Lost post

[Craftpaperandcard]

I have been using ppi pst through my oba fir 5 months now and have been really pleased with the savings made on my postage costs. I am a sole trader and have a website and an eBay shop. It has come to light this week after numerous queries from customers that a whole batch of orders sent out on the 7th feb has gone missing. Thes orders were varied and so would not just have been in one bag but sorted into type I.e large letter or packet etc. the problems this has caused me are immense especially with the eBay customers who are very flippant with their feedback which if negative can cause untold damage to an eBay business seller, I have contacted the royal mail and the long and short of it is that I cannot claim for the loss of the goods never mind the postage paid to the royal mail for them to 'lose' my mail. I ha ve been to the local royal mail collection office and met with a manager who said he would look into this but haven't heard anything back from him yet. so far the loss of all the orders sent out on that day has cost me over £250 which is a big loss for any small business. Has anyone experienced this kind of incident before and if so what action can be taken?

[Lounge Lizard]

The "whole batch of orders sent out on the 7th feb ... sorted into type I.e large letter or packet etc" - is that sorted by you before handing over to Royal Mail ? For a whole batch to go missing it appears to have done so near your end not the delivery end - perhaps mislaid locally for a week and on it's way shortly - shouldn't happen, and no excuse, but maybe possibly late rather than worse ?

[Craftpaperandcard]

I totally agree, this is 3 bags of mail not 1 item. Will be starting at he post office it was dropped off at tomorrow, been sending my post from there for 5 years and totally trust the couple who run it so don't think is their fault, it has to have gone missing somewhere between the po and the sorting office, probably in the back of a van somewhere, i am determined to get some kind of a conclusion on this, don't know how it all works once it has left he po but am going to push until I find out. Thanks for your response, much appreciated. Pam

[Hecate]

Hi & Kindest Wishes to All on this site

I am desperately worried about 2 articles of missing post sent from S70 to a care home in South Wales via recorded signed for mail. The first was sent on 8th February. It still hasnt arrived at the care home. The second (intended to 'mend' the distress caused by lack of the first letter) was sent same method - letter/recorded signed-for-first class on 14th Feb. This hasnt arrived at the care home either.
Both letters contained personal information of a legal and personal nature. Both letters are of utmost importance to the resident in the care home. Non-delivery as the care home staff say - has caused immense distress to the person concerned.

I have tracked and traced: both are 'being processed'. I have automated replies from Royal Mail online contact forms. I have been given a claim form from the sub-post office where I sent them from (S75).

I am at my wit's end. I have used this method to this address for 3+ years, with no problems. The postal service in S70 and S75 has been 100% perfect up till now. I am very worried now as it is imperative that the addressee receives my regular post. It is quite simply a matter of life value for this person.

Please - is there anyone out there who can advise on what I can do? Do I involve the Police and ask for an investigation? I am nervous now about sending future mail to this person - what do I do?

Any kind-meant advice very welcome.
Thanks and kind wishes.

[wannabeek]

Hi there, the first thing I'd do is ask the recipient to check with their local caller's office to see if any items are being held there. They should be able to check over the phone whether something is waiting to be collected. There should have been a red 'Something For You' card left at the address but maybe correct procedure wasn't followed?

[newsubbie]

Hecate - if something is vitally important then it should be sent by special delivery. Recorded delivery is just the normal post - with a signature when it is delivered. It is no more secure or safe than sticking a stamp on an item. Please don't get me wrong - it isn't acceptable that these two items have gone astray - but recorded isn't a trackable 'secure' guaranteed service which it sounds like you needed?

[shipmaster122]

I totally agree, this is 3 bags of mail not 1 item. Will be starting at he post office it was dropped off at tomorrow, been sending my post from there for 5 years and totally trust the couple who run it so don't think is their fault, it has to have gone missing somewhere between the po and the sorting office, probably in the back of a van somewhere, i am determined to get some kind of a conclusion on this, don't know how it all works once it has left he po but am going to push until I find out. Thanks for your response, much appreciated. Pam

We're also PPI customers, and segregate the mail according to class and format like yourselves. You should be able to claim if you have the PO stamped OBA printout... or do you still use paper dockets? Because we fill out the posting details on the OBA and then print off two copies (one which is put into the yellow Revenue Protection pouch), and the other one we get the Post Office to stamp. If you have the stamped one, you should be able to claim..

Let me know if I can help you further.

[hypa]

hi

i've just added a post in this forum because noticed lots more of our mail lost in last few weeks - posted at 2 different locations and at different dates.

We have been a PPI customer for several years.

Unfortunately just recently found out as RM Business customers who pay by account (OBA) that since since Jan 2012 we are no longer able to get compensation for late or lost mail.....great!

[shipmaster122]

Hmm thats terrible.. Possibly ring up customer services business centre telling them that you think this is not acceptable etc, and that you are considering reporting this to the postal watchdog etc? That should get something done. In the meantime, I would advise dropping off your mail at a different post office or even taking it directly to the city delivery/sorting office who will put it directly onto the trucks to the mail centre?

[bobarthur]

Hello
This is my first time on the forums and very helpful they are so thank you.

I am unfortunately quite stressed at the moment. I started using an OBA account at the end of April, the non vat BPL code and was so pleased as it really helped my little company with the rise in prices. However, sadly I have received numerous complaints from customers (mainly amazon) regarding items not received. I stayed up all night checking these and it turns out that they were all in the same sack sent on 3rd May. I think the complaints all came over the last couple of days due to the estimated delivery time elapsing on the river. I have re-sent as many as I can although out of stock of some but obviously as most business owners know my cause for concern are the negatives that I am praying I do not get or it is your amazon account gone (sales will disappear) and it is a very important part of our business, one we just cannot afford to lose. I have been told I can claim due to it being a bpl account but I wondered if anyone can offer any help as to what on earth has happend to this sack of packets. They were sent second class, sadly with lighter items customers just will not cover the recorded or special delivery cost and a small business cannot cover this huge cost either unless met by the customer. Our return address is of course on all of them but I am just baffled as to where the parcels could have gone. I spoke to Amazon and they said that if they can have confirmation that the sack is lost they are willing to help with any adverse problems but when I contacted royal mail they would not give me a Managers name for them to contact. I do have the persons name who I spoke to and totally understand he is doing his job and was very sympathetic and confirmed it looked like the sack has been misplaced or lost?

Any help would very much appreciated. Many thanks Jacquie

Does anyone have experience of this and how to deal with Amazon with regard to this situation as my main priority is keeping our Amazon account in good order.

[POSTMAN]

Very rare for a whole sack to go missing,was the sack collected by us or taken to a PO?

[bobarthur]

Thank you for replying. I take the sacks to my village post office, I have always used them before having an account and because I know them well they were happy to allow me to take the sacks there. I have spoken to them and our local sorting office but they have nothing there. It is just so weird but I have checked and double checked and all the packages in that sack are accounted for by a customer complaint. Could the sack have been placed somewhere and forgotten, or left in a van. I am clutching at straws but just don't know how to go about trying to find these packages. I am even more surprised because I do think the OBA is so well run for such a large company and think the system is fantastic. I am truly hoping this is definitely a one off and you stating this is unusual gives me some confidence. Many thanks

[chunk]

i can only confirm whats already been said.
once these sacks reach a mail centre they are quickly dispersed into different mail streams and are put in different areas for dispatch depending on first part of postcode .
a whole sack could been stolen (unlikely), lost or most probably delayed prior to this process.
you give no clue to your postcode so i cant know if there are any special issues in your locality such as mail centre closures/mergers ?

[Lounge Lizard]

Thank you for replying. I take the sacks to my village post office, I have always used them before having an account and because I know them well they were happy to allow me to take the sacks there. I have spoken to them and our local sorting office but they have nothing there. It is just so weird but I have checked and double checked and all the packages in that sack are accounted for by a customer complaint. Could the sack have been placed somewhere and forgotten, or left in a van. I am clutching at straws but just don't know how to go about trying to find these packages. I am even more surprised because I do think the OBA is so well run for such a large company and think the system is fantastic. I am truly hoping this is definitely a one off and you stating this is unusual gives me some confidence. Many thanks

Was the sack fullish or with just a bit in such that it might have been 'left in a van' or temporarily mixed up with some empty sacks? .

[bobarthur]

Many thanks for your replies. Our area is Suffolk cambridge but I have already been told there is no known problems. I don't think for a second that they have been stolen I would never even consider that, I just think someting has obviously gone wrong somwhere. The sack was 3/4 full therefore I doubt it could have been missed due to not looking like it didn't have any items. The gentleman I spoke to on the phone today did say that it could have been left in a van then there was bank holiday but I would still have thought items would have gone through the system by now. I have managed to find some of the products on Amazon and those sellers are forwarding the items on our behalf to our customers and am keeping fingers crossed this will help. The really helpful team leader (or whatever the title is- do apologise if this is wrong) gave me his name today and has said I could forward this to Amazon which I have done therefore I am also hoping this will help with our account should the worse happen.

I will send an accompanying letter with the claims and just hope that they can sort out what has happend. The items must be somewhere and I have informed all our customers that they will be required to complete a confirmation form from royal mail confirming their item has not arrived. I have sadly been informed on another forum that this has happend to other businesses in the past but it is obviously very unusual. No business is perfect I don't expect it to be, it is impossible to be, it is just mighty stressful when it happens to you. I will say that royal mail have been as helpful as they can be on the phone today, the guy was just great. I feel a bit calmer today it was just panic stations regarding our River account but I feel a bit more confident now that Amazon will look on us favourably with the action we have taken.