Lost Yeoman Plotter (thanks Royal Mail..)

S

Steve_N

Well-Known Member
Joined
31 May 2004
Messages
1,104
Location
Fife
Visit site
Boat-related so hopefully I'm OK posting on this forum. Does anyone have any useful experience to relate in terms of getting compensation from Royal Mail, please?

I sold a Yeoman plotter on Ebay for £82 and posted it off, costing £15 and not the £9 that I quoted.
It didn't arrive and to this date (6 weeks later) RM's tracking says something like 'congratulations, your item is on its way and progressing through our network' :-)
I refunded the buyer some weeks ago so am now down £15 plus a Yeoman.

I submitted an online claim which states that 'we AIM to get to you within 30 days' (which is now just up) but is full of caveats such as 'if you haven't includuded all the correct information then we'll assume that you do not wish to proceed with this claim' etc.
I can't find any means of contacting them for a progress report (they have 3 means of contacting me) other than a letter to Freepost RM.

I just wondered if anyone here had been down this route before and had any advice regarding likely timescales or other other ways of progressing the issue?
Thanks in advance.
 
I am afraid to say I have been down that route as I run a small online shop.

Post Office wins every time, basically they always say "You did not submit enough information" and then simply pay you the standard 1st class postage rate as compensation. I have diligently sent them everything possible but to no avail.

The only real use for "tracked" post is to avoid the recipient claiming they did not receive it. Since using tracked postage I have gone from "losing" 2 item per month to 1 per year
 
Steve_N said:
Boat-related so hopefully I'm OK posting on this forum. Does anyone have any useful experience to relate in terms of getting compensation from Royal Mail, please?

I sold a Yeoman plotter on Ebay for £82 and posted it off, costing £15 and not the £9 that I quoted.
It didn't arrive and to this date (6 weeks later) RM's tracking says something like 'congratulations, your item is on its way and progressing through our network' :-)
I refunded the buyer some weeks ago so am now down £15 plus a Yeoman.

I submitted an online claim which states that 'we AIM to get to you within 30 days' (which is now just up) but is full of caveats such as 'if you haven't includuded all the correct information then we'll assume that you do not wish to proceed with this claim' etc.
I can't find any means of contacting them for a progress report (they have 3 means of contacting me) other than a letter to Freepost RM.

I just wondered if anyone here had been down this route before and had any advice regarding likely timescales or other other ways of progressing the issue?
Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...

Sadly, I share mlines experience - you are banging your head against a wall in trying to get compensation from Royal Mail. They have Crown immunity so Smalls Claims Court is a non starter, which is why I never use their services any more for parcels, despite them being the most reliable of an unreliable bunch.
 
Well that's a shocker, but thanks anyway both. I've always considered RM as a reliable service standing head and shoulders above the rest but clearly that's not the case. The woman at the local (rural) post office is so nice and friendly and Roy our postman stops for a chat every day - how could I get it so wrong..!
I was considering threatening them with the Small Claims Court so to hear that that is a non-starter is a downer also.

I'll re-send them everything by post but it sounds like there's little hope so the b@st@rds will get none of my future business.

Is there nothing else that I can do? No ombudsman or similar that you can refer cases to?
 
What service did you use? If it was Special Delivery then you're probably OK. If Signed For, then max is £50 in any case.
Royal Mail are fine price-wise for anything up to 2kg but online parcel services are better value over that or find a friend with a contract. FWIW we get excellent delivery service from RM.
 
Second class medium parcel signed-for. I didn't opt to extend the compensation above £50 because in the rare event that it got lost then I would be happy with that. I would be even more annoyed if the compensation that I appear to be unlikely to ever receive had cost a supplementary fee.

It's the lack of contact possibilities that is the most annoying - there seems to be no possibility of ever talking to a human. The website sends you around in circles between help pages.
 
Steve_N said:
It's the lack of contact possibilities that is the most annoying - there seems to be no possibility of ever talking to a human. The website sends you around in circles between help pages.
Click to expand...

Why not go back, with your proof of posting, to the place where you posted it? Firmly insist that they sort out your compensation, and tell them you're staying until they've confirmed it. They will have the phone numbers to call. If you go at a busy time it might be easier.
 
P.S. parcel destination was the Channel Islands for which RM charge the standard rate while other carriers demand a big supplement c. double mainland rates.
 
Quiddle said:
Sadly, I share mlines experience - you are banging your head against a wall in trying to get compensation from Royal Mail. They have Crown immunity so Smalls Claims Court is a non starter, which is why I never use their services any more for parcels, despite them being the most reliable of an unreliable bunch.
Click to expand...

Why does the Royal Mail have Crown Immunity? Is it not a private company now?

The NHS does not have Crown Immunity.

Strange situation methinks.
 
NormanB said:
Why does the Royal Mail have Crown Immunity? Is it not a private company now?

The NHS does not have Crown Immunity.

Strange situation methinks.
Click to expand...

And...

Does Crown Immunity prevent a civil action? I thought it prevented the Crown prosecuting its self..?
 
pvb said:
Why not go back, with your proof of posting, to the place where you posted it? Firmly insist that they sort out your compensation, and tell them you're staying until they've confirmed it. They will have the phone numbers to call. If you go at a busy time it might be easier.
Click to expand...

Thanks, yes I will pop in and see if they can do anything to help though I may stop short of stamping my feet as they're good people and it's not their fault. PO counter in the corner of the village shop.
 
MikeCC said:
PO and Royal Mail are separate and counter people won't be able to do anything. You could try the helpline 03457 740 740. They do have real people.
Click to expand...

Excellent, a telephone number, thanks. I'd missed that on their site - thought that I'd looked everywhere but if you go right through to 'I'd like to make a complaint' then that number is provided.

Have just spoken to RM and apparently they're "still working through a tremendous backlog following Christmas" and my claim submitted 3rd. February hasn't even been looked at yet. I'm promised that it will be dealt with on Monday and that they will contact me by email if they need any further evidence/info.
I'll let you know what transpires.
 
Steve_N said:
Have just spoken to RM and apparently they're "still working through a tremendous backlog following Christmas" and my claim submitted 3rd. February hasn't even been looked at yet. I'm promised that it will be dealt with on Monday and that they will contact me by email if they need any further evidence/info.
I'll let you know what transpires.
Click to expand...

I have once had compensation for a disappeared email sale item. They didn't quibble, but it did take an inordinately long time - several months, as I recall.
 
Cheque for £64.85 received from RM today for refund of postage paid plus the maximum £50 compensation :-)
After subtracting Ebay and Paypal fees from the original sale price that means I lost £20 in the end, but I was aware that would be the case and chose not to pay extra to insure that £20 so I'm happy with the outcome. Also I'd have been very happy had the Yeoman only sold for £50 so all's well that ends well.
 
NormanB said:
Why does the Royal Mail have Crown Immunity? Is it not a private company now?

The NHS does not have Crown Immunity.

Strange situation methinks.
Click to expand...

Your right, it is not Crown Immunity but:

Postal Services Act 2000
90 Exclusion of liability
(1) No proceedings in tort shall lie or, in Scotland, be competent against a universal service provider in respect of loss or damage suffered by any person in connection with the provision of a universal postal service because of—
(a) anything done or omitted to be done in relation to any postal packet in the course of transmission by post, or
(b) any omission to carry out arrangements for the collection of anything to be conveyed by post.
 
You're wasting your time! The more you try, the more frustrated you will become.

I sent a package special delivery to Stockport. It is a frequent delivery and 50 had been delivered quite successfully and on time.

The customer complained he had not received the subject one and I interrogated the tracking system. "Parcel signed for". It was but not by the intended recipient. Unbelievably the signature was decipherable and agreed with the printed name - Nathan Poyser-Day. (I even have a photo of him if anyone is interested!)

I contacted him by Facebook but he denied all knowledge. There can't be many Nathan Poyser-Days in the land!

The parcel contained high precision machined plastic components of zero value to anyone save the intended recipient. He probably flung it in the bin.

I went through five levels of complaint all returning the same response.- the parcel has been delivered.

Eventually i took them to the small claims court. The defence produced a file over an inch thick and found a clause that denied the claim. The judge (beautiful glamourous lady) rejected my claim with heavy regret. She did not award costs against me.

The claim was denied as one letter in the post code was wrong. The same address had been used over the years for 50 deliveries. Royal Mail do not deliver to a post code - they deliver to the address which was completely correct.

I took to RM CEO Moya Greene, the minister for posts and my local MP. All with no result.

The action cost me well over £1000. Goodness knows what it cost RM.

Give up now before you die from stress!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page

Top