What to expect when posting Paypal Postage Items at a Post Office

Before you go to the Post Office- Your responsibilities and things that will make it easier for you..

• If you have any Special Delivery, Airsure, International Signed For or Recorded Signed For items if possible affix the appropriate tracking labels to your items. If you don’t have any labels that make sure you keep all similar items together.
• If you are posting identical items or items that you know are in the same weight band (e.g. 100g-250g) and are being sent by the same service , then again keep them together as it will save time later.

As part of the Paypal postage service you may have printed out some ‘Certificates of Posting’- It is up to you if you wish to print/use these or you may prefer the Horizon generated CoPs.. They have exactly the same validity in terms of entitlement to compensation etc.

When you get to the Post Office

What SHOULD happen:-

You should inform the Clerk that you wish to post the items and you have prepaid the items with Online Postage.

Inform the clerk that you wish to use the Paypal generated CoPs or you wish to have Horizon generated ones.

Tell the Clerk exactly what you have  -prior to placing them on the scales  

E.g. “ I have 3 first class inland  items that are in the same weight band ”

Or “ I have bar-coded all the items and they are all 2nd Class etc”

Do not expect the Clerk to know what you have - you will make it easier for them if you identify items that are the same etc.
The Clerk should process the items (They can accept all the non-barcoded  “same” items at once one the weight has been verified) through the Horizon system and generate CoPs as appropriate .All items that are processed together will have one Horizon CoP- bear that in mind when specifying your CoP preference as above.
 

• Any Recorded Signed For items that require a CoP no longer  require you to complete the bottom portion of the Orange CoP- But each item MUST be scanned through the Horizon system. You will be able to see the fact that you have posted the item online as well as the 'delivery' track.
• You may use the dowloadable Certicate Of Posting  to use if you wish (available at http://www.royalmail.com/certificateofposting)- items presented using this form or similar or posting book allows the clerk to use a 'bulk acceptance' mode and bypass cetain screens allowing for a quicker accptance method and remove the address validation requirement. 
• Do make sure that any Recorded Signed-For items have barcodes affixed or you would have paid 75p for nothing as the items cannot be tracked without a barcode.
• Any Special Delivery./International Signed For or Airsure items will need a barcode also but the Clerk will enter in the address and produce a Horizon CoP for those-you don’t need to complete any paperwork-just make sure that the clerk applies the barcode.

Any items that only show the weight on the label and  are showing an incorrect weight (ie under the weight measured on the scales ) should be identified by the Clerk and you should be given the opportunity to take them home and  be relabelled. If you do not want to do this they should be accepted and you should be advised that they could be surcharged at the recipients end.

Items that show the postage paid on the label and are identified as underpaid should have labels or stamps applied to make up any shortfall.

What SHOULD NOT happen:-

•    The Clerk should NOT just stamp your CoPs and accept your mail without processing them through their Horizon system.
•    The Clerk should NOT put any additional Postage Labels on your items (Unless underpaid)
•    The Clerk should NOT ask you to stand aside whilst other customers are served (Unless you have not fully completed your paperwork)
•    The Clerk should not make any comments along the lines of “ We don’t get paid for accepting these items”  
•    You should NOT post any items in mail sacks on the customer side of the counter.

Please note:- The above does not apply if posting at a Royal Mail Callers Office Etc.

The above is my own personal opinion.