Special Delivery - RM say delivered but recipient denies

[Peter1234]

Hi
I sent an expensive item (worth £500) a week ago to someone via special Delivery Next Day 1pm.
RM say it was delivered and have shown me the POD.
The recipient says they did not get they item and it is not their signature.
I do trust the recipient so I really do not think they got it.

I have told Customer Services this and an investigation is under way. They say it could be up to 10 days.

Any ideas on what could have happened based on previous cases like this?

If RM say it was delivered then what are the chances of a claim?

Thanks

[TeeferTiger]

RM deliver to the address, not the person (and like ANY signature on a POD looks like anyone's actual signature lol) so is there anyone else at the address who could've signed for it? Is it a set of flats or something, or a workplace?

[Peter1234]

This is a single private house.
The woman was in all day, her husband was at work.

Whilst the signature is the usual scrawl - (what a waste of time they are, no-one can sign properly on those machines),
The printed name alongside was of the recipient - although with one letter wrong.

[TeeferTiger]

Very odd. Has she checked her property just in case she nipped out to the back garden/bathroom/kitchen and didn't hear the postie and so they left it somewhere and forgot to leave a note? Has she asked neighbours? I'm always very wary when people say "I was in all day" because I've had people say that to me when they've arrived at the callers office, and I was the one stood on their doorstep knocking until my knuckles were raw because I could see them inside moving about but they didn't answer the door for whatever reason.

And you've double checked her address?

[Peter1234]

Thanks.

She was definitely in as she had just come home from hospital the previous day so was in all week.
Private single dwelling house. No one else at home.
Checked with neighbours. In any event, would SD be left with a neighbour? And with no card?
Signature is a scribble but printed name is of the recipient. Are SD POD always done using the machine? The post person usually types that in anyway don't they?

Still waiting for outcome of investigation. I have to wait 10 days. I am just very anxious due to the value of the item so any ideas very welcome.

[TeeferTiger]

Not all are delivered using PDA and the postie is meant to ask the name of the person signing for it, NOT just type in the name on the parcel. I did the training for the PDAs in several offices in this area and that's what I was told must be done so that's what I told the posties they must do. However, it's probably likely they just typed the name off the parcel

And although they shouldn't be delivering elsewhere and not leaving a card, it could happen if they got sidetracked/distracted by something (as we all have at some point). Perhaps she didn't hear the door and under the new deliver to neighbour scheme they delivered next door so she wouldn't have to go to the office to collect it. Unfortunately, until RM have spoken with the postie (by sending a query via the system to their manager), we won't know for sure what's gone on.

Hope it turns up :)

[Peter1234]

Oh dear! RM have sent us a letter saying saying they have done an investigation and it was definitely delivered.
Is it still worth claiming?
Any other ideas?

[dounome]

Am i missing something here but has anyone asked the postperson where he/she delivered it to and asked to check with person who signed it?

[TrueBlueTerrier]

Oh dear! RM have sent us a letter saying saying they have done an investigation and it was definitely delivered.
Is it still worth claiming?
Any other ideas?

Yes, if you believe they are wrong. They should have sent you details on escalating it but if not: http://www.royalmail.com/customer-servi ... ts-process" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I think your next stage is the "Escalated Customer Resolution Team" then the Postal Review Panel.

[TeeferTiger]

Well, you know it was delivered because there was a signature, but was it definitely delivered to where it was addressed?!

CS will usually send an electronic request through to the DO for the manager to action and reply. I assume this has been done and I assume the manager asked the postie. However, as TBT said, you can escalate the complaint further via the processes stated.

[Peter1234]

Thanks for all the replies. I believe that myself and the recipient have done everything correctly.
The postie has confirmed they delivered to the address and it was signed for.
I need to find out how to get to the "Escalated Customer Resolution Team"

[IcanthelpthewayIam]

might be worth getting in touch with your local delivery office manager, he can put the tracking number into his system and see the signature but he will also have access to the GPS information on where the signature was obtained, he should be able to print you out a google map with the exact GPS co ordinate where the item was scanned and signed for if it was a PDA being used at the time and also if it was working correctly

[Peter1234]

Do you mean my local office would do this?

[IcanthelpthewayIam]

Do you mean my local office would do this?

yeah better at your local office rather than trying to get customer service to do it, id go in with the reciept and ask the manager to track it and print out the GPS location, just remember they wont be able to answer any difficult questions about why it was signed for at wrong place etc just they will be able to give your the information on system a little bit quicker than waiting for customer service to look into it, once you have that info you will know quite quickly where the problem actually is

also just to add, the GPS location is not always recorded

[IcanthelpthewayIam]

also put the post code of the recipient into this website

http://www.voa.gov.uk/cti/InitS.asp?lcn=0" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

just to check it is actually a single address and not multiple flats, id also put the address in google street maps too