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      Royal Mail Closeout

      Shipment Closeout is a process required to be completed daily and it is required by the carrier for them to accept and transport your shipments. Closeout sends the electronic data (pre-advice files etc.) required for the carrier to effectively handle and bill those shipments.


      Why do I need to Closeout Royal Mail Services?:
      Firstly Royal Mail legally should not collect or transport your mail without the associated paperwork, it also has a direct effect on the shipments you send:

      • Tracked services – These shipments are billed when they are scanned by Royal Mail, however if the close out process is not completed the enhancements like SMS or email notifications that your customers normally receive will not be sent.
      • Special Delivery and Untracked Services – Closing out will send the information to create your billing events in OBA, and, as per the Tracked services mentioned above, the SMS or email notifications will not work for Special Delivery items. Without OBA being populated it is likely that your mail will be held up or refused by Royal Mail.
      • International Items – This will effect your billing in OBA, it will also stop the data being sent electronically through customs, again increasing the potential for delay or the items being refused and returned to you.
      • Returns labels – Whilst there is no operational need to manifest your return items for the carrier perspective, it can build up the data and impact on the performance of your account on Intersoft if these items are not regularly closed out, so we would recommend closing these out at the same time as your outbound shipments.

      To avoid this happening we can set up a Clean Sweep, which is just a backup if the close out is not carried out for whatever reason. Please be aware Clean Sweep is not designed to replace the actual production of the Collection Manifest and does not include “Max Sort or Zone Sort” services.

      Please note: 

      • By closing out any outstanding/ unmanifested shipments for any untracked services, the customer will be billed.

      • If items are shipped but not manifested (except for returns) -  they may be held up, refused, surcharged. Royal Mail have started issuing large fines for unmanifested shipments (£1000+) as this is treated a fraudulent activity.

      How to closeout shipments?