sort out their machinery, rather than for all their customers to spend their hard earned cash in replacing theirs.

However I can fully understand why you would suggest this and why some would consider it...As the appeals process is extremely stressful and time consuming!

 

[James]

Out of interest, for those experiencing issues with Royal Mail surcharges, are you typically sending your goods in courier bags or boxes?

Just a thought that if RM scanning machines are very sensitive, could the use of courier bags lead to labels getting creased during transit, possibly before they are scanned?

 

[Gary Durn]

Out of interest, for those experiencing issues with Royal Mail surcharges, are you typically sending your goods in courier bags or boxes?

Just a thought that if RM scanning machines are very sensitive, could the use of courier bags lead to labels getting creased during transit, possibly before they are scanned?

It's a sensible idea and thanks. Alas, we've seen from reject images provided by RM that there is never an issue with creased, folded, torn or damaged labels, it's always a simple matter of computer says no "unreadable".

Imagine if we all had to start stuffing our envelopes with packing waste so they could be processed reliably by RM equipment

 

[SebMartley]

I'm livid. Royal Mail have recently introduced additional surcharges for items such as 'unreadable barcode' and 'incorrectly applied label'. We take extreme care when labeling our packages, there isn't a chance that our barcodes are 'unreadable', and what even constitutes an 'incorrectly applied label'??! Surely the label is either there or it's not?? We use Royal Mail supplied label stock and a Royal Mail recommended thermal printer. I've disputed each of these surcharges, there appears to be 1 of each per weekly invoice at the moment, with an additional 'administration surcharge' for the 'privilege' of being surcharged. Initially, the response from Royal Mail was that the surcharge had been incorrectly applied and would be credited, they're now dismissing our disputes.

Royal Mail have the gumption to forward their guide to labeling correctly along with their dispute rejection email. We've been doing this for over 20 years, I believe we know how to print and apply a label. The obvious observation is that any loss or damage to labels occurs after the the packages have been taken and mishandled by Royal Mail, we should be compensated - not penalised! I would urge anyone reading this to check the last page of their invoice carefully and dispute ANY and ALL surcharges, other than green surcharge which is unavoidable.

Conveniently, Royal Mail are only occasionally able to provide poor quality photographic evidence of the package and label AFTER they've re-labelled it - curiously, it appears to be identical to the original label we'd originally used. I need to see the 'damage' please Royal Mail, so that I can work to prevent it in future.

I hope every other business hit with these unjustified surcharges is disputing them and will continue to do so. Royal Mail will be bringing in many thousands in revenue from what, without proof, is essentially theft.
Cheers

We are finding this too Rob and its very recent. I am aware that they recently sent out instructions on where to place the label etc. We did dispute them at first but all in all we are only receiving a few on our monthly invoice and cost wise doesn't make sense to dispute them every time. I absolutely agree though that this is just Royal Mail trying to squeeze some extra money out of people and if it is a real issue they should supply label printers like other couriers do.

 

[andybrussell]

Just an update with regards to our ongoing problem.

We had another 17 unreadable barcodes last week and so I contacted Royal Mail to explain we have scanned all barcodes and confirmed they are fully readable, new print heads and all settings correct.

I specifically asked for the images from the Parcel Sort Machine of the alleged unreadable barcodes from the 17 packages. They replied (below) with attached images of the packages AFTER they had been over labelled and put back through the machine which is no use whatsoever. I guess it’s just a stock response, however we will be emailing our account manager to come in and visit us.

When Royal Mail introduced the surcharges a few years ago we were getting hit with 20g items weighing 1.5kg, and items barely bigger than a letter being detected as a shoe box. He was great and actually went into the Mail Centre and identified the problems and we had that resolved very quickly (items were being loaded on the belts with overlapping other items)



This was only after constantly being denied the issue from customer service.

Unfortunately, he has left now and our new account manager isn’t as on the ball.



Royal Mail Reply…..

Dear Andrew

Thank you for enquiry reference: 05477493

I have carried out a review of the Unreadable and/or Missing Barcode charges added to your account.

After further investigation, we believe the charges to have been correctly applied, and so will not be crediting these charges. I understand that this will not be the outcome you were hoping for, but we remain committed to working with you to get your mail right, first time and every time to avoid correction charges.

The process within Revenue Protection is to over-label the original unreadable barcode with a new barcode to aid processing and as a result, it is not always apparent from the images as to why the barcode could not be read.

We have increased our focus on Unreadable Barcodes, which in some cases has led to a rise in Unreadable Barcode correction charges. It may be that your label quality has only become a problem recently, or it could be that we have been absorbing the additional processing costs until now.

Please find a Label Best Practice guide attached which contains further information on things you can check regarding unreadable barcodes

Labels with poor machine readability have worse processing outcomes, longer delivery times, and less traceability for their end customer and our teams.

I can confirm these are accurate charges which were raised in line with our Terms and conditions | Royal Mail, any applicable Surcharges & the Welcome to our UK Parcel services user guide (March 2025) , which is a legally binding document forming part of the agreement between you and Royal Mail.
As per page 23 of our UK Parcels Correction Charges rate card (effective from 2 January 2025) unreadable barcodes are currently charged at £1.10 per item.

We will provide images for charges related to Label Incorrectly Applied and Unreadable Barcode where possible; however, it may not be possible to supply images for all charged items. Please note that any item charged for Label Incorrectly Applied or Unreadable Barcode has undergone manual verification at a workstation within our Mail Centre, following its initial identification or rejection by our automation. Therefore, the accuracy of the charge is confirmed through these processes and images of individual mail items are not needed to validate the charges.

Labelling requirements are fully detailed in our Welcome to our UK Parcel services user guide (March 2025) , which is a legally binding document forming part of the Agreement between you and Royal Mail.

Kind regards
Gail Birkin
Royal Mail?
Customer Experience

 

[Newchodge]

Just an update with regards to our ongoing problem.

We had another 17 unreadable barcodes last week and so I contacted Royal Mail to explain we have scanned all barcodes and confirmed they are fully readable, new print heads and all settings correct.

I specifically asked for the images from the Parcel Sort Machine of the alleged unreadable barcodes from the 17 packages. They replied (below) with attached images of the packages AFTER they had been over labelled and put back through the machine which is no use whatsoever. I guess it’s just a stock response, however we will be emailing our account manager to come in and visit us.

When Royal Mail introduced the surcharges a few years ago we were getting hit with 20g items weighing 1.5kg, and items barely bigger than a letter being detected as a shoe box. He was great and actually went into the Mail Centre and identified the problems and we had that resolved very quickly (items were being loaded on the belts with overlapping other items)



This was only after constantly being denied the issue from customer service.

Unfortunately, he has left now and our new account manager isn’t as on the ball.



Royal Mail Reply…..

Dear Andrew

Thank you for enquiry reference: 05477493

I have carried out a review of the Unreadable and/or Missing Barcode charges added to your account.

After further investigation, we believe the charges to have been correctly applied, and so will not be crediting these charges. I understand that this will not be the outcome you were hoping for, but we remain committed to working with you to get your mail right, first time and every time to avoid correction charges.

The process within Revenue Protection is to over-label the original unreadable barcode with a new barcode to aid processing and as a result, it is not always apparent from the images as to why the barcode could not be read.

We have increased our focus on Unreadable Barcodes, which in some cases has led to a rise in Unreadable Barcode correction charges. It may be that your label quality has only become a problem recently, or it could be that we have been absorbing the additional processing costs until now.

Please find a Label Best Practice guide attached which contains further information on things you can check regarding unreadable barcodes

Labels with poor machine readability have worse processing outcomes, longer delivery times, and less traceability for their end customer and our teams.

I can confirm these are accurate charges which were raised in line with our Terms and conditions | Royal Mail, any applicable Surcharges & the Welcome to our UK Parcel services user guide (March 2025) , which is a legally binding document forming part of the agreement between you and Royal Mail.
As per page 23 of our UK Parcels Correction Charges rate card (effective from 2 January 2025) unreadable barcodes are currently charged at £1.10 per item.

We will provide images for charges related to Label Incorrectly Applied and Unreadable Barcode where possible; however, it may not be possible to supply images for all charged items. Please note that any item charged for Label Incorrectly Applied or Unreadable Barcode has undergone manual verification at a workstation within our Mail Centre, following its initial identification or rejection by our automation. Therefore, the accuracy of the charge is confirmed through these processes and images of individual mail items are not needed to validate the charges.

Labelling requirements are fully detailed in our Welcome to our UK Parcel services user guide (March 2025) , which is a legally binding document forming part of the Agreement between you and Royal Mail.

Kind regards
Gail Birkin
Royal Mail?
Customer Experience

I may be a bit slow here, but if the barcode is unreadable how do they reprint it?

 

[andybrussell]

I may be a bit slow here, but if the barcode is unreadable how do they reprint it?

I'm not sure, the images they provided showed our packages with a new barcode sticker over the top of the original barcode

 

[Newchodge]

I'm not sure, the images they provided showed our packages with a new barcode sticker over the top of the original barcode

But would they not have to read the barcode to be able to reprint it?

 

[andybrussell]

But would they not have to read the barcode to be able to reprint it?

They may be able to create a new barcode and manually type in the address when creating it. I am not 100% sure how it is done

 

[Newchodge]

They may be able to create a new barcode and manually type in the address when creating it. I am not 100% sure how it is done

Sorry, where do they get the address from?

 

[simplyjoshimo]

They may be able to create a new barcode and manually type in the address when creating it. I am not 100% sure how it is done

I asked my account manager this when he visited a few weeks ago. He said they read the tracking code (above the qr code) to access address details and then it is manually entered and a label printed.

The email you received is exactly what I get each time I appeal, word for word. It makes me wonder if they actually look into each surcharge or if this is the automated response without any investigation?

I am continuing to receive these surcharges too and am disputing each one. I have asked for a complaint to be escalated for all IPROLs to date, making them aware that I have photos of all mail items with readable barcodes. Since then, I have received absolutely no response, from customer services or the escalation team. Yet the surcharges continue to be applied.

 

[SebMartley]

We perhaps get 2 a week on around 500 packages sent, my point has been to them how can all the others be perfectly fine except this small amount.

 

[AlanJ1]

Sorry, where do they get the address from?

The label is readable to a human, but the quality most likely isn't for there machines which is scanning the barcode / address.
That's hwere someone is then having to manually type and reprint the label.

 

[Paul Kelly ICHYB]

Challenge the letter and ask for an additional review/escalation.

 

[kevinHit]

We are also facing these charges and completely missed them for the first few months, as they only appear on invoices.

Our labels are generated using Royal Mail’s own system (Click and Drop) and printed using a printer recommended by Royal Mail using the correct print settings.

The barcodes scan correctly on our equipment, the barcode show no sign dithering, and our high-resolution photographs taken prior to dispatch confirm the modules are clear, with proper black/white contrast and square alignment (the white squares blocks are the size as the black square ones).

Royal Mail has been extremely slow in providing a list of shipments that have been relabelled. They also fail to supply evidence of faulty barcodes: any images they provide are low-resolution and the barcode has been covered.

The responses from the Royal Mail Business Customer Services Team have been generic and unhelpful, seemingly scripted. I'm them blaming bleed and darkens - thermal printers do not suffer from bleed as they do not use ink. High Contrast between black and white parts of barcode is critical for successful reads of barcode.

We have had a visit from a Field Service Manager. They were friendly and took away samples of labels but I'm not optimistic this will lead to a solution.

From my perspective, there are two possible explanations:
1) Royal Mail is damaging our labels while the items are in their care.
2) Their scanning technology is defective and does not meet the required standards.

Given Royal Mail’s previous issues with scanning technology (e.g. postage stamps), I would infer that the second explanation is more likely. As anyone with common sense knows, computer systems are not infallible and can make mistakes, often due to poor software.

Our mail is collected by Royal Mail daily and it first scan is at : Bristol Mail Centre, Filton

For us, the £1 per shipment surcharge is a significant cost (resulting in loss on many sales) and is making Royal Mail uncompetitive compared to other providers.

If anyone needs the Royal Mail business complaint escalation process, you can find it here. As I cannot post a link here, please use internet to search for: Royal Mail Business complaints process

 

[Throwaway2]

I recently noticed we've been getting these "unreadable barcode" surcharges too.

Mostly we've been receiving 1-5 "unreadable barcode" every couple weeks. OK, I can kind of believe that. A speck of dust on the thermal head. A faulty patch on the label.

But recently they charged us 40 on a single invoice. I asked for evidence and every photo they provided has sets of white horizontal lines running down it that interferes with the barcodes. The camera must have a loose cable or something but they still refuse to admit any fault.

(I wanted to embed one of the photos here but the forum says links aren't allowed.)

Also isn't it suspicious that Royal Mail don't include these surcharges on the surcharge supplements? When we receive a surcharge supplement I can quickly look up all the barcodes and check our CCTV. Sometimes it's clearly our mistake (we sent a parcel as letterboxable), sometimes it's debatable (we weighed it as 990g, RM say 1010g), and other times it's blatantly an error on Royal Mail's part and I dispute it (they say a 1cm letter was actually 30cm thick). We win 90% of disputes and Royal Mail is able to provide photographic evidence for the 10% they uphold.

But these "unreadable barcode" surcharges... funny how Royal Mail can't provide evidence and also doesn't include them on the supplements. How are we supposed to resolve any issues with the barcodes if they don't tell us what the problem is?

 

[kevinHit]

I recently noticed we've been getting these "unreadable barcode" surcharges too.

Mostly we've been receiving 1-5 "unreadable barcode" every couple weeks. OK, I can kind of believe that. A speck of dust on the thermal head. A faulty patch on the label.

But recently they charged us 40 on a single invoice. I asked for evidence and every photo they provided has sets of white horizontal lines running down it that interferes with the barcodes. The camera must have a loose cable or something but they still refuse to admit any fault.

(I wanted to embed one of the photos here but the forum says links aren't allowed.)

Also isn't it suspicious that Royal Mail don't include these surcharges on the surcharge supplements? When we receive a surcharge supplement I can quickly look up all the barcodes and check our CCTV. Sometimes it's clearly our mistake (we sent a parcel as letterboxable), sometimes it's debatable (we weighed it as 990g, RM say 1010g), and other times it's blatantly an error on Royal Mail's part and I dispute it (they say a 1cm letter was actually 30cm thick). We win 90% of disputes and Royal Mail is able to provide photographic evidence for the 10% they uphold.

But these "unreadable barcode" surcharges... funny how Royal Mail can't provide evidence and also doesn't include them on the supplements. How are we supposed to resolve any issues with the barcodes if they don't tell us what the problem is?

The Data Matrix barcode contain address data for the customer so I would not advise publicly posting images of labels.

The scanning machine will show groups of 3 lines running across the label - that is normal and should not cause issues with scanning - it not cables.

Likewise a specs of dust on the thermal printer head, should not cause an issue - Data Matrix barcodes by design have error correction built into them and as long as the original print is good, minor damage will not affect a barcode scanning. Unless you are extremely unlucky white lines running down a Data Matrix barcode will not prevent it from scanning. Depending on where the Data Matrix barcode has damage, you can get away with up to 40% (typically, 25-33% of each zone) of it being damaged of the label being damaged. If you want more information on the error correction , search for on your preferred web search engine : Data Matrix read-soloman error correction

I have had another batch labels rejected this week (approx 3% of what we shipped) - we have challenged again but Royal Mail are unbelievable slow to do anything at the moment - I'm still waiting to be provided with the list of shipments from the prior weeks - it is extremely frustrating.

 

[Throwaway2]

The Data Matrix barcode contain address data for the customer so I would not advise publicly posting images of labels.

The scanning machine will show groups of 3 lines running across the label - that is normal and should not cause issues with scanning - it not cables.

Likewise a specs of dust on the thermal printer head, should not cause an issue - Data Matrix barcodes by design have error correction built into them and as long as the original print is good, minor damage will not affect a barcode scanning. Unless you are extremely unlucky white lines running down a Data Matrix barcode will not prevent it from scanning. Depending on where the Data Matrix barcode has damage, you can get away with up to 40% (typically, 25-33% of each zone) of it being damaged of the label being damaged. If you want more information on the error correction , search for on your preferred web search engine : Data Matrix read-soloman error correction

I have had another batch labels rejected this week (approx 3% of what we shipped) - we have challenged again but Royal Mail are unbelievable slow to do anything at the moment - I'm still waiting to be provided with the list of shipments from the prior weeks - it is extremely frustrating.

I enquired about 6 "unreadable barcode" surcharges last week and none of the photos they provided had the lines. I also don't see them on photos provided by Royal Mail during other types of surcharge disputes.

We used to be on Royal Mail COSS (now called Bespoke) which is the integration above API. Royal Mail would give us blocks of 25k barcodes for each service and allow us to generate our own labels offline. Back in 2014 or whenever the 2D barcodes were added I had to write our own code to encode the data and generate the data matrices. Yes, the specs say a data matrix should survive up to 40% damage but that's really not likely in the real world. Just like how they used to promote CDs still working after drilling holes through them when in reality a few scratches can ruin them.

When we were on COSS we would have to send hundreds of test labels to Royal Mail to pass inspection to be allowed to use the service. For 10+ years we always passed. Now 2-3 years after downgrading to the Shipping API they say our barcodes are unreadable...

 

[Throwaway2]

As an example to how much damage the data matrices can take, try covering parts of it with a small piece of paper and test if it can still scan.

I can cover maybe 20-30% of the centre and still get a scan with my actual 2D scanner but the app on my phone can't even cope with this.

But a strategically placed piece of paper on the edge of the matrix will break my 2D scanner too even if it's only covering 5-10%. So it's really important not to disrupt the "finder" parts of the matrix (the solid L shape lines along the sides).

Sometimes I will stick a label on an envelope and it'll curve slightly over the contents and while my scanner will scan it it's slower than normal to do so and I might redo the label. If Royal Mail's conveyors are going 100mph then these little details matter which is why it's insane that they aren't providing surcharge supplements and original photos of the failed scans.

 

[kevinHit]

I enquired about 6 "unreadable barcode" surcharges last week and none of the photos they provided had the lines. I also don't see them on photos provided by Royal Mail during other types of surcharge disputes.

We used to be on Royal Mail COSS (now called Bespoke) which is the integration above API. Royal Mail would give us blocks of 25k barcodes for each service and allow us to generate our own labels offline. Back in 2014 or whenever the 2D barcodes were added I had to write our own code to encode the data and generate the data matrices. Yes, the specs say a data matrix should survive up to 40% damage but that's really not likely in the real world. Just like how they used to promote CDs still working after drilling holes through them when in reality a few scratches can ruin them.

When we were on COSS we would have to send hundreds of test labels to Royal Mail to pass inspection to be allowed to use the service. For 10+ years we always passed. Now 2-3 years after downgrading to the Shipping API they say our barcodes are unreadable...

Your comments regard COSS ring so true, we started on COSS and Royal Mail used to be so much easier to deal with back when I started this (2006).

Clearly, I haven't seen your pictures so I can't give an opinion about your pictures.

Our mail goes Bristol Mail Centre (Filton) and that is where the majority of our unreadable barcodes are picked up.

The pictures that Royal Mail have been provided me for our unreadable labels are when the parcel is run through the machine with the new label on it. When the machine fails to read a barcode the machine cannot take a picture as it would not know what parcel it was. It would not surprise me if some of the "unreadable barcodes" are due to the parcel being upside down (i.e. label facing down) on the conveyor. I also do think the Royal Mail staff check if the barcode is correct (i.e. by using a handl helpd or presetation scanner) and instead when machine rejects a labe, they just re-label it. Personally, I believe Royal Mail need to capture a picture before they re-label, at the point they re-label it , it should be trivial to put that into their processes.

With the pictures that Royal Mail have provided me, they are all taken when the parcel runs through the scanning machine, every single image we have been supplied with has 3 lines clustered together and repeated every inch or so (on some on picture they are harder to notice but they show up easily in my image editor). Those lines are normal (or at least I have been told that) - I presume they are part of the alignment process as the parcel runs through the machine. They only change the contrast slightly and would not affect the barcode scan.

Regarding the damaged barcode, you are correct; 40% damage would be unlikely to scan but I never claimed that. If your labels are printed at the correct resolution (203 DPI) on a 6in by 4in label (in reality they are slightly smaller), the Data Matrix modules in the barcode will have square blocks that are made of 4 by 4 dots. If your printer was unlucky and to have a spec (or two or three) of dust on the head that caused a vertical white line (or 2 or 3) through the barcode, unless you could easily see those white lines (or your barcode had other noise issues e.g. black dots appearing in the white areas), it would still scan. I have provided Royal Mail with examples to illustrate that.

 

[kevinHit]

As an example to how much damage the data matrices can take, try covering parts of it with a small piece of paper and test if it can still scan.

I can cover maybe 20-30% of the centre and still get a scan with my actual 2D scanner but the app on my phone can't even cope with this.

But a strategically placed piece of paper on the edge of the matrix will break my 2D scanner too even if it's only covering 5-10%. So it's really important not to disrupt the "finder" parts of the matrix (the solid L shape lines along the sides).

Sometimes I will stick a label on an envelope and it'll curve slightly over the contents and while my scanner will scan it it's slower than normal to do so and I might redo the label. If Royal Mail's conveyors are going 100mph then these little details matter which is why it's insane that they aren't providing surcharge supplements and original photos of the failed scans.

The black solid lines on the left/bottom edge of each larger square are part of the Finder Pattern (the consistent black/white checks on the right/top edge are also part of the Finder Pattern). The Finder Pattern will be less tolerate of issues than other parts of the barcode - if the scanner cannot locate the finder pattern it will not attempt to decode the data. But one (or more) single white vertical line(s) through any part of the horizontal black line due to dust on a print head should not cause an issue with scanning unless those lines are clearly visible (or there too much other noise in the label).

I would also expect that to apply to a single white line through the entire left black bar at the left edge but I will have to check how much damage that can take in the morning.

 

[Throwaway2]

I agree, a single white line isn't going to stop it from scanning. Don't tell Royal Mail but one of our lesser used printers has had a dead dot for over a year and I haven't replaced the head because it's not really that important (I ordered a replacement head a few days ago just because i know if RM visits they will point it out).

But my point is these little things do slow down the scanning speed. It's possible that Royal Mail is only giving packages a 1 second window to scan before they get ejected from the system. If a perfect barcode can be scanned in 500ms but a faded dot here adds 100ms, a speck of cardboard dust on the camera lens there adds 100ms, a crease there adds 300ms, and... times up computer says no.

People pointing the full power of their smartphone at a barcode and decoding it in 2 seconds doesn't really help our case.

For comparison, we've got products on our shelves with barcodes that don't scan reliably. Stupid stuff like the manufacturer putting the barcode behind an embossed piece of plastic packaging that refracts the light. When we kindly ask the manufacturer to improve it 90% of the time they reply "scans fine for us". Well, that doesn't change the fact that it doesn't for us and their products are a pain to process.

But anyway, a few things I'm noticing that might be clues:

- Lots of larger but flat packages, stuff between A4 and A3. Presumably the camera has to zoom out to see the whole package which makes the barcode smaller. These are also the photos missing the lines
- Crumpled jiffy envelopes (this was always my primary suspicion)
- One box and label is somehow curved, either it took a hit or it's a "rolling shutter" effect

 

[kevinHit]

I agree, a single white line isn't going to stop it from scanning. Don't tell Royal Mail but one of our lesser used printers has had a dead dot for over a year and I haven't replaced the head because it's not really that important (I ordered a replacement head a few days ago just because i know if RM visits they will point it out).

But my point is these little things do slow down the scanning speed. It's possible that Royal Mail is only giving packages a 1 second window to scan before they get ejected from the system. If a perfect barcode can be scanned in 500ms but a faded dot here adds 100ms, a speck of cardboard dust on the camera lens there adds 100ms, a crease there adds 300ms, and... times up computer says no.

People pointing the full power of their smartphone at a barcode and decoding it in 2 seconds doesn't really help our case.

For comparison, we've got products on our shelves with barcodes that don't scan reliably. Stupid stuff like the manufacturer putting the barcode behind an embossed piece of plastic packaging that refracts the light. When we kindly ask the manufacturer to improve it 90% of the time they reply "scans fine for us". Well, that doesn't change the fact that it doesn't for us and their products are a pain to process.

But anyway, a few things I'm noticing that might be clues:

- Lots of larger but flat packages, stuff between A4 and A3. Presumably the camera has to zoom out to see the whole package which makes the barcode smaller. These are also the photos missing the lines
- Crumpled jiffy envelopes (this was always my primary suspicion)
- One box and label is somehow curved, either it took a hit or it's a "rolling shutter" effect

I only use my phone to take images of the barcodes to check quality (for checking consistency of module size, the zoom works much better than my eyes), and while my phone does read the barcode when I take a photo - it’s not as good a dedicated scanner. A dedicated barcode scanner should always outperform a phone when reading 2D barcodes. Even my old (2010ish) Motorola (Symbol) DS920 (later would be made by Zebra) reads 2D barcodes far faster and more reliably than any phone that I have used here, it also read barcodes that my phone can’t read at all.

Royal Mail’s parcel sorting machines (PSMs) are made by Solystic (I do not know the model(s) they use for parcels) but they are very advanced. They can handle large volumes quickly and have multiple imaging scanners. Even if a label is curved or has some damage their scanner(s) should be able to read it - the speed of the parcels going through whilst fast, should not be problem for a Data Matrix barcode (even if that barcode has some damage).

The images that RM provided me are captured by the PSM but they are poor quality JPEGs i.e, can't scan the reprinted barcode - and there re-print in my opinion look worse than our originals(although that could just be the fuzzing used by it being a jpeg). I don’t know whether these images come from the actual imaging scanner or from separate camera on the machine,

What I am confident about though is that our labels were valid and correct when they left here. We perform random sampling, but on some days I’ve recorded every label sent but for those periods, Royal Mail hasn't provided any corresponding data ( I'm still waiting for them to provide data from 26 May - they are very slow, I am hoping that is because they are treating it seriously).

The IPROL charges that first brought this issue to my attention involved labels from four different packing stations. The re-printed labels showed no consistent pattern in the type of parcel affected (some were padded envelopes, some card envelopes, some small boxes, etc). They were spread across all pack-stations. Given how our process works, I find it inconceivable that so many defective barcodes originated here.

To date, Royal Mail has provided no actual proof. I believe either the labels are being damaged after they leave us, or their scanners are having issue (whether due to operator error, maintenance or other system limitations).

 

[Throwaway2]

Yes we are having parcels from multiple packing stations with different printers flagged too.

A big thing I notice about the photos is they are all cropped, some quite tightly. When I dispute other surcharges the photos they provide aren't cropped.

A common surcharge I regularly successfully dispute is Royal Mail claiming our large letters were too thick. When they provide photos it shows that it was two letters on top of each other (they take photos from the side too).

So are the "unreadable barcode" photos cropped because there are other packages in frame? Are they just dumping everything on the conveyor? Are packages laying on top of each other or perhaps even upside down? Perhaps we need to improve how we bag up our mail but unless Royal Mail communicates with us it's all stabbing in the dark.

It's so suspicious that Royal Mail knows how to be open and easily provides proof for other surcharges but are acting shady with these ones.

 

[kevinHit]

Yes we are having parcels from multiple packing stations with different printers flagged too.

A big thing I notice about the photos is they are all cropped, some quite tightly. When I dispute other surcharges the photos they provide aren't cropped.

A common surcharge I regularly successfully dispute is Royal Mail claiming our large letters were too thick. When they provide photos it shows that it was two letters on top of each other (they take photos from the side too).

So are the "unreadable barcode" photos cropped because there are other packages in frame? Are they just dumping everything on the conveyor? Are packages laying on top of each other or perhaps even upside down? Perhaps we need to improve how we bag up our mail but unless Royal Mail communicates with us it's all stabbing in the dark.

It's so suspicious that Royal Mail knows how to be open and easily provides proof for other surcharges but are acting shady with these ones.

I believe, the image for the size is taken at an different point to the barcode image - or it least it is that way for every image I have ever been sent. I'm don't believe the label image is cropped, I think that is just the label image is that is taken. I also can't see Royal Mail Business Customer Service going to the effort of cropping an image.

I don't trust Royal Mail on any surcharges - I don't think the staff at the Mail Centre use common sense in a lot of cases (probably a lack of training).

We also get false large letters surcharges - used to be very infrequent but the frequency has increased in the last 8 months. More often than not, they just credit when I dispute (probably helped by the fact I provide them details of exactly what was shipped - often with my pictures). When they do reject - and send me a picture, that picture always show something not right (e.g. 4 large letters on top of each other machine) - they normal credit those when I point that out to them. The only one I have failed on is a white padded envelope that had clearly being crushed horizontally - I gave up on the one as I could see they would never apply common sense (I think the last email to me was that we need to ensure that items cannot change shape whilst in transit otherwise we will face more surcharges).

 

[Throwaway2]

That's basically the same story as us, even the part about only failing when they showed photos of a crushed white padded envelope.

But the surcharge for the crushed envelope didn't bother me and I immediately gave up the dispute once I saw the photo because it's actionable evidence that we can work to prevent happening again the future. What winds me up about these "unreadable barcodes" is there is no evidence for us to act on that could prevent future surcharges.

Every "unreadable barcode" photo I receive is different dimensions and aspect ratio. For example the ratios of the last 5 were: 1.92, 1.61, 2.30, 2.49, 1.28. I can understand different resolutions as maybe customer support is downscaling images to attach them to emails but different aspect ratios suggests more editing is going on.

It's kind of moot anyway since these are all photos after over labelling. I've never received a phot of the original barcode.

 

[kevinHit]

That's basically the same story as us, even the part about only failing when they showed photos of a crushed white padded envelope.

But the surcharge for the crushed envelope didn't bother me and I immediately gave up the dispute once I saw the photo because it's actionable evidence that we can work to prevent happening again the future. What winds me up about these "unreadable barcodes" is there is no evidence for us to act on that could prevent future surcharges.

Every "unreadable barcode" photo I receive is different dimensions and aspect ratio. For example the ratios of the last 5 were: 1.92, 1.61, 2.30, 2.49, 1.28. I can understand different resolutions as maybe customer support is downscaling images to attach them to emails but different aspect ratios suggests more editing is going on.

It's kind of moot anyway since these are all photos after over labelling. I've never received a phot of the original barcode.

How odd - if they ever provide me with the data for my latest charges I'll have to see what they send this time.

-- another cut and paste response from them today original batch --
Dear Kevin,

Thank you for enquiry reference: **REDACTED**.

We have carried out a review of the Unreadable and/or Missing Barcode charges added to your account.

After further investigation, we believe the charges to have been correctly applied, and so will not be crediting these charges. I understand that this will not be the outcome you were hoping for, but we remain committed to working with you to get your mail right, first time and every time to avoid correction charges.

The process within Revenue Protection is to over-label the original unreadable barcode with a new barcode to aid processing and as a result, it is not always apparent from the images as to why the barcode could not be read.

We have increased our focus on Unreadable Barcodes, which in some cases has led to a rise in Unreadable Barcode correction charges. It may be that your label quality has only become a problem recently, or it could be that we have been absorbing the additional processing costs until now.?

Please find a Label Best Practice guide attached which contains further information on things you can check regarding unreadable barcodes.

Please also find attached the outcomes of the sampling.

Labels with poor machine readability have worse processing outcomes, longer delivery times, and less traceability for their end customer and our teams.

I can confirm these are accurate charges which were raised in line with our Terms and conditions | Royal Mail, any applicable Surcharges & the Welcome to our UK Parcel services user guide (March 2025), which is a legally binding document forming part of the agreement between you and Royal Mail.

As per page 23 of our UK Parcels Correction Charges rate card (valid from 31 March 2025) unreadable barcodes are currently charged at £1.10 per item

We will provide images for charges related to Label Incorrectly Applied and Unreadable Barcode where possible; however, it may not be possible to supply images for all charged items. Please note that any item charged for Label Incorrectly Applied or Unreadable Barcode has undergone manual verification at a workstation within our Mail Centre, following its initial identification or rejection by our automation. Therefore, the accuracy of the charge is confirmed through these processes and images of individual mail items are not needed to validate the charges.?

Labelling requirements are fully detailed in our Welcome to our UK Parcel services user guide (March 2025) , which is a legally binding document forming part of the Agreement between you and Royal Mail.

Kind regards,
** REDACTED **
Royal Mail
Customer Experience
--- end of response --

Presume you'll have had similar

 

[Throwaway2]

Yep it's always the same reply.

What size are the 2D barcodes coming out on everyone's labels? Ours are coming out 23x23mm.

My Bespoke password still works and the current April 2025 specs say the size should be between 22x22 and 30.8x30.8mm and I just noticed the label guide they're sending out says the same. So ours are right at the bottom of the allowed spec.

But I don't know if I can safely make them bigger because we're already fitting perfectly on the Royal Mail supplied thermal labels. If we went any bigger we'd have to cut off the border. Maybe that's what they want. If only Royal Mail would actually advise instead of copy and pasting responses...

Has anyone currently got any return labels printed by posties or at the Post Office that they could measure?

 

[Throwaway2]

A possible lead.

The Bespoke specs say the 2D barcode should have a minimum 5mm quiet zone all around. The example labels in the specs are actually using a lot more than that and have both the 2D and 1D barcodes positioned differently than the labels returned by the Shipping API.

When I print the labels returned by the Shipping API at 100% scale then the quiet zone is only 5mm on the left and 4.75mm on the top. This is cutting it way too close.

So if this is the cause I can think of a few ideas:

- The quiet zone on the right of the 1D barcode is much bigger than required, so push the labels more to the right and hope that helps the 2D barcode a bit. Might lose the bottom of the return address on some labels.
- Scale up the labels a few % and not care about the edges or buy bigger thermal labels
- Write a print filter to move or enlarge the barcodes before the labels are printed. This isn't within the ability of most

 

[kevinHit]

We use Click & Drop API PDF labels - the labels are printed at full size at DPI of 203. This mean the Data Matrix barcode has 176dots it is 22mmx22mm. It also measure 22mm by 22mm but it is at the bottom of there range. We could not print large as data would fall of the label, we already occasional lose the line to the right of our return address post code when label in the roll is not quite in the right place.
It should be okay at that size as it is still 4 dots per module but I have noticed Royal Mail little labels that come back to us are 25mm by 25mm so I am going to ask them if they can increase the size.

 

[andybrussell]

We use Linnworks to generate our labels of which we have no control over the size or scaling.



They come out 22mm x 22mm which is the same size as the ones manually generated on the Royal Mail Click & Drop website.

I have noticed Post Office generated labels have larger barcodes so I will check the size of them when I get in tomorrow.

The difference between the Linnworks generated labels and the Click & Drop generated labels is the density of the modules. (Linnworks is 44 x 44 vs 32 x 32 Click & Drop)

Is the higher density barcode more susceptible to not being read?

With regards to the lack of pictures from the Parcel Sort Machines of “unreadable barcodes” I was told that it is not possible to obtain an image of an unreadable barcode as the fact it has been unread means it cannot be tied to an account. Only after it has been over labeled means it is tied to an account and so these are the only images they can supply.

Another point is the machines do not have 100% 1st time read accuracy (although it is very close) I have also been told that each item only gets 1 chance for a successful read before it is rejected for manual over labelling.

I am not a gambling man, but I bet if the camera can not read the barcode for what ever reason on the 1st attempt, if the item went round the belts for a 2nd attempt it would read on the 2nd time (unless the label is literally damage or barcode smudged)

This to me suggests that all the rejected items for unreadable barcodes are not being manually verified as being unreadable. Just simply over label and fed back into the machine with a surcharge applied.

This very process means that even if 100% of the items Royal Mail are processing every day have 100% perfect barcodes, there will always be a small % that are unjustly surcharged as unreadable.

 

[Throwaway2]

Can you imagine if it's a situation where the API, C&D, etc have all been designed to the minimum spec (22mm) while the machines were designed for 22-30mm with the expectation of most labels being somewhere in the middle (25-26mm).

If the mobile printers posties carry and Post Office counters are printing larger barcodes it would raise my suspicions further.

You do have some control over the scaling when you select the paper size when printing.

 

[kevinHit]

Burying the surcharge in the invoice is not acceptable.

When Royal Mail staff reprint a label it should be standard process that they:
1) take a good quality picture of the label (they have parcel details as they have to key to reprint the label) and associate it with that shipment.
2) notify the business customer of the surcharge in the standard way that surcharges are notified.

Without evidence of the bad pictures, if there is a genuine problem there is nothing that we can look at.
The stock/scripted answers they supply are also clearly written by people who do not understand how Data Matrix barcode work. Royal Mail should really be acknowledging that the issue could be at their side and raising with their supplier of the Parcel Sorting Machine (i.e. Solystic) but instead as per usual with Royal Mail, their starting point is blame the customer.

 

[andybrussell]

Just checked and the barcodes on Post Office labels are 26mm x 26mm