Fraudulent parcel delivered

[TerrierJim]

Hi all

Looking for some advice regarding a parcel I was convinced to post that ended up going to a fraudster, and whether I can claim anything from Royal Mail.

I sent a parcel Special Delivery Guaranteed 1PM, but quickly noticed it was a scam/fraud. I thought I was going to get immediate payment once I sent them the receipt for the delivery - yes I'm a moron, I know, I should have made sure I was paid before I posted it but lesson learnt!

I received no payment for the item so went back to the Post Office to try and retrieve or at least block/delay the parcel being sent. Unfortunately nothing could be done because only the police have the authority to intercept such items. The police were unable to help, I imagine they had better things to do, understandably.

So the package entered the delivery system and I logged the crime with the police. The next morning I had the idea of changing the delivery to at least delay the parcel getting to it's destination while I tried to get help from the police. I went on the tracking site and chose to have the parcel delivered to a Post Office instead. This appeared to go through fine and I received confirmation it would be delivered to the PO instead.

The parcel unfortunately was delivered to the recipient despite my attempt to change delivery.

I made a complaint to RM based on the fact that their website contradicted what actually happened with the parcel. I was told that changes must be made by 3.30AM on the day of the delivery, which is why the parcel was not rerouted to the PO.

I don't believe this 3.30AM rule is stated anywhere on the website, that I can find. It's also misleading to customers to have the ability to change delivery address at any time when apparently that's not the case in practice.

Do I have a case for claiming compensation for the full parcel value if the police are unable to retrieve it from the fraudster? My argument would be that they did not stick to their commitment to change the delivery, and also that they don't state this 3.30 AM rule anywhere.

To be honest their system is setup to benefit the fraudsters and disadvantage the victims. RM have no facility for a customer to show clear evidence that a parcel has been sent to a fraudster and have a parcel at least held while the issue is investigated. We all know the police take days/weeks to investigate low level fraud like this so saying they're the only ones who can intervene is useless.

Cheers

[Belgium]

Royal mail can`t be held responsible if people send items to fraudsters, it`s up to the sender to perform due diligence, you have already admitted you made a foolish error in not being paid upfront why would you expect Royal mail to compensate you

[TerrierJim]

Royal mail can`t be held responsible if people send items to fraudsters, it`s up to the sender to perform due diligence, you have already admitted you made a foolish error in not being paid upfront why would you expect Royal mail to compensate you

The argument would be that they didn't deliver the package to the address I selected when changing the delivery, and that they don't mention the 3.30AM cut off anywhere on their website, therefore misleading their customers and not providing the service I paid for.

I know I'm unlikely to receive compensation but really their system needs to change to make it harder for fraudulent parcels to make it to their destination.

[SpacePhoenix]

What time did you attempt to change the delivery address? It might be that by the time you tried the item might have already gone out for delivery. The chosen PO branch might not necessarily be covered by the same round that the original address is on

[TerrierJim]

What time did you attempt to change the delivery address? It might be that by the time you tried the item might have already gone out for delivery. The chosen PO branch might not necessarily be covered by the same round that the original address is on

I made the change at 7 AM. If the parcel was already out for delivery then it shouldn't provide the option to change delivery. The system seems flawed.
If there was some warning on the page stating that the change has to be made by 3.30AM on the day of delivery, or that the package may already be out for delivery, then fair enough, but it doesn't state either of those things.