Royal Mail make ‘bizarre’ decision to send stamp books as compensation for lost parcels

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 that affected 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, told The Telegraph 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.

Mr Harvey 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.

‘Stamps that I don’t use’

One business owner said Royal Mail had refunded her with £300 in “useless” stamps as reimbursement for “missing post”.

“Absolutely fuming,” she wrote on Twitter. “I have over 100 claims I have to put through for missing post due to the strikes. Just received my first claims back & it’s stamps. I have had to refund over £300 to customers & you are giving me stamps that I don’t use.”

Another customer, from Folkestone, also described her partner’s “bizarre” encounter with receiving stamps. She wrote on Twitter: “My partner sold a Pokémon card on eBay and posted it through Royal Mail.

“The buyer says he never received it so [my] partner applies for a refund on the postage. They received their refund on the postage from RM in the form of a book of stamps.”

A Royal Mail spokesman said: “In rare cases where items have gone missing or have been damaged, we always look to do the best by our customers when they use our First and Second Class services.

“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.