Why won't the post office sell me a 70 cents stamp?

Brendan Burgess

Founder
Messages
54,823
I went into the Frascati Post Office yesterday afternoon to buy a stamp. I like to buy ten at a time as I hate going to the Post Office with their queues and often surly staff.

I asked how much a stamp was and she said 68 cents. I asked if there was a price increase due and she said that they were going up to 70 cents on 1 July.

So I, thought "Damn the expense" and asked for ten 70 cents stamps. The time saved queuing is well worth the extra 20 cents. The fun began.

"We are not allowed to sell them until the 1 July"
"I don't want the new stamp, I just want any 70 cents stamps"
"Sorry, we can only sell you 68 cents stamps"
"Ok, can I have ten 68 cents stamps and ten 2 cent stamps"
"No, we are not allowed sell you 2 cents stamps before the 1st July"
"OK, can I have twenty 35 cents stamps please"
"What do you want them for?"
"I want them for my stock"
"No you can't have them"

So I ended up buying ten 68 cents stamps.

I went down the road to Ballsbridge Post Office. Locked my bike. Queued up again and asked for eight 2 cents stamps. (I had used up two of the 68 cents stamps.) "Certainly Sir. Here you are."

There might be a good reason for this, but damned if I can think what it might be.
 
Hi Eeyore

That is very interesting - I was not aware of this:

...it is possible to get inflation-proofed stamps, marked with the letter N, for internal Irish mail but unfortunately these are poorly advertised and rarely available from other than principal post offices.

But I was actually trying to do the opposite. I was offering to buy 70 cents stamps today and use them before the 1 July which would make 2 cents per stamp super-profit for the Post Office.

Brendan
 
In all fairness, I doubt 68p stamps on letters after the 1st of July would not be delivered as long as you weren't sendiong the letters next Christmas. The postal worker probably is banned and using the pin !
 
elcato said:
In all fairness, I doubt 68p stamps on letters after the 1st of July would not be delivered as long as you weren't sendiong the letters next Christmas. The postal worker probably is banned and using the pin !
Click to expand...
Dare I say i feel a wee bit sorry for the lady in the Post Office!
 
Brendan Burgess said:
"OK, can I have twenty 35 cents stamps please"
"What do you want them for?"
"I want them for my stock"
"No you can't have them"


There might be a good reason for this, but damned if I can think what it might be.
Click to expand...

For whatever reason that jobsworth was not going to be bested by your logic is what it looks like to me. That kind of stuff drives me mad. I've learnt though to hide it with civil servants and confuse them by acting so thick they give up. Another tactic I have, it depends on the mood you see, is I try charm.

(what does Frascati mean, is that a place)
 
It is a bit early to be looking for a 70c stamp. It wouldn't have killed her to give you 2c stamps.

When she asked you what you possibly wanted 35c stamps for, you could also have said you wanted to stick them somewhere. All stamps are stuck somewhere. How did she land a customer facing role?

Most PO's have stamp vending machines on the wall inside where you can buy booklets without queuing to see a surly human.

Most stationery suppliers deliver postage stamps, which is handy if when you are doing a stationery order, you might as well order a box of stamps.

When they went up last from 60c to 68c, I had a box of 60c stamps, so for long time I had to fix an 8c and a 60c stamp on all my personal letters. It was a pain.
 
STEINER said:
When they went up last from 60c to 68c, I had a box of 60c stamps, so for long time I had to fix an 8c and a 60c stamp on all my personal letters. It was a pain.
Click to expand...

That's what I was trying avoid. I probably use about 10 stamps a year.
 
I did exactly the same as Brendan at 10am today but in Pearse St - same conversation - can I have 10 x 70c? - they're not needed until July - I wont be using them til July

... but she printed 10 x 70c stamps! a little bigger than the usual ones, but perfect for 'my stock'

Maybe Frascati dont have the printer - but saying that would make more sense than just saying no!
 
In the old days the Post Office could only sell you specific pre-printed specific denomination stamps. However, these days most, if not all, Post Offices use a stamp printing machine. This allows them to print any number of stamps of any denomination. It is more convenient for them than having to sift through their book and tear out different stamps.

This is further evidenced by the fact that if you bring in a large parcel to be posted to an international destination they will weight it, tell you how much it costs to post and then print out a single stamp and put it on for you. They don't start pulling out several separate stamps to make up the correct total and start sticking them on for you.

You should be able to buy the following pre-printed stamps

1,2,3,4,5,8,10,15,20,25,50,65,68,90,95
and 1.00,1.20,2.00,5.00,10.00

However the machine can print any number of stamps of any denomination using a set of standard generic pictures. The machine won't print specific commemorative stamps with special images, they still have to be bought from a sheet.

It sounds like you just got a staff member who doesn't know their own job.
 
I agree with the last sentiment - there are still public servants who have no idea that providing a public service is their main job, not to be obstructive, dismissive, surly, lazy..... I'm actually not biased, I was one, that's why I know!
 
Eithneangela said:
I agree with the last sentiment - there are still public servants who have no idea that providing a public service is their main job, not to be obstructive, dismissive, surly, lazy..... I'm actually not biased, I was one, that's why I know!
Click to expand...

These rants would be more effective if people working for An Post were actually public servants and if the person in the average sub post office even worked for An Post at all. Note that when the OP went to a real post office they were served without any problem.
 
Eithneangela said:
I agree with the last sentiment - there are still public servants who have no idea that providing a public service is their main job, not to be obstructive, dismissive, surly, lazy..... I'm actually not biased, I was one, that's why I know!
Click to expand...

The woman in Frascati was not dismissive, surly or lazy. I hope that my post did not give this impression. I had never been in that post office before, and my comments about surly staff referred to a general experience I have had.

She had a clear instruction not to sell 70cent stamps before the 1st July. She was only following orders.
 
I had the experience of being not being able to buy x10 of current value because postage was due to go up in followng week or so. I post abroad a fair bit so am inclined to grab any decent looking commemorative issue stamps regardless of value. I would have been quite happy to add a small value stamp later to make up the difference when the price rose.
 
It's not legal to sell new value stamps until the commencement order is signed in - which won't happen until next week. It is an explicit requirement however that 'make up' stamps should be offered.

However there are two loopholes - one is there is a short grace period for people to use up any old stamps they may have with them

Plus if you have an urgent need for stamps buy ones with 'N' on them which stand for national and are valid for any value you post but at the price you paid for them. I bought a couple of hundred yesterday for a friend's mailshot - saved a tenner! She won't be sending them until after the increase, but I paid the lower price.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Menu
Log in
Register