Royal Mail customers livid as different Post Office charges for parcel drop-offs ‘make no sense’

Royal Mail customers are furious after discovering they are charged different Post Office prices to send a package depending on where they are sending the parcel and package from

Royal Mail patrons are up in arms after being hit with varying charges for parcel deliveries, depending on their dispatch point. The postal service has been called out by confused customers who’ve noticed they’re paying different rates for seemingly the same service.

The controversy sparked when it emerged that sending a parcel from a Post Office could cost more than having it collected from home or dropping it at a Royal Mail Delivery Office or post box. One perplexed customer took to Twitter, to vent: “Why is it you will send a van to my house to collect a parcel for free, but charge me 20p to drop it off at a Post Office? This makes no sense.”

Another customer was equally baffled, saying: “Are your prices set up correctly online? It charges me an extra 20p for myself to drop a parcel off at the post office? “But free if I post in a post box or free if you collect it? It seems a bit backwards to me?”

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A third customer was irked by the small, yet irritating charge, reports Birmingham Live. They said: “Granted, I know it’s only 20p extra and I can’t even buy a toe on a Freddo for that these days, but still! Paying for postage online at £4.19 and then taking the parcel to the post office yourself shouldn’t then incur a further fee for making the trip there yourself…”

In response to the uproar, Royal Mail has stated: “We offer customers a wide range of services for dropping off parcels. This includes our own channels like Parcel Collect, Parcel Postboxes and Customer Service Points which are free services, and third party channels. The 20p covers the cost for a third party handling the item.”

“When a customer drops off the parcel at the Post Office they are greeted by a friendly and knowledgeable Postmaster who will keep their package secure until it is collected [in this instance by Royal Mail] for onward delivery.

“Postmasters are pillars of their community as I’m sure you would agree they should and must be remunerated for handling packages. Furthermore, a Postmaster running their branch means that a person can drop off their parcel or parcels for collection at their convenience and get on with the rest of their day, rather than waiting for Royal Mail to come and collect it (and may be running late, and therefore a person has to stay at home longer in order to wait for their parcel to be collected).

“And lastly, Postmasters are experts when it comes to the packaging and sending of parcels. So they can provide free advice face to face to a customer asking if they have considered using one of our other delivery partners in future DPD or Evri which may end up being cheaper or better suited than Royal Mail.

“And so the individual receives expert advice about different delivery services that are available to them which will help them make savings when it comes to sending parcels. All of this can be done at your local Post Office.”