Special Delivery got Lost - RM will not pay

[cymode]

Hi,
In October 2010 I have sent a parcel via special delivery 500 pounds insurance. It was a brand new iPhone 4.

Since then Royal Mail refuses to pay me out even though the recepient never got it.

Apparently it was signed for at the post office, but the signature is nowhere close to the recipients one. Royal Mail customer service agreed that one of the employees might have opened it and after seeing what's inside decided to steal the parcel.

Ever since RM just "concludes" the matter with:

"I accept that the signature may not the that of Mr. XXX. However, we do perform stringent identification checks on people when they come to collect an item. We will onlx release an item if the person collecting can produce identification for the adressee. I therfore suggest that Mr. XXX checks with other people at XXX(his address), if your item still cannot be located.
I'm afreiad there are no further investigations I can make, so I hope that the action and explanation above resolves your enquiry and concludes this matter."

I want my money back. This is absolutely rediculous, why bother sending INSURED AND TRACKED parcels when RM clearly does not give sheit.
Everytime I'm on the phone with them I misteriously get a dropped call....hmmm, how come... I've spent over 25 pounds in phone bills now with their hotline. All I ever hear is, yes, I agree, yes, yes, totally agree, I'm sorry that happened, let me put you through - HANG UP. Every time they hang up on me, and everytime I get something in writing they tell me that they can't help me....

How can I get my money back?

Cheers
Cymode

[POSTMAN]

However, we do perform stringent identification checks on people when they come to collect an item. We will onlx release an item if the person collecting can produce identification for the adressee. I therfore suggest that Mr. XXX checks with other people at XXX(his address), if your item still cannot be located.

It has been signed for and the above is true in 99.99% of stuff that is collected at our delivery offices.
The person who you sent it to is having you on i think.
RM can do no more.It has been signed for and ID has been confirmed.

Royal Mail customer service agreed that one of the employees might have opened it and after seeing what's inside decided to steal the parcel.

This could of happened of course but it's very unlikely.What would of happened is the delivey office would of got a report from customer service and it would of been investigated their end.

[POSTMAN]

If you don't mind,what is the 1st bit only of the postcode you sent it to.

[cymode]

The recipient never received it. It was him who said they should check surveilance tapes and get the phone blocked.
The first digits of the post code were SK15.

[fishtank]

I am afraid that if someone turned up with the correct I.D. and the P739 card then they must have at least had access to the recipients address.
It is now a case of theft and identity fraud and should be handled by the police,not Royal Mail.
If the police believe that a Royal Mail employee was involved then you can go back to Royal Mail seeking compensation.

[Lounge Lizard]

I am afraid that if someone turned up with the correct I.D. and the P739 card then they must have at least had access to the recipients address.
It is now a case of theft and identity fraud and should be handled by the police,not Royal Mail.
If the police believe that a Royal Mail employee was involved then you can go back to Royal Mail seeking compensation.

Yes, and the local police might well be aware of other instances of such crime in Ashton Under Lyme.

[cymode]

No wonder Royal Mail has the most "lost" parcels in Europe. If there is no way to punish the thieves, then of course they will continue to steal.
DHL has a "lost" parcel rate of 0.01%. Royal Mail "loses" nearly 20% of it's mail going abroad "IF IT IS NOT TRACKED". I hate Royal Mail for not protecting it's customers. Surely it can't be too hard, all others seem to be able to do it.

So how is the police supposed to prove identitiy theft or that the post office employee stole the parcel and signed for it himself? I bet Royal Mail has by now deleted all cctv tapes even though they know the parcel has been missing since october.

I think I'll have to get a lawyer into this, and maybe start a campaign against RM at my university. There are plenty of others that would love to boycott RM.

[billyhayes]

No wonder Royal Mail has the most "lost" parcels in Europe. If there is no way to punish the thieves, then of course they will continue to steal.
DHL has a "lost" parcel rate of 0.01%. Royal Mail "loses" nearly 20% of it's mail going abroad "IF IT IS NOT TRACKED". I hate Royal Mail for not protecting it's customers. Surely it can't be too hard, all others seem to be able to do it.

So how is the police supposed to prove identitiy theft or that the post office employee stole the parcel and signed for it himself? I bet Royal Mail has by now deleted all cctv tapes even though they know the parcel has been missing since october.

I think I'll have to get a lawyer into this, and maybe start a campaign against RM at my university. There are plenty of others that would love to boycott RM.

So you've decided to completely ignore every bit of sound advice from posties who have decades of experience!!????

CALL THE OLD BILL! Whether you want to believe you have been mugged off by the recipient or not, (which very much seems to be the case), this is the only option left.

A lawyer you say? Goodness, students can't be that hard up if they can afford to "get a lawyer into this".

Good luck with the campaign. Maybe you can get the art department to knock up some placards etc.

Just to give you a heads up... Iphone V4s can't be blocked if you jailbreak it and roll back the baseband.

[arnold cheshire]

the recepient has clearly received the item and just signed with a fake signature and then said they havent recieved it happens all the time

[TrueBlueTerrier]

the recepient has clearly received the item and just signed with a fake signature and then said they havent recieved it happens all the time

That appears most likely to me as well, but it is difficult for people to accept they have been done over. If he really believes that it has been stolen either by a light fingered postie, or fraud by the receipient then he has to take it to the police. Complaining on an unofficial chat site is a little inefectual and pointless but as long as he his happy to take it no further there is not much anyone can do for him

[mazza111]

Apparently it was signed for at the post office, but the signature is nowhere close to the recipients one. Royal Mail customer service agreed that one of the employees might have opened it and after seeing what's inside decided to steal the parcel.

I'm sorry to pick holes in this statement. The item was signed for at the Post Office. That means that tracking would show it's made it as far as the Post Office and not the Delivery Office? And I seriously find it hard to believe that any CSA agreed that it may have been stolen by a RM/PO employee. There is always a possibility of theft in any business of course, and yes it is a possibility.

Maybe you should look at it from the point of view of RM/PO. Someone has had the red card, called the Delivery office or arranged online to pick up the package from the PO. Then gone to the PO along with ID and the red card, signed for the item in question. As far as RM is concerned it's fulfilled it's obligation to you as a customer. Now, IF the recipient hasn't picked up the parcel as stated from the Post Office, then it's fraud. Fraud is a matter for the police. Which is what you have been advised in previous posts.

As for the fact that the signature is nothing like the person's signature. Have u ever tried to sign using one of the PDAs? Any time I've had to use it, I feel like I'm using etchasketch.

TBH it sounds like you have been ripped off. If your buyer didn't collect the phone from the PO, then who did? Someone with his ID and red card or a member of staff at the PO? I think it's more than likely to be the first. There's not many things that go missing from a PO without people being aware of it

[sidewinder]

Others seem to be able to do it?mmmm. You haven't worked (I have for rm TNT and dhl) in the industry have you? I can tell you that dhls network leaves something else to the imagination. I digress. It's been signed for by persons known or unknown.I regularly take in things by all sorts of delivery people in my small road. Eg I took a huge 60 inch tv in from dpd last week and they didn't even let my neighbour know. Now being honest and not wanting this monster tv box living in my living room and he wasn't in I had this thing in my house for 2 days.

[POSTMAN]

Royal Mail "loses" nearly 20% of it's mail going abroad "

Anyone see the flaw?

[cymode]

CALL THE OLD BILL! Whether you want to believe you have been mugged off by the recipient or not, (which very much seems to be the case), this is the only option left.

A lawyer you say? Goodness, students can't be that hard up if they can afford to "get a lawyer into this".

Good luck with the campaign. Maybe you can get the art department to knock up some placards etc.

Just to give you a heads up... Iphone V4s can't be blocked if you jailbreak it and roll back the baseband.

1) I have called him. He said he didn't pick it up and I should get the police involved.
2) Lawyer for me is free, if you havn't covered yourself properly then you should maybe look into this.
3) iPhone 4's can not be Carrier BLOCKED. Atm you can't roll back the baseband, otherwise nobody would have any unlock issues. On a side note, Jailbreak for ios4.2.1 came out yesterday for Macs. You cannot UNBLOCK a phone in the UK unless you change the IMEI which isn't possible with the iPhone since firmare 1.3

I'll head over to the police office later on and file a claim.

[wiganpostie]

An unusual case, and if I may be so bold, I think there's obviously some extraterrestrial involvement here, since you have singularly ruled out the most likely explanations. ET has indeed phoned home, and on your blagged shiny new iphone 4. I suggest that a phone call to Mulder and Scully may be in order.