Postal Charges

[John Brown]

Our local Post Office now has a machine to issue stamps etc. rather than at the counter.

I asked at the counter for 10 stamps for the UK and was directed back to the machine.

I've post that needs stamps up to 100g so can I use several of the vouchers /stamps that the machine issued or do I need to take the letter into the PO to weight it and have a single stamp issued.

I'm not bothered about the extra cost of using several stamps because I've just spent ages getting a recorded delivery letter sent and don't want to go back into town if I can help it

JB

[Hereford]

Our nearest main La poste had a machine for stamps etc. It weighed the letter or parcel and asked where it was going you could then buy one "stamp" for that letter.  Or you could ask the machine for "stamps" of a specific value.  I say "stamp" - in fact you get a printed sticky label or labels. You could buy books of French basic stamps too from the machine. Sadly our machine has been removed - don't know why.  It was wonderful for by-passing the queue.

The machine has a screen and takes cards or cash., or at least ours did. Have a look at yours.

[John Brown]

Thanks Hereford

Yes thats the machine!

I've got 10 sticky labels each with a value of 0.83 euro but can I use multiple labels on the same envelope to cover the cost of the extra weight?

[mint]

I have used extra stamps in the past and have never had a problem.  But I can't remember when I last sent anything outside of France that weighed more than the standard 100G

[Hereford]

I am sure you can use as many labels as you like to cover the weight, but if it is not a silly question why did you not weigh the item first and get the right stamp!!  Perhaps you did not have it with you...

Any way we hope you keep your machine - I am sure ours was taken away as the staff thought they would be done out of a job.

[John Brown]

Thanks for the help.

I didn't have the letter with me at the time but I knew I needed stamps anyway so I got 10

The main reason I went was to post off a recorded delivery letter

The Staff, so far, like the machine but time will tell

John

 

[The Riff-Raff Element]

La Poste decided to shut down our village post office, so the commune took it over.

The shut down was a slight mystery since La Poste admitted that the office made money. Now I imagine that they're making even more from it: they give the commune €1200 per month and furnish all the equipment. They also get to keep the revenue.

The commune employs someone to work six mornings per week, but her expense plus the running costs for the building (which belonged to the commune anyway) amount €2000 per month, costs which were previously for the account of La Poste. So the commune is subsidising to the tune of €800 per month, or about one prioritaire stamp for every man, woman & child in the village.

I think it's worth it, because it does mean that someone who needed a job has got one and we still have a post office (a lot of people here use the banque postale, particularly the elderly). The alternative is driving to another office elsewhere, and even a few trips per month would quickly eclipse the cost of the additional stamp, as it were, but it still grates a little.

Is it just here or is post taking an inordinately long time to travel at the moment everywhere? A lettre verte that arrived yesterday took six working days to make its way from our nearest town; one from the Ile de France (prioritaire) took four days. Our postman was tight-lipped on the affair and quickly changed the subject to the matter of his van being half filled with water as he has valiantly struggled through the floods to deliver to outlying houses.