Mother's anger with Royal Mail

[DGP1]

it's £2.20 special saturday guarentee. must be posted on friday only.

special delivery 9am next day costs £10.85 (100g) with £50 compensation

or special delivery next day £4.95 (up to 100g) £500 compensation £5.40 (500g)

are there any stories of special deliveries going awol? or is it mere coincidence they get delivered because rm would have to pay compensation?

Specials do go missing but because the sender gets compensated it doesn't get into to media.

[johnsouthwales]

a sender is financially at a loss anyway no matter what the amount is, whether its a fiver or five hundred. if someone sends a £500 cheque or store voucher special next day and it gets lost, the amount will be paid out, but still had to pay the initial £4.95

when specials go missing, that is a problem.

the problem is, items go missing and its royal mail and taxpayers money that gets used to pay out on claims. the money paid out on claims has better uses whether in employing or used on improved wages..

[johnsouthwales]

oops cheques are construed as money - so what's the difference between sending money through recorded delivery and special delivery?

absolutely no difference because they go through the system anyway

[pinstripe]

oops cheques are construed as money - so what's the difference between sending money through recorded delivery and special delivery?

absolutely no difference because they go through the system anyway

I agree but you have to play the game by their (RM's) rules. If RM say valuable, they obviously mean anything more expensive than 6 stamps. It is difficult for a special to go missing, when they do it is either going to be a case of theft either within RM or more likely on the street, or lost. The delivery postie will be accountable for the last 2.
Special delivery does cost a lot, a lot more than recorded, but sometimes it is worth paying extra.

[johnsouthwales]

putting aside the theft theory, how is it possible to be lost? there are only two cirumstances how a package or letter can be lost, and one of them isn't actually lost but mislaid. losing something is permanent. mislaid is temporary until rediscovered.

the only way i can see losing something is by dropping something and not realising its been dropped. what are the chances of this? virtually 0%
or even accidentally putting a letter through someone elses letterbox by mistake. virtually 0% unless it's an address which is similar..road, lane etc
mislaying something is putting something aside temporarily and forgetting.

what are the chances of using cars to deliver being broken into? or even worse, using a car to deliver, a couple of letters falling down a side or behind something, or that car gets taken into a garage for a service and some chancer spots some mail and helps himself?

businesses pass additional costs such as specials onto customers. imagine 1000's every day. do you think it's fair to pass on costs? i don't.
emptying sacks. tip it upside down and one or two letters get stuck at the bottom. virtually 0%. or even worse, a couple of letters get stuck in the sack and the sack gets thrown away cos of wear and tear.

emptying mailboxes. loss - virtually 0% .. it has happened before, the odd letter stuck inside.

theft from mailboxes. theft from delivery trollies.. theft from mailbag, theft from vans, theft from mail pouch, theft from bicycle pannier, theft from cars = loss through theft.

or even theft from the addressee's property either from exterior mailbox or someone reaching through letterbox. or even in weird circumstances the mail has actually arrived and got chewed by a dog, or dog carts it off and buries it in garden.

mail going missing such as flats, leave it on a table and let the occupants sort it out. sometimes someone picks up someone elses mail accidentally, puts it aside and forgets all about it, or dropped down the back of a cupboard.