Royal Mail's mad postal system - what happens if you send a bag of sand?

[jonathanjohnson100]

Letter.
Large Letter.
Small Packet.
Large Packet.
= grubby greedy Royal Mail filling their pockets with profit.

I know it's been around for many years now and we have accepted this mad system.

It's a flawed system. It's a dumb system.

Imagine an envelope with a bag of sand.
Lie it down and spread out - it's a letter.
Give it a small shake. It's now a Large Letter.
Get on a trampoline and jump up and down (or give it royal mail to put through their system) and now it's a packet.

Are there any other mad mailing systems around the world like this?
Or are we the only people to suffer?

I post trousers. When I send, I lie down flat carefully. When I post it, it's a Large Letter.
Simply bend it in half or shake and it's suddenly a flipping packet. ?
I found out today that I am being charged extortionate amounts for 'wrong' postage.
I'm trying to find out how much exactly I was over charged.

 

[Solve My Problem]

There is a clear shift at price rises via stealth. Another post yesterday highlighted them dropping the banding between 1kg & 2kg

Maybe cardboard front and back and tape it to stop them from bunching up?

 

[alan1302]

Are there any other mad mailing systems around the world like this?
Or are we the only people to suffer?

If you change the system some people will find it worse and others better...what system would you have?

 

[SolomonD]

Yes the carboard works well and saves a fortune

There is a clear shift at price rises via stealth. Another post yesterday highlighted them dropping the banding between 1kg & 2kg

Maybe cardboard front and back and tape it to stop them from bunching up?

 

[Deleted member 335660]

Well the Spanish post office are a little bit better.

A letter is defined as not exceeding 5mm thickness and 20g weight for basic cost.

It then goes on weight up too 2 kg and maximum LWH of 90cm Standard service.

Beyond that it’s a parcel.

 

[Chris Ashdown]

Buy a food vacuum machine about £40 and use that to suck the air out so you have a thin vacuum sealed package

 

[Solve My Problem]

If you change the system some people will find it worse and others better...what system would you have?

The whole system was designed with profit, they knew what they were doing with the dimensions etc..

I had a meeting with a representative years ago, he sat and laughed at how they had screwed everyone over with birthday and Christmas cards sizes by using the large letter threshold.

No compensation for lost items, no one taking responsibility for anything, a system designed to to offer the lowest of expectations. The 2nd class items were purposely kept back to delay them.

They have never been competitive on anything other than a letter, we used to pay DPD less for 20kg than Royal Mail charged for a 2kg parcel. DPD had to send a driver to a specific address, Royal Mail were going there every day, so they had a cost advantage.

Their system should now be based upon weight and only weight.

 

[jonathanjohnson100]

@Solve My Problem You hit the nail on the head - JUST base on weight and ONLY weight.
@Trevor Andrews I didn't know the Spanish were half as mad as our system?

One big problem: those posting from outside into UK don't have the same 'sizing' - I think I'm right in saying.
They can post direct from China and have in the UK in 4-7 days.

Ultimately, it's all about greed on the part of Royal Mail. ?

 

[DontAsk]

The whole system was designed with profit, they knew what they were doing with the dimensions etc..

Is you business not structured to make a profit?

No compensation for lost items,

I have had compensation.

They have never been competitive on anything other than a letter, we used to pay DPD less for 20kg than Royal Mail charged for a 2kg parcel.

So go back to DPD and calm down.

DPD had to send a driver to a specific address, Royal Mail were going there every day, so they had a cost advantage.

Not with 20Kg. That would be a special trip in a van.

 

[alan1302]

The whole system was designed with profit, they knew what they were doing with the dimensions etc..

Who would have thought the Royal Mail would have designed their pricing around making a profit? Just mad!

 

[alan1302]

Ultimately, it's all about greed on the part of Royal Mail. ?

Should the be more charitable and make less money? How would that help their business?

 

[JEREMY HAWKE]

If the sand is all bunched up in one place it makes the widest point bigger than an envelope !

 

[Karimbo]

well the done thing for the longest time has been to squash it down to large letter size. ebay sellers have been coming up with inventive ways to get items into large letter format for ages now.

a small bag of sand could fit large letter using vaccum sealing.

if you have 2 plates 22mm apart put a bag in there, fill it with sand and then vaccum seal the bag. the bag of sand will retain it's thickness, pull the vaccum sealed bag out and it should be hard as a brick and retain the same form.

 

[jonathanjohnson100]

I honestly can't believe I'm reading some of these replies?
This world we live in doesn't have to be dog eat dog. This is what you guys are saying.

Royal mail must make a profit.
Is anyone saying they shouldn't?

All I want is a fair and logical system.

Making profit by creating a crazy unfair system doesn't make sense.

 

[japancool]

Which bit of it is unfair?

They've told you the exact dimensions of the large letter format. It's up to you to ensure your packages fit that dimension. Not when you pack it, but during transit. If it's squished so hard that it expands and no longer fits, that's your problem, not theirs.

Put it in a cardboard box or something.

 

[JEREMY HAWKE]

I honestly can't believe I'm reading some of these replies?
This world we live in doesn't have to be dog eat dog. This is what you guys are saying.

Royal mail must make a profit.
Is anyone saying they shouldn't?

All I want is a fair and logical system.

Making profit by creating a crazy unfair system doesn't make sense.

This has been the general attitude since the birth of the Internet! Companies just assume that freight is going to be moved for free because they themselves are in a race to the bottom and don't make a profit.Drive Nissan Micras and go on holiday to Butlins ?

 

[LHow]

The Large Letter size fits through a standard sized letter box & therefore if the person is not at home the postman does not have to return to redeliver it, unlike a Small Parcel, so it cheaper for Royal Mail to make the delivery & better for the customer. We save a lot on postage by ensuring as many packages as possible are shipped as Large Letters & have specifically purchased boxes at this sizing for some items. I agree some pricing is crazy - sometimes it is around £4 cheaper for us to ship 2 items as 2 individual Large Letters instead of one Small Parcel to the US, but that's the way it is. I vote for keeping Large Letters!

 

[MBE2017]

At least the PO treat their staff much better than most, you have strong Unions to thank for that, but personally I think the whole postal system is exceptional value for money.

I know the infrastructure they require, the staff etc having done the odd contract for them. The pricing mainly reflects the universal cost and standard of service, the busier destinations help subsidise the small quite villages, outer islands etc.

Be glad you have it, no one else would do it better IMO.

 

[japancool]

At least the PO treat their staff much better than most

Unless you're a subpostmaster.