People are wasting money sending Christmas cards by first-class mail, unaware that those with second-class stamps will get there just as quickly over the festive period, it was claimed yesterday.
The consumer watchdog Post watch said Royal Mail managers ignored postal delivery targets for Christmas but kept quiet about it to boost the sales of first-class stamps.
A spokeswoman for Post Watch said: "The figures are publicly available. They just don't tell anyone.
"People continued to buy first-class stamps for their cards only because they didn't realise Royal Mail had axed its next-day target for the festive season. They are a major company and they want the revenue. That's a business decision for them," she said. "There's a 9p differential between first and second, and they want people to stick a first-class stamp on."
Postwatch figures revealed that the delivery performance for first-class mail slumps in the run-up to Christmas, while second-class post, for which the normal target is delivery within three days, dips only slightly, making the standard of the two services virtually the same.
The spokeswoman went on to say, "Normal delivery promises were suspended from the end of November until after Christmas every year.
The Post Office has an annual collective target to hit, and the volumes go up so much at Christmas 50 per cent, or 50 million items a day, that it would be an unreasonable target to achieve."
She added that, by setting tomorrow as the last posting date for first-class Christmas mail, the Post Office had already admitted defeat, although the public might not notice. "Tuesday is the 20th but if they were sticking to their targets, it should really be the 23rd," she said.
Saturday was the last posting date for Christmas for second-class mail, which costs 21p an item, compared with 30p for first class.
The spokeswoman said: "Our advice for Christmas is to post early and use a second-class stamp, because it's just as likely to get there at the same time as a first-class one."
A Royal Mail spokeswoman denied it was hoodwinking the public by failing to clearly advertise its revised Christmas schedules. "I would disagree with that suggestion," she said. "If people want something delivered as quickly as possible, we would still say send it first class.
"Our first-class mail is still dealt with first over Christmas. And we are confident that everything that's sent by the recommended posting date will be delivered in time for Christmas."
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