There may come a day when you decide you want to sell your Low D whistle and you find that when it comes to selling it that it is longer than the 61cm maximum for medium packets sent through UK post and the 60cm maximum if you want to send it abroad, a real pain!! However there is a loophole in new sizing policies that came into force in April. The problem is not all post offices are up to speed on the small print. I’ve come across two.
Yesterday I bought a Low D whistle from someone else in the UK and gave them instructions how to parcel it and he followed them to the letter, creating a cylindrical parcel 63cm long. Today his local post office told him it was too long and had to go by Parcelforce and since I wanted it tomorrow and insured, the price was a hefty £15.96 (with a max of £100 insurance).
The loophole is that while 61cm is the maximum length for parcels going through the normal mail system, if the parcel is a cylinder or roll, it can be up to 90cm long providing the length plus twice the diameter does not exceed 104cm, normally not a problem with a long narrow whistle. It should have been posted by Royal Mail next day Special Delivery for £6.95 inclusive of up to £500 insurance, a much better deal. As I write the seller is on his way back to the post office to demand a refund.
These dimensions also apply to sending a parcel abroad. Be warned!! You may now understand this better than a number of post offices . . . and save yourself money.
