市场化年代,各种资费都是一路看涨的势头,邮政资费也不例外。万万想不到的是,英国邮政因此赔礼道歉,美国邮政因此吃上了官司。
2019年2月22日,英国邮政官宣,国内一级资费和二级资费自3月25日起上涨3便士,即一级资费从67便士上涨至70便士,二级资费从58便士上涨至61便士。不过,这一上涨官宣却违反了英国通讯服务监管机构Ofcom关于“2019年4月1日前,二级资费不得超过60便士”的规定。
结果怎么样?英国邮政官方不得不赔礼道歉:“Due
to an error on our part, our new 2nd Class stamp price of 61p will be 1p above
the existing regulatory price cap for a period of 7 days — from March 25 until
April 1. We are donating the revenue that we expect to collect from the error —
around £60,000 [about $79,000] — to the charity Action For Children, which
helps disadvantaged children across the UK.”大意是说,由于我们的疏忽,造成了3月25日至3月31日二级资费将多收1便士。对于这一部分额外收入(大约6万英镑),将全部捐献给儿童慈善机构。
无独有偶,美国邮政官宣自2019年1月27日起,一级资费从50美分上涨至55美分,却被美国消费者Douglas F. Carlson告上法庭。Carlson声称:“This case has national importance, and hundreds of millions
of dollars are at stake.The 5¢ rate increase as the largest in history, and the
10 percent increase as the largest percentage increase since 1991, when the
rate increased from 29¢ to 32¢.Meanwhile, the prices that large mailers pay for
presort letters increased only 0.97 percent.”大意是说,从50美分上涨至55美分,上涨幅度高达10%,这是1991年以来涨幅最大的一次。相比较而言,大客户双优专线的资费仅仅上涨了0.97%,这明显不合情理。