No surprise that Royal Mail auctions lost parcels

[TrueBlueTerrier]

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A seller has got more than a little irate when they discovered that an item they had sold and was lost in the post turned up for sale on eBay. It made the BBC news this weekend.

The back story is that the seller sold a selection of valuable Scalextric cars for over £400 and shipped them on Royal Mail First Class postage with Recorded Delivery (Signed For). When they went missing, Royal Mail apparently paid just £1.10 in compensation.

There are two things of interest here and the first is that the seller used the wrong shipping method. As a business customer Royal Mail is only ever going to refund the cost of the item (that is the cost the seller paid, not the price they sold the items for). It’s not Royal Mail’s job to insure your profits, only your costs. Regardless of this, if you post something worth over £400, whether as a business or an individual, use an appropriate shipping method and pay extra for the appropriate level of insurance if you expect to be reimbursed for any loss.

The second thing that is worth noting is that yes Royal Mail do dispose of items lost in the post if they’re unable to reunite them with the owner. The seller in question seems rather shocked at this notion accusing Royal Mail of acting dishonestly. The thing is though that Royal Mail delivery billions of items and have been doing so for over 500 years. If only a tiny fraction of parcels are lost that still adds up to a mountain of undeliverable items. Just what are Royal Mail supposed to do with all these things other than to dispose of them in some manner or other?

No one is saying that Royal Mail should be careless with items in the postal system and they are a fantastic service. Sometimes items will be badly wrapped, labels come detached or items damaged. These things happen and when they do it really shouldn’t come as a surprise to discover Royal Mail won’t keep your items in a gigantic lost and found warehouse for the next 500 years.

Moral of the story, ship with insurance if you’re despatching valuable items and if you don’t then swallow the loss as a business cost. That applies with Royal Mail or any other courier you may choose to use.

[Twiglet]

As the seller and sender in question, let me point out a few facts.
I have a royal Mail account with a daily postal collection. The parcel was sent correctly labelled as follows : Postage label with our unique business number on it, Recorded Delivery label with tracking number, docket envelope on the front containing the invoice with our business address on it, customers full delivery address including postcode etc.
The parcel was signed for on collection. The customer contacted his local delivery office when it never arrived, and received a letter from Royal Mail confirming that the parcel never reached there. I stated a Royal Mail Compensation Claim 4 weeks after posting the parcel, and received the standard form letters. I sent all the required documents (copy of despatch book receipt, purchase invoices for the items, etc). Royal Mail take weeks to respond to any of this.
The items turned up for sale on Ebay, so I started a Royal Mail Security Investigation (different to their customer service and claims department) and also a Police Investigation. The Ebay seller was arrested but produced a receipt showing the items were legally bought from an auction house. The Police pursued this and the auction house confirmed the sale, and also that they had a continuous contract to dispose of Royal Mail parcels.
I have had the run-around from Royal Mail for many months and many letters, which Royal Mail finalised by sending £1.10 compensation, which doesn’t even cover the cost of the postage, before closing the compensation claim. Although confirming they lost the parcel they have never admitted to selling it. They have given no explanation as to how a parcel so clearly marked with so many identifying labels would be classed as missing and then sold, and refused to discuss any proper compensation despite the proof of value.

[Godric]

as i said on the other thread Royal Mail are in the wrong if the above is true

how can it be classed as lost if Royal Mail sold the items in the parcel

[Lounge Lizard]

As the seller and sender in question, let me point out a few facts.
I have a royal Mail account with a daily postal collection. The parcel was sent correctly labelled as follows : Postage label with our unique business number on it, Recorded Delivery label with tracking number, docket envelope on the front containing the invoice with our business address on it, customers full delivery address including postcode etc.
The parcel was signed for on collection. The customer contacted his local delivery office when it never arrived, and received a letter from Royal Mail confirming that the parcel never reached there. I stated a Royal Mail Compensation Claim 4 weeks after posting the parcel, and received the standard form letters. I sent all the required documents (copy of despatch book receipt, purchase invoices for the items, etc). Royal Mail take weeks to respond to any of this.
The items turned up for sale on Ebay, so I started a Royal Mail Security Investigation (different to their customer service and claims department) and also a Police Investigation. The Ebay seller was arrested but produced a receipt showing the items were legally bought from an auction house. The Police pursued this and the auction house confirmed the sale, and also that they had a continuous contract to dispose of Royal Mail parcels.
I have had the run-around from Royal Mail for many months and many letters, which Royal Mail finalised by sending £1.10 compensation, which doesn’t even cover the cost of the postage, before closing the compensation claim. Although confirming they lost the parcel they have never admitted to selling it. They have given no explanation as to how a parcel so clearly marked with so many identifying labels would be classed as missing and then sold, and refused to discuss any proper compensation despite the proof of value.

Yes, very disappointing but, firstly, "Royal Mail First Class postage with Recorded Delivery (Signed For)" is for items worth up to £50 not "over £400" and, secondly, with a "docket envelope on the front containing the invoice with our business address on it, customers full delivery address including postcode etc." if that docket envelope becomes detached during transit then the £400 parcel has lost both the addressee's address and the senders, your, address.