Royal Mail.......lost items!!!!!

Hi, has anyone noticed an increase in UK Royal Mail packages going "missing" recently. In the last 2 days I have had 3 different buyers claiming item has not arrived. One looks genuine as it is Recorded Delivery which has not arrived. The other 2 are fairly low value First Class items and of course I have no way of knowing if  this is genuine or not.


Prior to this (I have "lost" a few international parcels) but only 1 UK parcel last year went astray and never turned up.


Anyone else having problems with this?


 


 

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Royal Mail.......lost items!!!!!

Maybe they are getting the idea from this very topic?? Lol


 


As for telling the buyer about opening an INR case, this is NOT a good idea, as I did that to someone I suspected was not being honest and guess what ... now I have a case open (which was quickly closed - but thats one on my record!!!!). So much for "they won't do that!" - hmm, back to the drawing board ...


 


So what are Amazon doing that is so different? Why do they not (ALLEGEDLY) get this issue?


 


Simon

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Royal Mail.......lost items!!!!!

I have had one parcel to uk that was sent on the 22nd August go missing. I now ave another to use sent on the 28th August.Not very impressed with the Royal Mail system recently. I have refunded one buyer and sent a duplicate item to the other.

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Royal Mail.......lost items!!!!!

Wow, about an hour ago I put a post on about missing parcels, & I just scrolled down and seen this one.  Amazing.  We have had, 7 parcels go "missing" in the last month.  I am sure some are genuine, but I struggle to think they all are.



I use a franking machine, my return address is clear as day, I use document enclosed wallets with the invoice clearly displayed and parcel well packaged.  Still parcels missing left right & centre. Feels like every time I check the email, another missing parcel.



I too, may jump ship and concentrate on my own website - just 1 parcel missing from website in 10 months of trading....at least 15 through eBay - coincidence??

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Royal Mail.......lost items!!!!!

"


Wow, thanks for that reply - now made me very wary, but also as we approach Top Rated Seller (in the next week or two hopefully) this also puts a question mark on whether we should jump ship to Amazon, etc, or continue to 'put up with it', at an ever increasing cost to our business."


 


We sell on 6 amazon sites. Can still get customers 'not receiving' items. Still get people scamming. Get people opening A-Z claims without contacting seller and so on.


 


If someone is going to be a problem for you they will be so on whatever site.


Just ebay fees are not the same as amazon. Some different clientele. And own rather than shared listings.

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Royal Mail.......lost items!!!!!

Traditionally my lost item count has been very low. Recently it has jumped. Personally i think it is a problem with RM rather than customer base. A lot of my items go Recorded and ISF and the numbers are simply not activating on the system. ISF used to at least show when items had been passed overseas - these days they just seem to bypass any scanning. Dont know how that can happen and have spoken to RM about it several times who seem to have no real interest in that.


 


Am assuming that sellers who take their parcels to post office at least get the initial post office scan on recorded and ISF. Mine are collected in sacks though.

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Royal Mail.......lost items!!!!!


So what are Amazon doing that is so different? Why do they not (ALLEGEDLY) get this issue?


 


Their feedback system doesn't have DSR's and isn't as active or visible as eBays.  You also don't get extra discounts for chasing the non existant DSR's and there's no incentive to cut your own nose off to keep buying bonus satisfaction levels at the whim of Amazon.  They already charge a % fee on postage so there's no point trying to hide it in the price.

That makes it easier to put a proper postage charge on the item or overall price so you don't lose money and can actually send it recorded.  It's amazing how little recorded post goes missing compared to non recorded.

They're still a shocking example of a company to work with. It seems the one thing eBay and Amazon have in common is for 2 market leading multi billion dollar online shopping sites, neither has a quality user friendly platform that works, and neither seems to have a grip on the basics of online retail and the needs of an online retailer.

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Royal Mail.......lost items!!!!!

Funny really, there seem to be a number of sellers (including us) who do well on amazon. And ebay.


As a company amazon seems to have decent sales overall (including marketplace). Yet you state they (and ebay) don't seem to 'have a grip on the basics of online retail and the needs of an online retailer'.


 


Thanks, made me smile. Haven't seen anything as funny in days.


 


Perhaps instead their successes are because they do have a grip on the basics of online retail and the needs of an online retailer? May have a different grip than you or I but I'm betting either one does considerably more turnover than you and I together.


 


I go to trade fairs when I can, not uncommon to hear either company held up as an example in seminars of 'successful business models'. Not always - there are other companies held up too.


 


I'll happily use either one (and indeed both) until something better comes along.

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Royal Mail.......lost items!!!!!

As a seller and a buyer on here I've had parcels go missing. I've been buying on ebay since about the year 2001 and from then to 2012 I have only had about 3 parcels not turn up with me. When you consider I buy an absolute lot on ebay including the majority of xmas/birthday presents, I don't feel that is too bad. Although royal mail ended a great supplier relationship I had a few years ago. I found him on ebay and ordered from him alot. One time the parcel never arrived and even though I genuinely hadn;t received it, he got quite nasty after that and blocked me from buying, calling me a scammer and allsorts. Good riddance I say really judging from that attitude.


 


Apart from that, as a seller I have had quite a large amount of items go missing. I don't get it, I put return addresses on ALL parcels and to date, out of all the missing parcels, only 1 ever turned back up on my doorstep. That was a recorded delivery item. But all the non recorded delivery items that I have sent out, have never been returned back to me, so I have no idea where they have gone. I get a few lost parcels a month. And I onyl have about 5 sales a day on here. On other websites to date, I have had 0 lost in the last few years even though everything is posted the same! At first I was always hoping it was royal mails cockup, but now I have a terrible feeling it isnt 😞

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Royal Mail.......lost items!!!!!

So ... the BIG question, is there even ANYTHING we can do about this? Both in terms of avoidance (which we probably all do), and then investigating what happened (e.g. via Royal Mail). I have yet to complete my claim forms for Royal Mail as it will take me quite a while to do so. Is it worth the effort, anyone??


 


Simon

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Royal Mail.......lost items!!!!!

It has definitely become a problem for me this year.


I previously lost possibly one in a thousand items, which is an acceptable amount.


Just compare it to stock "shrinkage"in a retail store.



Now it must be five times that amount, and is becoming a real annoyance.



I can't believe that ebayers have suddenly become so much more dishonest, even though times are harder.


I have no explanation other than that items are  being stolen at the Post Office.



But why would they be getting more dishonest?



I wonder whether there has been a change in employment standards.


Employing casuals instead of full time staff, less rigorous checks, using agencies etc?



The Post Office managers have been trying for years to make a sow's ear out of a silk purse.


Maybe they've finally done it.



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Royal Mail.......lost items!!!!!

annmccartan
Member

I posted last week about how many items I have had go missing, its so bad now I am thinking of giving up on ebay, I sell cosmetics and I have had 35 items lost in post on ebay last month and I sell twice that amount on amazon and have had only 1 lost in post on amazon,


ann

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Royal Mail.......lost items!!!!!

Wow, getting bad! I wonder if anyone working within eBay or Royal Mail can shed some light on this? Would be great to know where the issue really is, as nobody here can actually prove it - just speculation at the moment.


 


About to try Amazon but as it will be Jewellery category, still trying to expand stock enough and invest in barcodes before 'applying' to have the category opened up. So until then, it looks like my christmas items will be going on eBay.


 


Simon

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Royal Mail.......lost items!!!!!

Have fun with the jewellery fees on amazon.


 


Barcodes are cheap enough, GS1 do them for a little over £100 a year. http://www.gs1uk.org/about-us/Pages/Become-a-member.aspx


Thats for only 100,000 codes - enough for some of us.


 


You might want to look into using fulfilment by amazon. Storage costs are cheap, additional fees are cheap, no postage charges (but have to send goods via courier to amazon).

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Royal Mail.......lost items!!!!!

Thank You very much for that advice, will check it all out, was about to pay £100 for 50 barcodes, so your tip has prived very valuable.


 


The other thing I mentioned in my post was about if anyone from Royal Mail or eBay can shed any light on this whole 'missing item' scenario. Any offers from anyone who works (or has previously worked) 'on the inside'?


 


Hard to take any action, or make any preventative policies, if we do not know the real issue. It seems so far it is mostly speculation. Would be great if we had something conclusive to work from.


 


Also, are eBay aware of this? Has anyone been given any tips from eBay staff regarding missing items (other than stupid, obvious stuff like 'check address', 'put return address on', 'affix a stamp', 'wait 10 days' etc)


 


Simon

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Royal Mail.......lost items!!!!!

desotech
Member

Yes!!  



Does anyone know a better alternative to Royal Mail as I am getting fed up with items being stolen?



How do you leave feedback to indicate that the item didn't arrive, as this would be a good way of stopping a buyer from fraudulently claiming items didn't arrive?



And I rather believe Recorded Delivery just makes items more open to pilfering ...



This time round I've just lost a £55 item and have to refund the buyer. Big waste of time.

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Royal Mail.......lost items!!!!!

Hi, I'm a private seller and posted an item Recorded Delivery from Ireland via An Post nearly 2 weeks ago. It should have arrived within 3 days but the track and trace website says it has been with Royal Mail since 16th November (no signature delivery). I don't really know what to do. Does that mean it's missing or still sitting in a depot? The item is concert tickets (for this week) and I have proof of postage but don't know if I'll now have to refund the buyer as they have said they haven't received them. Don't know what to do now - any advice much appreciated, Thanks!

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Royal Mail.......lost items!!!!!

I've got a different theory on this now.  Most of my lost/stolen parcels do come back to me two months later.  Despite asking buyers to check at their delivery office, on most occasions the parcels come back with a sticker to say that the buyer did not collect from the pick up point.  Therefore my conclusion is that buyers are out, then find it easier to get a replacement item sent by the seller than go to their delivery office to pick up the parcel.


 


I am thinking of putting in place a new policy to deduct the 2nd lot of postage when I send the replacement item, and refund it only if the item doesn't return to me within 60 days.

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Royal Mail.......lost items!!!!!

gkim0
Member

I seriously think Royal Mail hates me. Everything that I ordered -- I would say up to 4 months recent-- my items get lost EVERY SINGLE TIME on eBay orders. Originally, I thought it was because of customs as I was in US at the time. Then when I was residing in London and bought stuff off eBay.co.uk my items would STILL get lost in the post. Even if the item was 3 hours away from me. This seriously sucks because I like getting my DVDs from the UK and such. I feel bad when I have to ask for the shipper to send it again. A couple of times, even if they shipped out items twice, it still would not come to me (in US and UK). 



I would say I have more luck with Amazon UK which is really weird because it's still Royal Mail. 

Message 98 of 1,017
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Royal Mail.......lost items!!!!!

You probably shouldnt have made that post - I can just hear all the keyboards clicking now as you go on everyone's blocked bidders list (incuding mine) :^O

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Royal Mail.......lost items!!!!!

I have never 'not received' an item or letter in my life, now after selling a few items I am having countless 'where's my item?'



There was no support from eBay whatsoever, really makes me feel really angry and upset that they are happy to take our fees but not support us while we are making them money!



As for the 'where's my item?' people, I am beginning not to reply to them at first and see if they go away, might not be the best way but the cheats may give up then....

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