Dad's Army pricing error: another PO/RM foul-up

Once again, miscommunication between Royal Mail Stamps and their retail partner Post Office Ltd has left collectors either confused or overcharged.

As was the case with the New Tariff definitives, these two professional organisations have managed to mess-up the pricing of the Dad's Army Generic Sheet.

Apparently somebody has confused this with other more expensive sheets and decided to retail it at £13.90 instead of the correct price of only £7.50.

According to the person who reported this:

I was purchasing the new Dad’s Army Generic Sheet at the Post Office. What a surprise awaited instead of £7.50 I was told it was £13.90 and I could either take it of leave it. The Post Office told me that was the price set by Royal Mail and that was the price they had to sell it for.

Royal Mail confirmed the price should be £7.50, but the Post Office wouldn’t budge. The cashier was very reluctant to call the manager. When he did appear he had the same outlook, that’s what Royal Mail had priced it at.  Grudgingly he phoned someone in the Post Office, complaining about customers complaining to him about the price. Apparently there is to be a meeting about the debacle. No time frame given.

It isn't rocket science.  Royal Mail have had this £7.50 price in their publicity material and on their website for months.  How can one of the team that communicates with Post Office get this so wrong?

I hope we will get a much quicker resolution than before, and that the PO HQ team will quickly get the Horizon pricing system corrected, and allow customers to get a refund from any post office that sold the sheets.  Last time it was over 2 weeks before they relented.

UPDATED 3 July - message from Post Office Ltd.

We were incorrectly advised initially by Royal Mail which is being looked into. 

If you or anyone else has been overcharged we now have an agreed process. You can send your receipts to: Royal Mail, Stamps and Collectibles Business Enquiries, PO Box 1373, SUNDERLAND, SR5 9PG Please include a note with the receipt stating ‘Dad’s Army stamps overcharge’ and also include your name and address. 

Alternatively you can send an e-mail to business.enquiries@royalmail.com with a scan of the receipt. Please can the title of the e-mail be ‘Dad’s Army stamps overcharge’ and can include your name and address details in the text of the e-mail.

UPDATED 24 July - via reader TJ from Royal Mail:

I do apologise for the inconvenience this may have caused you, unfortunately we are not offering refunds for this. We can offer you 2 x of 12 x 1st Class stamps book free of charge, which would normally cost £8.04 each.

Well, £16.08 refund for a £12.80 overcharge (2 sheets) is quite generous, but considering the battle some people had..... maybe not that generous.  This is something that should never have happened.  And as with fines on utility companies, they will still make the customer pay eventually, in the next products.

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