AIBU to ask why the new stamps of detachable barcodes if they don’t want you to detach them before sending?

[Blah1881]

I’m so pissed off because I’ve just sent money in a card to a relative using the new stamp which I bought at a supermarket. Nowhere on the stamp book packaging did it say ‘do not detach barcode) so I assumed it was something I should hang on to so I could track the letter. Now I learn that you have to keep the barcode on if the stamp is to be considered valid- aaargh! Why serrate the edge between the stamp and barcode if they don’t want you to detach it? Why no instructions on the bloody packaging?! Surely I am not alone in being caught out by this? AIBU?

It is a stupid design, unsurprisingly. Why are they perforated? Why do they refer to the QR codes as "barcodes" (a barcode is something different)? And what the hell is the Shaun the Sheep thing? Why can't I just buy a stamp? If it needs a QR code on it, fine: print one on the spamp itself. You don't have to add a pile of wank to the process of posting a letter. Use of Royal Mail is declining rapidly enough already, and this will speed it up.

Are they actually perforated then? I've just looked at the ones I've got (one book and a sheet of Christmas ones) and the perforations just seem to be printed on rather than cut.

I mean' obviously yours must be otherwise you couldn't have ripped them but mine don't seem to be 😂

You don't have to add a pile of wank to the process of posting a letter

what "pile of wank"? You peel the stamp off, you stick it on the envelope. Just like before. None of my barcodes split off when I peel the stamp off the backing.

No, they are not perforated, there's just a line between the stamp and barcode.

Not perforated.

I think, cynically, it's so people will get it wrong so they can charge the recipient penalty postage.

Poor show. The code should be an integral part of the stamp

They aren't perforated. You must have cut it. Haven't you seen the advertisements about them?

It's a daft design having a wavy line! I wonder why the barcode wasn't integrated into the stamp design.

www.royalmail.com/sending/barcoded-stamps

All the info here about swapping out old for new, if anyone is interested.

Mine are perforated. So pissed off with royal mail about making the other stamps invalid, some of them I only bought in August. Then they make it our responsibility to send them back, print out a form, calculate the value, they know a large percentage of people won't manage to do this and they will end up quids in.

I don't like how they're so big, my thank you cards are very small and I have to be careful where I write the address!

It would be so much easier if you could just swop them in a Post Office!

They've printed them with a bloody line that looks exactly like a perforation between the stamp and qr code. Stupid design.

Nowhere on the stamp book packaging did it say ‘do not detach barcode)

I honestly don’t understand why it would need to. It’s been in the news enough that barcoded stamps are now going to be a thing, how do you think it would work if the code isn’t attached to the stamp?

They're also a really ugly and clunky design.

You should never send money in a card that's just got a stamp on it. Always send it special delivery!

Agree...I used one the other day and was very confused. Went online to check how it's meant to be used and it as very vague as to what you're meant to do. I'm not impressed.

I honestly don’t understand why it would need to. It’s been in the news enough that barcoded stamps are now going to be a thing, how do you think it would work if the code isn’t attached to the stamp?

I got a book of the new stamps a couple of weeks ago with the barcodes. They do look perforated. I hadn't seen anything anywhere about the barcodes. Had no idea what they for so I didn't know if they went with the stamp or not. I don't watch the news, read the papers or listen to the radio regularly. The easiest and simplest solution would to be to put the info on the stamp booklet and not have the perforated line between the stamp and the code.

I realise from now on I need to keep checking the internet on a regular basis for all the latest stamp news though.

Do people really need instructions for how to use a stamp nowadays? How did we get to this stage?

My book is perforated and the barcode readily splits from the stamp.

Wow ..so rude.

It's actually not clear at all. Have you seen them?

The barcode is not attached to the stamp. This made me wonder why it's not attached? Is it meant to go somewhere else? Why is it like that?

I’ve had several books of barcode stamps and they have never been perforated.

The ones I got are perforated and it is baffling. Why, as it makes it very easy to take the barcode off even if it's already on a letter (these adhesive stamps peel off very easily)?

This

It's not perforated. It's a wiggly line so they keep the traditional "stamp" shape without people writing angry letters. The Christmas ones are also a wiggly line but a different looking wiggly line.

Where are you all buying perforated ones