Earlier this year, I decided to stock up on postage stamps before they went up in price, but found I had miscalculated what I needed and purchased far too many.
I made the purchases over a number of days using my credit card and hadn’t realised until later that I had spent more than £1,000 on the stamps.
I went back to the Post Office where I’d bought them and was told I could return any excess stamps if I produced the receipt.
When I tried to do this the next day, I was turned down. I asked to speak to the manager, but she was on holiday.
I returned a week later, and this time was told the Post Office did not have the facility to refund the bank card I had used to pay for the stamps.
I then phoned Post Office customer services, which passed me to a dedicated stamps team in Durham, which is part of Royal Mail. This team said it could not help as it was not connected to the Post Office.
I was simply told to go back to the Post Office. Please help.
J.W., Guildford, Surrey.
Sally Hamilton replies: One might say you have been passed from pillar (box) to post (office) in your effort to return your excess stamps. I faced a similar fate when trying to get an answer from the Post Office about why you were facing such a struggle to get your refund.
A spokesman told me, apologetically, that it was out of their hands and your case would need to be considered by Royal Mail, the issuer of the stamps.
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This seemed unusual to me, as in most cases when customers seek a refund for a purchase, it is the retailer — in this case, the Post Office — rather than the ‘manufacturer’ that is responsible for making any reimbursements.
But it seems Post Offices are an exception and cannot issue refunds for stamps, even if a valid receipt is produced.
This is apparently because staff cannot be certain that the returned stamps are the same ones that were originally purchased. I suppose they do all look the same. I was told that only Royal Mail can confirm whether a stamp is genuine, using its experts and specialist equipment to validate it.
I redirected my enquiries to the Royal Mail’s press office. Snail mail came to mind while I awaited its response. A couple of weeks passed, with me regularly pressing for an update. Can it really be such a rare occurrence for someone to want a refund on a purchase of stamps? I was told that Royal Mail’s executive office was investigating and would respond soon.
Meanwhile, you were becoming increasingly anxious about getting your refund, which you had calculated would be more than £500.
You told me you felt foolish for having forked out so much money for stamps you realistically would not get through, even though the rules mean that theoretically you could use them in perpetuity.
This went to plan, with you returning several sheets and books of stamps. You told me your refund of £526.80 was finally delivered by cheque — nine months after you had made the original purchase.
You told me you planned never to make such a big purchase again, even to beat a price rise.
However, in general it can be a first-class idea to stock up ahead of a price hike.
The last rise on October 2 (the second in this calendar year) saw the price of a standard first-class stamp rise by 15p to £1.25. First class large letters rose from £1.60 to £1.95 and second-class large letters from £1.15 to £1.55. Standard second-class stamps remained at 75p.
Anyone who stockpiled stamps in the years before the modern barcoded versions were introduced can no longer use them. But these can be switched for the new-style stamps using the Royal Mail’s ‘swap out’ scheme.
Either print out or pick up from a Post Office a swap out form, and send it, along with the stamps, to Freepost SWAP OUT.
The exception to the barcoded stamp rule are stamps purchased in previous years with illustrations on them, including Christmas stamps. I have a few of those that I plan to make use of in the next few days.