I recently sold some stamps to an overseas customer for £5. I gave a clear choice of postage prices - International Standard for £2.40 ***at buyer's risk*** or International Tracked and Signed for £7.75. The buyer chose the cheaper option - £2.40. The item was dispatched at the local post office and a Certificate of Posting was obtained.The buyer is now saying that after 6 weeks the stamps have not arrived and wants a refund. As the buyer took a gamble with International Standard delivery, which is not tracked, am I obliged to make a refund?
[If the answer to my question is Yes, then I have lost my stamps and paid the cost for postage that I can't recover. In the circumstances ALL buyers could select the cheapest postage cost, untracked, in the certain knowledge that they have nothing to lose if the item gets lost in the post, but everything to gain by saving postage costs. The seller will always be the loser!]
As a follow on question, say the item was sent to a UK address by First Class post (untracked) at the purchaser's request, a Certificate of Posting was obtained and then the item "got lost in the post." (1) Does the seller have to make a refund? (2) Does the Post Office have to pay the seller compensation, as a Certificate of Posting was obtained? Or (3) are Certificates of Posting not worth the paper they are printed on?
Thanks
