New stamps farce: Royal Mail ads still say use old ones by end of January

Royal Mail is still advising customers to use up their old stamps before January 31, despite extending the use period by six months.

It rolls out stamps with barcodes that can be tracked, making mail more secure.

As part of this, Royal Mail launched a scheme to exchange old stamps for new ones.

The deadline for using old stamps was extended from January 31, 2023 to July 31, 2023, following an email campaign.

But the Royal Mail website and social media advertisements still say the deadline is January 31st, causing great confusion.

Royal Mail says the extra six months are a ‘grace period’ during which customers will not be charged extra if they use a non-barcoded stamp and their mail is delivered as usual.

Yet last week, social media ads said, “After January 31, 2023, regular postage stamps without a barcode will no longer be valid.”

A Royal Mail spokesman says the deadline for bar codeless stamps remains 31 January 2023, but confirms customers will still be given the ‘grace period’.

Money Mail revealed last month how Royal Mail’s stamp exchange program had spiraled into chaos, with customers experiencing lengthy delays and receiving far fewer stamps than they had sent.

The process to exchange stamps involves filling out a long form and posting old style stamps.

The scheme has come under heavy criticism from customers and MPs.

In November, we revealed that Royal Mail had mistakenly sent letters to nearly 3,000 customers claiming they had not received stamps with their exchange form.

The new barcodes allow customers to track letters and parcels via Royal Mail’s mobile app and website. They also make stamps more difficult to counterfeit.

Stamps without a barcode will no longer be accepted from July 31, with the exception of Christmas and commemorative stamps.

l.purkess@dailymail.co.uk