If recorded delivery goes missing...

[saaby93]

Is this useful in SP&L
If a recorded letter goes missing, the useful PO helpline (the website is worse) lets you know that recorded letters may not pop out the other end, so if it doesnt get there in 2 weeks and so isn't signed for they will refund you the cost of postage and ink for reprinting the pages, liability up to a total of £39.

It's only to show that the receiver has received it and not to make sure that they do.

[davidjpowell]

The moral of the story is to use Special Delivery, which is a proper tracked service, includes £500 cover, which can be increased and also Consequential loss covered.

[Jasandjules]

davidjpowell said:

The moral of the story is to use Special Delivery, which is a proper tracked service, includes £500 cover, which can be increased and also Consequential loss covered.

Yep.

It's sad that you basically have to pay a LOT more to ensure you get something delivered BUT if it is that important, special delivery every time.

[bleesh]

Yet for "legal purposes" such as your NIP, the mere act of "them" putting it in the post 1st Class is deemed to mean that it was served.............

[Jasandjules]

bleesh said:

Yet for "legal purposes" such as your NIP, the mere act of "them" putting it in the post 1st Class is deemed to mean that it was served.............

No, I believe service is presumed. But that is also the case with any document you post in legal proceedings, for example if you post an application notice then your proof of posting is sufficient.

[Red Devil]

Jasandjules said:

bleesh said:

Yet for "legal purposes" such as your NIP, the mere act of "them" putting it in the post 1st Class is deemed to mean that it was served.............

No, I believe service is presumed. But that is also the case with any document you post in legal proceedings, for example if you post an application notice then your proof of posting is sufficient.

I don't know when that presumption first arose, but I am willing to bet that we had a mail service that actually delivered stuff. And there were government departments interacting with the public not executive 'agencies' that routinely lose what does arrive.

[elwe]

The last two parcels I recieved that were posted "recorded signed for" were waiting on the mat for me when I got home, with a note scrawled on to say the postman had signed for me! Since when has this been acceptable?

Looking at the Recorded Signed For FAQs on the Royal Mail site suggests they will not deliver without an occupant at the address signing for the item.

[davepoth]

It's the postman being "Helpful".

In the main it's because they can't be arsed with hauling the package back to the sorting office, but then it does mean that you don't have to go down to the sorting office to collect it so it's not all bad.

[saaby93]

elwe said:

The last two parcels I recieved that were posted "recorded signed for" were waiting on the mat for me when I got home, with a note scrawled on to say the postman had signed for me! Since when has this been acceptable?

had that too
Luckily it wasn't some junk parcel with something really expensive in it valued more than £39

[dandarez]

Jasandjules said:

davidjpowell said:

The moral of the story is to use Special Delivery, which is a proper tracked service, includes £500 cover, which can be increased and also Consequential loss covered.

Yep.

It's sad that you basically have to pay a LOT more to ensure you get something delivered BUT if it is that important, special delivery every time.

The moral is not as above.

The moral 'depends' on the 'VALUE' of the 'contents' that you are sending.

If the value is less than 40 quid, only a fool would use Recorded or worst only a mug would use SD.
SD is for valuables ie up to £500. Although that is not always true and you can easily come unstuck. See bottom of this reply.

Despite 'tales' in the press the vast majority of all RM post actually does get delivered, and on time!
I know. I rely on RM for my business and have done so since 1987. In that time I have probably made fewer than a dozen claims.
I regularly post First Class late in the afternoon and my customers invariably receive next day.

Recorded Del is 75p extra whether on 1st or 2nd class price. I would only use it on occasion where the recipient is someone like DVLA, just so I know they have or have not got it. Ironically, they told me they hadn't received it. But of course using RD I knew that they had, because I had the proof that they'd signed for it. Nothing financial, but I caught them out! That is the time to use RD. Otherwise it's pointless.

If your item is under 40 quid you simply obtain a FREE (ie Costs you NOTHING!!) certificate of posting (ie proof of posting) and fill in the recipients name/address and PO stamp it. I have pads of them! If it gets lost you claim back the price of the goods up to £39.
But it won't get lost... IF, and here is the big 'if', you have properly and 'clearly addressed' the item with full post code, marked what the package is, for example LL (large letter) or PKT (packet), mark whether its First or Second class and put a return senders address on the rear.
Sadly, too much trouble for some, although it takes seconds.

Why, as I said, unless it's of higher value than 40 quid, anyone would pay, for example for a 750g LL at Special Delivery next day rate of £6.70 instead of First Class at £1.77 is beyond me.

And don't forget if you want it delivered faster, for by 9am the SD price soars to £14.75 for that same item but the compensation DROPS from £500 to just £50!!!

Moral. Address properly and clearly, sender address on reverse and use a FREE certificate of posting!

[Mill Wheel]

I disagree - it is not the VALUE of the item that dictates which service to use, but the URGENCY or NECESSITY of delivery, which J&J stated in the post.

Jasandjules said:

davidjpowell said:

The moral of the story is to use Special Delivery, which is a proper tracked service, includes £500 cover, which can be increased and also Consequential loss covered.

Yep.

It's sad that you basically have to pay a LOT more to ensure you get something delivered BUT if it is that important, special delivery every time.

I once sent a label with a value of just £7 to a client in Hong Kong, and my customer paid me to take it 50 miles to a TNT depot, then £70 to have it airfreighted simply because it was so important that it ARRIVED urgently and on time.

I am currently awaiting settlement of a claim for a Royal Mail Gtd.Next Day delivery item which should have been delivered on a Friday, but did not arrive until the following Monday at 2.00pm.
In my case, I would have been happy to have the item delivered through their door on Saturday without the signature, so that they could process the items on Monday morning, but the PO refused, saying once in the system, it HAD to be signed for!

I would NEVER entrust Royal Mail to deliver an item next day via 1st class post unless the client either said they did not wish to pay, or it was not important and was valued under ten pounds.
The inconvenience of dealing with an irate or disappointed customer, then re-making and re-sending the item is worth the £5 cost of Special Delivery.

[streaky]

dandarez said:

.... But it won't get lost... IF, and here is the big 'if', you have properly and 'clearly addressed' the item with full post code, marked what the package is, for example LL (large letter) or PKT (packet), mark whether its First or Second class and put a return senders address on the rear.

The Royal Mail does "lose" mail that satisfies the criteria above. My SiL works for RM and knows that sacks of mail are frequently misrouted then sit in the wrong sorting office for weeks before being sent to Belfast where they await inspection ... which can take over a year.

Royal Mail’s statistics show that about 21 billion letters are sent each year and 99.92% of all mail is delivered safely. That means that nearly seventeen million letters are "lost" every year (in 2005, this was some 14 milllion). However, the total number of 'loss' complaints received by RM in 2008/09 was 589,330. What these are is unclear and are likely only requests for compensation. RM considers 'loss' information for 'Special Delivery' and 'Recorded Signed For' services to be commercially sensitive and will not disclose this.

I must ask my SiL whether, if RM pays compensation for an undelivered letter that they subsequently deliver, they ask for the stamps back .

If Bob Crozier maintains the same level of service at ITV, expect the odd blank in transmission ... unless you pay a premium .

Streaky