So called lost parcels

lostparcelagain · Post by **lostparcelagain** » 29 Jan 2019, 17:46

An email I sent to the CEO Mr Back on the 25th.

He hasn't had the courtesy to reply.

Dear Mr Back

Re claim No's 181223-000469 and 181223-000484

I have made two claims for items that supposedly are lost in your system. Both packaged well with the address label sellotaped over and a return label attached. Both sent 1st class signed for. How they can be lost is beyond me,I suggest they are missing for another reason.

Both these packages were sent separately to the same address for a reason, I have had packages go missing many times in in the past. By posting them separately I am minimising my loss but failed this time.

I have submitted claims and received a cheque and reply for one so far. I gave evidence to show the items cost etc and this is over £50.00. I have received a cheque for £25.86. with a letter saying that ... I realise that this is less than your original claim,but note that £50.00 is the most we pay for lost Royal Mail Signed For items. Why did I only get the smaller amount ?

I will not be banking that cheque and will not accept this amount in any way. I have called Royal Mail but am disgusted that not only you lose my parcels,you offer less than I am due and you charge everyone on a premium rate telephone line when calling to discuss a complaint. I have also not had a reply about my complaint

I have waited long enough for this to be sorted and will not be contacting Royal Mail again.

If I do not receive the full amount of compensation for both parcels within 7 working days I am now putting Royal Mail on notice that I will be taking them to court

over this matter.

I would like an immediate reply and my solicitor has said that I should also put this in writing to you and send Recorded Delivery, ( lets hope that arrives ).

Regards

M.Bathurst

Post by **fb1969** » 29 Jan 2019, 18:12

Not sure if you want a reply, or why this is posted in "Introduce Yourself" when it probably should be in "Customers". But either way, this forum is not run by Royal Mail and is not connected to Royal Mail other than it being used by posties.

Anyway, a few points as a consumer and not as a postie.

1 - Emailing the CEO is unlikely to get a reply from the CEO, and even if you did get a reply it would take longer than from the 25th to the 29th (including a weekend).

2 - If the items were valued at over £50 why did you use a service that would only compensate up to £50. The compensation is a form of insurance, if you under insured any other item and then claimed it is possible the pay out would be reduced by the amount you under insured for. Not saying this has happened here, but it is possible.

3 - If you took this matter further it would be through the Small Claims Court. That system rarely requires a solicitor, and even if it did there are strict limits to whether their fees can be claimed for.

4 - I would be amazed if any solicitor suggested your email would suffice as a "Letter Before Action" as there is a correct format for such a letter. Likewise, a Letter Before Action does not need to be sent by anything other than standard postage. Again I would be amazed if a solicitor would advise you otherwise.

Post by **TrueBlueTerrier** » 29 Jan 2019, 18:43

Moved into Customers forum.

Post by **Snaggletooth** » 30 Jan 2019, 06:45

Rather than starting a small claims court action, you could use the escalated complaints procedure. If you work your way through this you will eventually get to speak to the Government appointed ombudsman.

https://personal.help.royalmail.com/app ... mplaint%3F" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

lostparcelagain wrote:I have called Royal Mail but am disgusted that not only you lose my parcels,you offer less than I am due and you charge everyone on a premium rate telephone line when calling to discuss a complaint.

Royal Mail's customer number is local rate. The number is 03457 740 740. If you have called a premium rate number then you have been scammed by someone who was advertising on Google, offering to put you through to RM and send you a transcript of the call for some stupid premium call rate. This scamming advert has now been taken down, but it definitely existed a couple of weeks ago because I saw it myself.

lostparcelagain · Post by **lostparcelagain** » 31 Jan 2019, 07:56

Snaggletooth wrote:Rather than starting a small claims court action, you could use the escalated complaints procedure. If you work your way through this you will eventually get to speak to the Government appointed ombudsman.

https://personal.help.royalmail.com/app ... mplaint%3F" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

lostparcelagain wrote:I have called Royal Mail but am disgusted that not only you lose my parcels,you offer less than I am due and you charge everyone on a premium rate telephone line when calling to discuss a complaint.
Royal Mail's customer number is local rate. The number is 03457 740 740. If you have called a premium rate number then you have been scammed by someone who was advertising on Google, offering to put you through to RM and send you a transcript of the call for some stupid premium call rate. This scamming advert has now been taken down, but it definitely existed a couple of weeks ago because I saw it myself.

If Royal Mail can't pay what is due when I put in a claim I am not going to bother escalating and chasing different procedures.
This is time and hassle for me and if Royal Mail was run properly I wouldn't need to.
The claim should have been settled fully within a couple of weeks.

lostparcelagain · Post by **lostparcelagain** » 31 Jan 2019, 08:15

fb1969 wrote:Not sure if you want a reply, or why this is posted in "Introduce Yourself" when it probably should be in "Customers". But either way, this forum is not run by Royal Mail and is not connected to Royal Mail other than it being used by posties.

Anyway, a few points as a consumer and not as a postie.

1 - Emailing the CEO is unlikely to get a reply from the CEO, and even if you did get a reply it would take longer than from the 25th to the 29th (including a weekend).

2 - If the items were valued at over £50 why did you use a service that would only compensate up to £50. The compensation is a form of insurance, if you under insured any other item and then claimed it is possible the pay out would be reduced by the amount you under insured for. Not saying this has happened here, but it is possible.

3 - If you took this matter further it would be through the Small Claims Court. That system rarely requires a solicitor, and even if it did there are strict limits to whether their fees can be claimed for.

4 - I would be amazed if any solicitor suggested your email would suffice as a "Letter Before Action" as there is a correct format for such a letter. Likewise, a Letter Before Action does not need to be sent by anything other than standard postage. Again I would be amazed if a solicitor would advise you otherwise.

1 - The CEO's office has replied and stated that I should have been refunded the full £50.00 as in Royal Mail terms and conditions,a cheque is on the way.

2- As a business we send 1000's of small parcels every year. The value of these two was £60.00 each and the postage cost £6.50. If we sent them by Special deliver the cost would be £13.26.
By sending them signed for we are saving a great deal of money. We have had parcels stolen before. Both these parcels were going to the same address but we always send them seperately
now in case one does get stolen. We have lost out by £20.00 this time but that is not an issue to us,we have saved £100's by sending this way.

3 - As a 40 year old business we have always used a solicitor for any small claims court action and our solicitor has come to any hearing with the other side paying costs. Our solicitor advises
that any important letter such as a letter giving seven days notice must be sent as signed for. If you send a summons to someone that claims they have never been warned of court action
once they get to court and you can't prove they received it, the court will say they haven't been given a chance to put things right.

We have now started using another delivery service for our parcels not because we had these go missing but because of the way Royal Mail take too long in processing claims and when they do try to pay less than what owed and is in their own terms and conditions. We don't need the hassle of going through the endless claims and review panels etc.
No wonder Royal Mail shares have dropped

leolion855 · Post by **leolion855** » 31 Jan 2019, 13:51

Which company have you transferred business to?

Post by **greengiant** » 03 Feb 2019, 12:03

And will you still pay for a lesser level of compensation to "save on postage"?

oktmj · Post by **oktmj** » 10 Feb 2019, 04:53

Post by **Navalron** » 12 Feb 2019, 02:41

Signed for (recorded) just goes along with the normal mail/parcels. Special delivery (registered) goes through a secure system alongside the normal mail. Yes you could probably get it a bit cheaper sending it by YODEL/HERMES but a better service, no chance. RM could in fact refuse to pay you anything as you hadn't paid for the correct level of insurance, making the transaction void. It's all there in the terms and conditions of carriage.

lostparcelagain · Post by **lostparcelagain** » 06 Mar 2019, 21:27

CEO's office has paid the full amount due under Royal Mails terms and conditions.
Today 6-3-19 I find another 3 x parcels have been stolen by Royal Mail staff.
They were all signed for parcels posted at different times,collected from the post office then vanished without trace.
This is getting beyond a joke.

Post by **TrueBlueTerrier** » 07 Mar 2019, 11:23

Accusing Royal Mail staff of stealing items on a Royal Mail staff site is not a good way of getting help from us.

Yes, there are a few thieves that let us all down, but the vast majority are hard working and honest.