As Britons begin their annual round of sending out Christmas cards, many will bristle at the £1.25 a first class stamp costs. But Royal Mail’s new German boss says it is a ‘bargain’ compared to Pret A Manger coffee, despite rapidly rising shipping costs and a dramatic drop in service.
Martin Seidenberg, who took over as head of Royal Mail’s parent company International Distributions Services this summer, said: ‘For £1.25, send a letter from Plymouth to Aberdeen overnight with a 24-hour service, think I personally think that’s a pretty good deal. bargain.
‘Compare it with when you buy a takeaway coffee at Pret. You pay more than €3 for it, drink it within 20 minutes and then it’s gone.’
But this was met with uproar from campaigners and consumer groups who said price rises had not led to better services.
It is unlikely that many of those who send letters and cards instead of e-cards – especially older people – visit Pret A Manger stores. But they have had to deal with rising stamp prices in recent years.
Sending a letter first class cost 36p 15 years ago and 70p in 2019. In the past 18 months, prices have risen three times, breaking the £1 barrier in April, from 95p to £1.10.
This is despite Royal Mail delivery delays, with many first-class letters not reaching recipients the next working day.
‘Charging people £1.25 for a first class stamp is far from a bargain. It is an outrageous price increase for a service that has noticeably deteriorated in recent years,” said consumer expert Martyn James.
Caroline Abrahams, charity director at Age UK, said older people could be left ‘dry and dry’ by rising shipping costs. receive cards.’
The setback comes as the 507-year-old institution is under increasing pressure to improve deliveries, with many consumers reporting late birthday cards and even letters for medical appointments.
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There is also lingering anger over the company’s botched introduction of barcoded stamps earlier this year, when a convoluted process and poorly publicized awareness campaign to get people to swap old ones for new ones left many households with useless stamps.
Others faced long delays and in some cases received fewer stamps than they sent to redeem.
Royal Mail has partly attributed rising stamp prices to its universal service obligation which requires the company to deliver letters six days a week. It has consistently urged regulator Ofcom and the government to scrap Saturday deliveries. Calls for reform were reignited last week when Royal Mail posted a half-year loss of almost £320 million.
A spokesperson for Pret A Manger responded that caffeine addicts can get up to five black coffees a day for around £1 on the chain’s £30-a-month subscription – ‘less than the price of a first class postage stamp’.