Royal Mail's "pricing made easy"

You could be forgiven for letting out a large and long guffaw if you picked up a leaflet from the Post Office today entitled "pricing made easy". In the last few years Post Office management has done its level best to ensure that the pricing is anything but easy.

I run a small business and up to now I've always been aware when there was a price increase because the Royal Mail made a point of telling me and sending me the new tarrif. Not this time. I'm obviously not paying attention for today I only discovered the rise in postage prices when I went to the Post Office.

I'm visiting Post Office counters more and more these days because I'm finding it more and more difficult to know which category my post comes under. Let's face it, you now have to know not just the weight but also all the dimensions of your letters and check if they go through the little slot.

I was lucky because I received a little slot in the days when Royal Mail communicated regularly with me. I wonder how ordinary mortals, without little slots, cope? Well, actually I don't really wonder at all, because I see them in their droves queuing at the Post Office in order to send their one package.

The queue is longer of course, because wherever it can (under the dictates of Europe) Royal Mail has closed post offices, so people have to travel to find one that's still open.

For me, who stores stationery for years, there's an added trip in the system. I cannot assume that my larger envelopes will pass the tests and many of them have to be cut down and taped in order to make them the correct sizes.

So Adam Crozier, if you're reading this, just think about things from a user's point of view for a change.

Pricing made easy? - you've got to be joking!