Royal Mail sends out stamp books instead of refunds

THE Royal Mail is sending customers stamp books instead of refunds, it has emerged, as delays with parcel deliveries continue.

Several customers have reported being sent letters along with stamp books after lodging complaints about missing or delayed parcels, with some customers being sent hundreds of pounds’ worth of stamps.

Royal Mail continues to face disruption to international deliveries following a cyber attack last month affecting its computer systems, with some customers reporting delays of up to a month for parcels sent overseas.

Mail deliveries are also likely to face further delays later this month as postal workers are set to strike over pay and conditions. Dan Harvey, from London, said he has had several experiences of being “refunded” with stamps for parcels that were never delivered to him.

He said the “worst issue” he encountered with Royal Mail was when he changed address and paid for redirect services. “They completely messed up the redirect, initially not setting it up at all, and then later messing up the address,” he said. He added that once he complained, all he received was a book of stamps and an extension to the failed redirect service. “They basically took a fair amount of my money and failed to provide the service paid for … then gave me a book of stamps as an ‘oops’ apology,” he said.

A Royal Mail spokesman said: “If customers are unable to provide us with proof of value or in cases where the item has no intrinsic value, we may send them books of stamps by way of compensation or as a good will gesture rather than the harsher alternative of offering them nothing.”

They added that customers can buy alternative Royal Mail services such as Special Delivery Guaranteed depending on the level of compensation they wish to receive.