Royal Mail - How do I make them cough up?

[Spawn]

Am I going mad or is there something not quite right here..

• I pay for a Recorded/Signed Delivery to insure a small value item being returned - Dec 2015
• Recipient does not receive parcel
• I allow for the correct amount of time to pass before contacting Royal Mail and raising a claim - Feb 2016
• Royal Mail cannot confirm the whereabouts of the parcel - Feb 2016
• I provide proof of purchase and costs - March 2016
• Royal Mail confirm receipt of my proof of purchase and costs - March 2016
• Royal Mail have written to the recipient but have not heard back, and therefore assume that the parcel is delivered - March 2016

To quote the bottom of my last received email:

Royal Mail said:

I have written to the person you sent the item to, but have not received a reply, so I must assume that the package has been delivered. If this is not the case, could you please ask the addressee to return my letter so I can reconsider your claim.

I am sorry that my reply cannot be more favourable, but I hope I have managed to address your issues. If you have further questions relating to this matter, please get back in touch quoting our reference number at the top of this email.

We are nearly 5 months later and I appear to be getting nowhere. To top it off it takes 2 or 3 weeks for Royal Mail to reply to my emails, so it seems they are dragging their heels.

As far as I am concerned, I have paid for a service which covers the cost of my items. Royal Mail have not delivered said items and cannot show otherwise.

All this over £39.

I don't see why I should let this go, but where do I go from here? I will contact the recipient (the seller of the items I purchased), but I don't see why they would write back to Royal Mail even if they have received a letter, as it is not really in their interest.

Surely if Royal Mail cannot provide a signature to show the item has been delivered they should be coughing up?

Rob

[Ken Figenus]

They seem to want you to the legwork for them. Are they assuming recipient was a mate? Obviously will avoid them now when selecting a courier - their archaic tracking and limited failed delivery options are absolute pants compared to, say, DPD too..

Winds me up to have to pay extra to insure against THEIR potential inability to supply the basic paid for services too! Might try that on my clients - just in case I drop a camera whilst taking it to a job or get a cocktail umbrella in my eye when enjoying a drink afterwards!

Oooh you got me going too

[Spawn]

They know it's from a company trading through eBay. Certainly not a mate.

Not that it should matter. A none delivery which ever way you look at it.

It makes my p*ss boil.

[Nickyboy]

The old send a letter to the intended recipient and hope they respond is pathetic, especially if it was tracked and there is no delivery confirmation

When i claimed for something recorded that went missing they paid up within a week of me sending off the claim.

[Spawn]

Nickyboy said:

The old send a letter to the intended recipient and hope they respond is pathetic, especially if it was tracked and there is no delivery confirmation

When i claimed for something recorded that went missing they paid up within a week of me sending off the claim.

I don't suppose you remember who you contacted? I'm just wondering whether I have any other options.

Will trading standards do anything?

[anonymous-user]

RM are a bunch of useless s. Ask them to provide the signature that you should have. If they can't tell them to pay up. I'll see if I can find the email address of the guy I dealt with last time they tried this st with me. Have you completed the online claim form?

[PurpleMoonlight]

Am I missing something here?

Surely, as you specifically paid for them to obtain confirmation of delivery they should be assuming it was not delivered as they have no signature confirming it was.

[Spawn]

Yes it's the online claim procedure I have followed. You have to Phil out a form and send it off.

You would assume the item is lost, but not RM, they go with the opposite and throw any logic out of the window.

[anonymous-user]

The email address I have is [e-mail] & the person I dealt with Andy Smout Escalated Customer Resolutions Team. It was drawn out but don't give up, these fkers seem to think they can get away with it! Bloody joke, how do you "lose" so much fking mail anyway??!! Where are all the "lost" items? The pile must be fking huge by now. Thieving s.

[Spanna]

There's no way to win over the bureaucracy over these sorts of companies. Same applies with eBay and PayPal, round and round in circles with no straight answer, never helping just expecting you to go away and solve it yourself.

[PurpleMoonlight]

Dave_ST220 said:

The email address I have is [e-mail] & the person I dealt with Andy Smout Escalated Customer Resolutions Team. It was drawn out but don't give up, these fkers seem to think they can get away with it! Bloody joke, how do you "lose" so much fking mail anyway??!! Where are all the "lost" items? The pile must be fking huge by now. Thieving s.

The vast majority is not lost, it is delivered to the incorrect address, and the recipient keeps or bins it instead of delivering or re posting.

[0000]

Quality. You know when the process for claiming for them failing to make a delivery involves them attempting to make a delivery which they assume in the absence of other information is successful... then someone's taking the piss.

[227bhp]

Is there an Ombudsman you can threaten them with?

[IATM]

Hi Rob,

I have to say I admire your persistence. I tried to do it once with royal mail and it was so stressful I had to take a days holiday. Needless to say I got no where.

I felt a bit like I had been done to be honest but for me there really is no alternative; I have tried oh so many times to find one.

Don't give up!!!

[boxst]

Call them and argue -- it is just a standard letter. I sold something on eBay and it didn't arrive, or at least wasn't signed for. Took me three months to get the maximum payout (£54), and it consisted of a letter like yours. I complained, then they sent me a book of first class stamps as compensation rather than the money, complained again, then they sent me a cheque written out to some random person, complained again and then, finally, a cheque for the right amount payable to me.

Each time, I spent some time on the telephone, explaining, saying how ridiculous it all was (in a nice, calm way) and then it would progress slightly further.

[anonymous-user]

Spanna said:

There's no way to win over the bureaucracy over these sorts of companies. Same applies with eBay and PayPal, round and round in circles with no straight answer, never helping just expecting you to go away and solve it yourself.

Don't get me started on Pay Pal! Needless to say forget their bullst timescales to resolve obvious fraud, cut the clowns out & go straight to your bank. Sorry for going OT. With regards to RM I found the motto required is DON'T GIVE UP! We spend 10's of thousands with them every year & they were arguing over a £30 claim FFS!

[MrJuice]

fking nightmare

To avoid this, I only use special delivery which is actually a good service. Obviously costs a lot more but then I don't have to deal with the stress you have at the moment.

[Jazzy Jefferson]

MrJuice said:

special delivery which is actually a good service.

Until they lose it. Don't worry though, I was compensated with 6 (yes, 6) first class stamps.
The postage was £16 and the item value £400 (this service insures for a value of up to £500.) But thanks RM for the stamps, appreciate it. After months of back and forth, I wrote it off and gave up trying to claim for more.

[Nickyboy]

Spawn said:

I don't suppose you remember who you contacted? I'm just wondering whether I have any other options.

Will trading standards do anything?

It was some time ago but i think i just filled in the standard form and sent it off, this was before they started sending letters to the recipient, i guess they started doing that with the growth of eBay and the non too honest people claiming stuff wasn't received. I think i just sent a copy of the Ebay auction to prove value and they wrote back confirming it was lost and a cheque for the full amount (minus postage annoyingly)

[MrJuice]

Jazzy Jefferson said:

Until they lose it. Don't worry though, I was compensated with 6 (yes, 6) first class stamps.
The postage was £16 and the item value £400 (this service insures for a value of up to £500.) But thanks RM for the stamps, appreciate it. After months of back and forth, I wrote it off and gave up trying to claim for more.

Sorry to hear that. I had that once - someone sent me something worth about £50 but via special delivery because I needed it next day. I missed the delivery and tried to have it rearranged but they had lost it. I didn't pursue that one because the hassle would have been off the scale

But generally, very slick service.