PEOPLE IN ARGYLL AND BUTE OVERCHARGED FOR POSTING LETTERS

[Kintyre Forum News]

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PEOPLE IN ARGYLL AND BUTE OVERCHARGED FOR POSTING LETTERS

Argyll and Bute Council's Trading Standards team have found that people are being overcharged by some local post offices for posting letters and parcels.

Following a series of checks at post offices last month to ensure that people are being charged the correct price for letters and parcels taken there for posting, Trading Standards officers found that people in Argyll and Bute were being overcharged by a substantial 81.1% for a large letter posted. The cost should have been 90p but was actually charged at £1.63.

As of 2006, all letters taken to Post Offices are now priced according to both size and weight. All post offices should have a size template to enable consumers and counter staff to place items into a particular price group according to size prior to being weighed.

Trading Standards officers used letters and packets of various sizes and weights which were then posted at different post offices as part of a Scotland wide check.

Every item posted had previously been carefully weighed and measured by officers prior to posting to ensure they would fall within a particular price band for first class mail. A total of 125 letters and packets posted by officers at 120 Post Offices in fourteen local authority areas across Scotland resulted in overcharges at 30% of the post offices visited, the largest being in Argyll and Bute.

The actual price charged for posting the 125 items was £149.32. The correct price should have been £132.96 meaning there was an average overcharge per item of 12%.

A spokesperson for Argyll and Bute Council said: "We recognise that the charges are on a fixed scale so that incorrect calculations will cause the price to jump into the next higher price bracket. Nevertheless, these are the prices the public would be charged in everyday situations.

“I’m sure most people would view these figures as unacceptable. Post offices are a valuable asset to their communities and people need to have confidence that they will not be overcharged when posting their items. The crucial factor in these failures appears to be the fact that many of the staff in post offices are not measuring letters or packets prior to charging customers.

"The inaccuracies we have detected tie in with the items being placed in higher, incorrect price bands. It was very obvious during the checks that many of the counter staff were using their personal judgment to size the letters rather than actually measuring them. Anyone who is sending items through the post should ensure that the items are measured and weighed to calculate the correct price."

"Trading Standards officers enforce many pieces of legislation designed to protect people from incorrect pricing, weighing or measuring and strive to ensure that people throughout Scotland are getting the value and services they deserve. A decision on whether formal enforcement action is required will be taken once we have met with the Post Office. We will also be seeking assurances that immediate steps will be taken to remedy this."