Do you save money using a Franking Machine for Post?

With postage prices due to increase very soon, the potential savings of using a franking machine postage service become more attractive.
Over the last few years we have leased a franking machine from one of the main service providers in the United Kingdom because potential savings of between twenty percent could not be ignored.  Unfortunately we found the system to be unworkable due to it causing extra paperwork and lost time.
One of the main problems we found was topping up the machine with credit!  It should be a simple procedure where you transfer money from your bank account to the service provider.  Initially we were given a one thousand pounds credit limit which only lasted a couple of weeks (Reduced to five hundred pounds duting the last credit crunch!).  When this was exhausted, to keep using the service we were required to pay back the thousand pounds plus add credit to our account.  We would transfer the money via a BACS transfer or cheque (Debit card payments were not accepted).  After the transfer had been actioned we had to call customer services so that they could locate the payment.  On more than one occasion our payment could not be found by the first operator, resulting in a second or third call until we spoke to a competent person.  The credit would then be added to our account.  We then would move on to the next step which was dialling up the data centre on our franking machine to download the credit.
Once the machine is topped up with credit it can be plain sailing.  Every time you print a label and stick it on a parcel you are saving money.  Significant savings are made on small packets and parcels.
Come the end of the month you receive several invoices containing charges for machine rental, top up charges etc.   The billing is very confusing and impossible to understand.  In fact even employees of the service provider company struggle to make sense of them!  In my opinion it is confusing by design so that they can make more money by added charges and possible mistakes!  You just give up in the end trying to understand what is going on!
It is important to negotiate with the service provided in the beginning to get a lower monthly rental and service charge because their are more charges that do not become apparent in the beginning without reading the small print.  One of these charges is for updating the postal rates on your machine which can cost fifty pounds (If you complain you may get a 50% discount).  Another is the monthly connection required to update the machine software.  Ink cartridges for the franking printer can cost forty pounds when purchased direct from the service provider, and if you are a frequent user of the service you will need a new one every four to eight weeks.
These added running costs really start to eat away at your margin of saving and taking into consideration the amount of time wasted topping up your account and machine; not to mention the complicated billing, any savings made are just not worth the hassle!  The extra administration required removes your focus from your main function in the business, adding unnecessary stress to a modern day work place.
These days we buy ordinary stamps from the post office.  When we apply them to the parcels we must remind ourselves of how much administration time and hassel we are avoiding, and not focus on the actual higher cost of the stamps.
Compatible franking machine cartridges can be purchased from http://www.printercartridges.net/