YOUR QUESTIONS ANSWERED
We put your questions about the Swap Out scheme to Royal Mail and recevied the following responses from David Gold, Royal Mail, Director of Public Affairs & Policy
Are the large ‘parcel' type Machins and the 1990 Machin with QEII & Victoria's portrait in the swap out scheme?
Yes, all definitive Machins are included in the scheme. Further information about stamps eligible for the Swap Out scheme can be found here: royalmail.com/barcodedstamps. All five values in the Penny Black Anniversary Stamps 1840-1990 issue are eligible for the Swap Out scheme.
Can I send single stamps or must they be in the stamp booklets of twelve stamps?
Customers can complete a standard Swap Out form for stamps worth up to the value of £200. Self-adhesive stamps must be attached to their original backing paper or book. Individual stamps that are not self-adhesive must be stuck to the Swap Out form within the box overleaf.
For applications of stamps in values of over £200 a Bulk Swap Out form must be used. Individual gummed stamps that are not self-adhesive should not be stuck to paper. They should be batched by the stamp value and colour in clear plastic bags of no more than fifty stamps per bag. Stamp numbers of less than fifty should be collated together in value order and placed in clear plastic bags.
If individual stamps can they be mixture of 1st/2nd/large stamps? Yes. The stamps can be a mixture of various values.
What happens if there is a dispute over the number of stamps? For example, I claim that I sent ten 1st class and five 2nd class and I receive back ten 2nd class and five 1st class?
If a customer has an issue with an application, there are contact details on the letter they receive with the outcome of their swap out request. If they haven’t been sent an outcome letter, they should contact our Customer Experience via usual contact details www. royalmail.com/contact or by phone on 03457 740740 – who will deal with each customer on an individual basis.
Will commemorative stamps be valid if they don't have a barcode? Commemorative stamps remain valid for postage.
Why are we not able to go to a post office to exchange the face value for the new stamps? We're not charged to exchange banknotes that go out of circulation and have several years to do that in.
We need to capture the details of what stamps are being received for swap out – this includes carrying out checks on the stamps and recording what stamps are being sent out. This activity isn’t something the Post Office is set up to do. There is no charge to our customers to swap their non-barcoded stamps for the new barcoded versions.
Will future special stamps feature a barcode too?
There are no plans to add barcodes to our Special Stamps.
With thanks to David Gold and Natasha Ayivor for their time and help.