Letter without a stamp... help please!

Sorry if this is in the wrong forum, I didn't know where to put it...

I am a secretary and yesterday I posted a really important letter for my boss. It just hit me about ten minutes ago that I forgot to put a stamp on it. What will happen to it?

It's a really important letter - if it isn't received, my boss will lose out on a lot of money she is owed! I know I was a total idiot for forgetting the stamp but I had a really hectic morning and I don't usually post things so it just disappeared out of my mind. Oh, and it was a large letter, not a normal letter, if that makes any difference.

Reply 1

cookiedoughmonster

Usually the person whose name is on the envelope will get a note from the post office telling them they have to collect the letter from the sorting office and they have to pay £1.50 or something like that. It probably won't be thrown out though!

Reply 2

jumpinglunch

Person to whom its addressed has to pay the postage.

Reply 3

mollymustard

Royal Mail may try and deliver it, but will ask the reciever of the letter to pay the postage costs.
If you have written to a big company then they probably will just ask for it to be sent back.

Also, if the postman is in a bad mood, you might just get it returned to sender automatically.

Reply 4

rufnek2k6

I received a letter that was understamped once, I was told to pay the difference between what the sender had paid and what he should have paid.

Reply 5

mhsc

Well, if its *really* important you should of sent it on a secure/tracked delivery service.

Do you by any chance work for the Civil Service? :wink:

Reply 6

weet_ABI_x

But it will get there?

Reply 7

mhsc

abi_gail

But it will get there?

There is no guarantee it will do, nope. But there is a good chance it will do and your boss will just have to pay up.

Read my post above, you should not send this sort of stuff through normal post!

Reply 8

weet_ABI_x

mhsc

Well, if its *really* important you should of sent it on a secure/tracked delivery service.

Do you by any chance work for the Civil Service? :wink:

Well without giving too much away (I'm not sure why I'm being so secretive but it feels powerful) it is about claiming money back, the forms wouldn't be any use to anyone except for my boss but obviously if they are lost then she loses out on approx £500...

Reply 9

Alexander

The letter will have £1.40 for the recipient to pay (40p for large letter second class postage, £1 admin fee). The postman will put a card through the recipient's door indicating this. The recipient will then have a choice of either posting the card back with £1.40 of stamps on it, or going down to their local delivery office to pay in cash.

If the recipient doesn't pay up, it gets returned to sender.

Reply 10

weet_ABI_x

mhsc

There is no guarantee it will do, nope. But there is a good chance it will do and your boss will just have to pay up.

Read my post above, you should not send this sort of stuff through normal post!

Even if I was going to send it recorded delivery, I forgot to pay any kind of postage so it's irrelevant :p:

Reply 11

jumpinglunch

Use a pigeon next time,much more reliable.

Reply 12

Y__

I think the best idea might be to tell your boss tomorrow - she will have a copy of those forms on her computer or in some drawer, I guess? You can (and should) re-send it as recorded delivery then.

Chances are that the recipient that owes your boss the money won't pay for the postage, and even if you had put a stamp on it, they might have thrown it into the bin and said they'd never received it. In my opinion, stuff like that should always be sent as recorded delivery.

Reply 13

PinkMobilePhone

Volunteer Team

My mother used to be a carer for an elderly lady who lived with us. She used to like going for little walks now and then to the post box (not far at all) and post her letters. One time she came back from posting a letter and said "there we go, thats the stamps posted".
When we asked her what she meant, it turned out that a few days prior, she had posted a letter, but as she had not had any stamps at the time, she had instead written on the envelope "dear postman, I'll put some stamps in when I get them". So then when she had the stamps she went and chucked them on their own into the post box!

lmao.

I have no idea if the letter reached its destination, nor do I recommend that you try it - it just reminded me of that and I thought I'd share lol

Reply 14

Vampyrcorn

I once sent myself a letter and didn't put on stamp on it (I'm cool like that :cool:

) to see what would happen. I got a little form through the post a while later which said "you have a letter waiting for you at the post office but the incorrect postage fee was paid" so I would've had to go to the post office and pay the money then (and possibly a 'handling fee' of about £1 too) if I'd wanted to pick up the letter. But I didn't, because I knew what the letter said. lol.

Unfortunately, it might take a few weeks for your boss to get the form asking her to pay the postage. You know what the Royal Mail are like.. it's unlikely to be a quick process. She might have to go to the post office and ask.

Don't worry too much though.. your boss will probably get it eventually. You should tell her though because she'll find out anyway. :smile:

Reply 15

Y__

Vampyrcorn, I thought she posted the letter for her boss, but the letter was sent to a client that didn't pay? In that case, it is more critical because the client might not want to pay the postage fees :wink:

...

Reply 16

Vampyrcorn