Is Royal Mail Another Business That Is Making It Difficult For Customers To Buy From Them

From Monday the 21st of August 2006, Royal Mail changed the rates for the postage of letters.

Previously, the cost of postage depended purely on the weight of the letter. But now it has been decided that the price should depend on the size of the letter as well as the weight of the letter.

This means that a single sheet of paper sent in a small envelope would cost just 30p for first class postage. Whilst the same sheet of paper sent in an A4 envelope would cost 42p.

I've always believed that the business should make a profit. And also that businesses should have the right to determine their own pricing. But I really can't believe that this one has been thought through properly.

Our first concern in the office on the morning of Monday 21st August was trying to understand the new system and making certain that our letters were going out with the correct rate of postage. The new system is undoubtedly more complex and has caused us plenty of confusion.

But what really baffles me is that the new system is so easy to manipulate. Instead of sending out documents in an A4 envelope, they can simply be folded in half and put into a smaller envelope which qualifies for the lower rate of postage. A saving of 12p per letter! You have to make certain that the letter does not exceed a certain thickness but most business post would quite easily meet this criteria.

Even more bizarre, you could put your letter into the same large envelope and then simply fold the envelope in half in order to qualify for the lower rate of postage! How nuts is that? And even more bizarre (as if that is possible!) this is exactly the advice being given across the counter at the post office!

When you add to all of this confusion to the cost that must've been incurred by notifying every single address within the United Kingdom of the new system (including templates to help users gauge the size of a letter) and the new charge rates, has this really been a successful initiative?

I very rarely criticise a business by name. And I hope that my comments will be taken constructively. But I really do feel that Royal Mail have shot themselves in the foot and have lost a huge amount of consumer confidence. Maybe I will be proved wrong. I hope so.

What do you think?

And I beg you, please take a look at your own systems and make certain that it is easy for customers to buy from you. This is one area in which we cannot afford to make mistakes.

If customers are put off buying from us at the first hurdle we will very rarely get a second opportunity. You may have lost the customer without even knowing that you had them in the first place!

Derek Williams is creator of The WOW! Awards™ an International Professional Speaker and Chief Executive for the Society of Consumer Affairs Professionals in Europe.