Active discussions

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think stamp barcodes will reduce the number of poison-pen letters.

89 replies

thirdlaw · 15/01/2023 14:08

Royal Mail have introduced bar codes on their stamps. Each stamp is now uniquely identifiable. The barcodes don't contain any personal information, but it will presumably be possible to determine the location and time of purchase, assuming the retailer scans the barcode on the book of stamps when you buy it. Aibu to think this will make people think twice about sending poison pen letters, especially the ones that might be nasty enough to warrant police investigation?

I haven't seen this mentioned anywhere - Royal Mail just say they are to improve security, with no detail on what they mean by that.

OP posts:
Deadringer · 15/01/2023 17:01

Poison pen letters haven't impacted my life nearly as much as I thought they might. Ditto quicksand.

frenchnoodle · 15/01/2023 16:59

www.mumsnet.com/talk/_chat/4720710-anyone-work-for-royal-mail-the-post-office-i-have-a-stamp-question?reply=123108462

I've had it confirmed that you can no longer reuse stamps. The amount of people sent down for this postal fraud will surely reduce now.

RestingMurderousFace · 15/01/2023 16:59

HoldingTheDoor · 15/01/2023 14:14

How's the weather in St Mary Mead today?

😂

MrsTerryPratchett · 15/01/2023 16:56

<hides Exacto Knife, pile of magazines and bottle of rubber cement>

That's me buggered then.

Ericaequites · 15/01/2023 16:53

Poison pen letters would be better than catfishing on IM. The only catfish I tolerate are the bullheads in the pond.

bananaboats · 15/01/2023 16:52

Sorry op but this thread has really made me laugh 😂

saltinesandcoffeecups · 15/01/2023 16:18

I was just struck by the thought that poison pen letters are another victim of our collective impatience.

Years ago you would pen your nefarious missive and post it … and wait … and wait … and wait … after the appropriate amount of time you could gleefully sit back and know your job was done and you’d given your target the what for.

These days it’s all rush rush rush….

Crimeismymiddlename · 15/01/2023 15:53

Do you get a lot of poison pen letters op?! I thought it was so people did not reuse stamps.

IglesiasPiggl · 15/01/2023 15:52

The biggest reason for the demise of poison pen letters must surely be the decline in printed newspapers for the authors to cut out the letters from 😂

IHopeYouStepOnALegPiece · 15/01/2023 15:48

janeeyreair · 15/01/2023 14:24

It might help theft of stamps? I often see on FB those huge sheets of stamps selling at massively reduced cost.

I mean who buys more than a book of 12 at the very most?

Why are they stolen!?

DDad worked for Royal Mail so got 290 each Christmas and I don’t remember ever having to buy a stamp in my entire life, he retired 3y ago and still has about 800+. If he used Facebook he would absolutely have sold some on!

SpongeBobJudgeyPants · 15/01/2023 15:40

And yet you were bored enough to answer! Grin

SmudgeButt · 15/01/2023 15:31

frenchnoodle · 15/01/2023 14:50

Why wouldn't each one have an identification number?

What would be the point of doing the code on everystamp otherwise?

Show quote history

I just assumed it would be like tins of soup at the supermarket. One barcode for all the cream of mushroom ones, not one for each single tin of CoM.

Bamboozle123 · 15/01/2023 15:31

Surely poison pen letters died out 25 years ago? This cannot be a problem is 2023.

Even so, you'd just purchase the stamps when you were the other end of the country on business or holiday, if you were that committed to it.

Teaandtoast3 · 15/01/2023 15:28

I doubt it. Where there’s a will, there will
be a way and all that. If someone really wants to send one. They will.

IDontCareMatthew · 15/01/2023 15:19

Bloody hell....clutching at straws here op! Are you bored?

WhiteFire · 15/01/2023 15:15

If I was to send a poison pen letter I would just not bother putting a stamp on, then they can have the letter and pay for the privilege, without costing me anything.

Fulmar · 15/01/2023 15:12

In any case, not all stamps will have barcodes, special issues (with pictures celebrating particular people, events etc.) will not have barcodes. So the butler's niece's ex-husband's estranged mother's secret lover's gardener just needs to stock up on those.

HolyZarquonsSingingSeals · 15/01/2023 15:05

Why would anyone bother sending a poison pen letter when they have the whole internet to play with? But if I ever decide to send one, I'll be sure to steal someone else's stamp

Mummymidwife33 · 15/01/2023 14:58

I actually received poison pen letters over the past 3 years!
After they became increasingly worse and started making threats towards me and my children I reported them to the police. They spoke with the person we suspected was sending them and surprise surprise they stopped!

I might be in the minority but they definitely still exist!

Noonesperfect · 15/01/2023 14:55

FOJN · 15/01/2023 14:26

He can they trace you if you pay cash for the stamps? You could buy the stamps and wait a few months to use them, CCTV at the place they were sold will probably no longer be available by the time the police trace where the stamp was purchased from.

Is this what you do when you write your nasty letters? 🤣🤣🤣. You seem to have is all sussed.

PolkadotsAndMoonbeams · 15/01/2023 14:55

janeeyreair · 15/01/2023 14:24

It might help theft of stamps? I often see on FB those huge sheets of stamps selling at massively reduced cost.

I mean who buys more than a book of 12 at the very most?

You can't even buy books of twelve now, the new stamps are bigger so you only get eight.

TroysMammy · 15/01/2023 14:53

At nearly £1 for a first class stamp I doubt if someone with an axe to grind would waste their time and money on buying a stamp, unless they were truly deranged.

Theunamedcat · 15/01/2023 14:52

Actually my ex was "victim" to a poison pen letter a couple of years ago they sent a letter to his girlfriend place of work detailing all his arrests they were unimpressed by her choice of partner

frenchnoodle · 15/01/2023 14:51

Cookerhood · 15/01/2023 14:49

news.sky.com/story/royal-mail-adds-barcodes-to-stamps-allowing-people-to-watch-videos-or-see-messages-from-senders-12530063
It's not to stop people from using them twice

But you'll agree stopping reuse is a possible bonus?

Lordofthebutterfloofs · 15/01/2023 14:51

Do you get a lot of poison pen letters op? Maybe it's you