As thousands trade in old stamps for ones with barcodes, angry customers report missing replacements, delays and jammed phone lines

The Royal Mail scheme to swap old stamps for new barcoded versions has descended into chaos, Money Mail can reveal.

In a major shake-up, Royal Mail is rolling out stamps with barcodes that can be tracked, making the postal service more secure.

As part of this, it has launched a stamp swap scheme where customers are being encouraged to send in their old stamps in return for new ones.

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New technology: In a major shake-up, Royal Mail is rolling out stamps with barcodes that can be tracked, making the postal service more secure

But Money Mail has heard from dozens of people who complain they have faced a catalogue of woes while attempting to use the trade-in service.

Customers complain of:

One reader, Anne, from Reading, Berkshire, says she sent off 500 second-class stamps worth £340 via special guaranteed delivery on November 1.

But she received just 11 barcoded stamps in return, which barely covered the cost of sending them to Royal Mail in the first place.

The 80-year-old had purchased the stamps earlier in the year for a charity she is involved with.

‘I’m very worried my 500 stamps were lost,’ Anne says.

She struggled to log a complaint with Royal Mail because its phone lines consistently have long waits. She also wrote a letter to Royal Mail, but has not had a response.

Two weeks ago, she finally got through on the phone, a month after her stamps went missing.

W hen Money Mail called the Royal Mail customer services phone number in early December, the average wait to speak to an adviser was 37 minutes; the longest was more than 40 minutes.

Our reporter had to go through four rounds of options before they were put on hold for generic customer enquiries because there is no dedicated line for stamp swaps.

And when we rang on Tuesday last week, we were told the line was so busy that our call could not be taken.

The company says it has more than trebled the number of staff working on the stamp swap scheme in the past few months.

A spokesman for Royal Mail says: ‘Applications are currently being processed within seven working days, and stamps are returned by first-class mail.

‘We apologise to any customers who may be having to wait longer than usual on our phone lines at this time.’

Santilal Parbhoo, a retired surgeon from North London, posted 168 stamps to Royal Mail as part of the swap scheme. The 85-year-old sent a mix of first and second-class, worth £94.06, on August 25.

But he has yet to receive any stamps in return — four months later. As advised by Royal Mail, he filled in its swap form and sent it in with his stamps.

He says he has struggled to contact Royal Mail because he cannot get through on the telephone. ‘It has been extremely difficult to let them know what’s happened,’ he says. ‘I tried looking for a way to contact Royal Mail online last week and again this week, and spent over half an hour going through the website with no success.’

Sue Currie was left dozens of stamps short after she tried to exchange them.

The 75-year-old retiree from Torquay, Devon, posted 277 stamps — 40 first-class and 237 second-class — worth £199.16 in total on October 22, with proof of postage.

But when she finally heard back on November 16, she discovered she had received 210 first-class stamps, leaving her 67 stamps short.

While the monetary value was roughly the same — £199.50 — Royal Mail pledges to swap stamps on a like-for-like basis, meaning you should receive back the same number of stamps you sent.

Sue contacted Royal Mail the next day, but had to wait another month before she received a reply.

‘I don’t need all these first-class stamps,’ she says.

‘Ultimately, I’m 67 stamps short, which is 67 fewer letters I can send.’

Royal Mail has now agreed to send her the remaining stamps — but, incredibly, it first asked her to post back the stamps it had already sent.

Sue adds: ‘This is no way to treat pensioners.

‘Around Christmas is a ridiculous time to decide to ask people to swap their stamps.

‘I had to send 50 cards with first-class stamps I didn’t need.’

Royal Mail says the ‘vast majority of applications for barcoded stamps are processed efficiently.’

It has investigated the cases above referred to them by Money Mail and says the stamps have now been posted out.

The process to swap stamps involves filling in a lengthy form and posting off the old-style stamps. The scheme has come under heavy criticism from customers and MPs.

Critics condemned the short window in which to use stamps — originally around ten months from when it was first announced in February.

The deadline was extended from January 31, 2023, to July 31, 2023, following a Mail campaign.

To add to the confusion, Royal Mail’s website still advises customers to use up or swap their stamps before January 31.

The company says the additional six months are a ‘grace period’ in which customers will not be charged extra if they use a non-barcoded stamp.

In November, we revealed that Royal Mail had mistakenly sent letters to almost 3,000 customers claiming it had not received any stamps with their swap form.

l.purkess@dailymail.co.uk