Royal Mail refuses £3k payout over the way Southport cabbie wrapped his parcel

[TrueBlueTerrier]

https://www.lancs.live/news/lancashire- ... n-34392122

Robert Devereux paid extra to make sure the parcel arrived safely - but it all went wrong

A taxi driver from Southport has claimed that Royal Mail has refused to compensate him after silver bullion worth £3,000 "disappeared" from a parcel.

Robert Devereux, 45, said he sent the parcel to a reputable bullion dealer in Blackpool using Royal Mail Special Delivery on June 9. He said he paid £32.95 to send the package, including an additional £10 for enhanced compensation covering a declared value of up to £5,000, the ECHO reports.

Mr Devereux said the bullion was packaged in an "industry standard" brown padded envelope, which was fully sealed with brown parcel tape and marked "fragile" across the front. He said the parcel complied with Royal Mail's maximum weight limit of 20kg.

According to Mr Devereux, the parcel arrived the following day inside a Royal Mail "Our sincere apologies" damaged parcel bag. He claims the recipient contacted him to say a 1kg hand-poured silver bar, worth around £2,500, and a 10-ounce silver bar, worth around £500, were missing.

Mr Devereux said the bullion dealer opened the package under CCTV and compared the contents with the inventory he had supplied before confirming the bars were no longer inside.

He submitted a compensation claim to Royal Mail, who initially told him enquiries were continuing while checks were carried out with its National Returns Centre. However, the postal service later rejected his claim.

In an email seen by the ECHO, the Royal Mail said the contents should have been placed "in a strong rigid container and surrounded with enough cushioning material (5cm minimum) to prevent it moving within the packaging", adding that "sending the contents in a large padded jiffy envelope would not be adequate."

Mr Devereux strongly disputes that conclusion. He told the ECHO: "I usually deliver the parcels myself, but I thought paying for Special Delivery with enhanced compensation meant I was protected. That's why I paid the extra money.

"They're happy to sell you the premium service and take the insurance payment, but when something goes wrong they look for loopholes.

"They're blaming the packaging, but if it wasn't packaged correctly, why did they accept it in the first place?"

Mr Devereux said he declared the parcel's contents when posting it and said staff were aware it contained precious metals. He also questioned why a damaged Special Delivery parcel continued through the postal network instead of being returned to him.

"I thought everything was covered by CCTV and tracked all the way through the system," he said. "I don't understand how something like this can happen without anyone being able to explain it."

Mr Devereux described the claims process as "stressful", claiming he spent hours on hold attempting to obtain updates.

He said: "There was no communication about what stage the investigation was at.

"I was constantly ringing, sometimes two or three times a day. You just get told someone will log your call, but nobody keeps you updated."

In a later email seen by the ECHO, Royal Mail confirmed it had recorded the details provided and would continue searching for the missing items. However, it added: "With respect to compensation, our decision is final and will not be changed."

Mr Devereux has now escalated his complaint to Royal Mail's Postal Review Panel and said he has also begun a claim through the small claims court in an attempt to recover his losses.

A Royal Mail spokesperson said: “We take the loss of any item in our network very seriously. In this case, we carried out a thorough investigation but were regrettably unable to locate the missing silver bullion.

“Parcels are moved, sorted, loaded and unloaded several times during their journey, using both machinery and manual handling. This can involve movement, pressure and contact with other parcels, so they need to be securely packaged to prevent the contents being damaged or falling out. We reviewed Mr Devereux’s compensation claim and concluded that the packaging used was not sufficient for the items inside.

“The case has since been referred to the independent Postal Review Panel.”

[NWpostie]

He would have been better off taking it to Blackpool himself considering the value and weight.

[yellowbelly]

He would have been better off taking it to Blackpool himself considering the value and weight.

Yeah, he's a taxi driver - Southport to Blackpool, 36 miles there, 36 back!

[TopperGas]

Assuming this is a genuine loss than how can RM just lose a silver billion bar(s), somebody must have half inched it during its journey through the network, as it's not likely to be sat on somebody's frame or in the manager's office waiting for somebody to claim it?

If the taxi driver really does issue proceedings and he can prove a parcel weighing X was accepted by a Post Office you can see a judge siding with him.

RM seem to be getting more like EVRi every day and it no longer seems safe to send anything of value via RM.

[Mr Rush]

Assuming this is a genuine loss than how can RM just lose a silver billion bar(s)

It's entirely in the realm of possibility that a silver bar has, through inertia, broken out of the jiffy bag and has fallen into the back of a green sleeved york.

Last week I found a small box of chocolates in my oversized york that had clearly fallen out of another package somewhere in the network. Loose USB cables seem to be constantly falling out of packets. I've seen hair spray, skincare products, solar lamps, the scattered remains of routers. You put them aside but no-one ever enquires - they just claim a refund for partial loss.