Royal Mail International Standard Postage - Use at your own risk - A warning from a long time seller

[lee1980wolves]

I no longer use the service because of the following reasons:

1. Ebay often under estimate the real  ETA by a factor of weeks so this will lead to many cases being opened. 

2. If a case is opened, even if you have a certifacate of posting and you buy the label from Ebay, you will always lose the case and Ebay will give the following reason: 

"We reviewed this case and decided to issue the buyer a full refund.

We didn’t receive valid proof of delivery from you. Sellers must provide tracking information showing the item was delivered to the address provided in the order details."

Ebay will not take into account the fact you brought the label from them and give a link to the image of the certifacate posting. They click their own fake "tracking number" that is generated with any label, tracked or not, and then say "oh, doh, the tracking doesn't work...". Yeah, that's because there is no tracking on this service YOU sold to me through your own platform.

I spoke to 2 Ebay reps today and they both told me that there is zero protection for sellers without tracking.  A certifacate posting means nothing. The tracking number YOU provided is invalid so it's YOUR fault. 

I just wished they made this clear at the point of sale, otherwise I would have never used this service although it does hurt sales as it's not more to ship than the cost of the item.

[adamedx]

Hello,  if it is an international shipment with insurance up to £20 without tracking, will I refund the cost to the buyer and then receive compensation from the post office?

[jckl1957]

If the item has got lost and the buyer has opened a claim through Ebay stating that they have not received their item, then you should refund the buyer.

Make sure it is done through a case so you get your selling fees back.

Then you need to claim from Royal Mail.  You will need your proof of posting and evidence of the value of the item.  All the details and the form are on the RM website.

[myriad*seller]

As above, Royal Mail failed to deliver your parcel

The tracking number is actually a proof of delivery number, and if you item HAD been delivered the delivery number would show this. It is not truly trackable but is a number accepted by eBAy as proof of delivery.

As your item was not delivered (or not scanned) this counts as an item RM did not deliver so you can claim compensation from RM for the lost item.

If they had delivered it properly the number you allege is "fake" (it isn't, it is a proof of delivery code) would show on the system with a status of delivered. As it does not show delivered, RM have failed and you can make a claim for compensation. 

All first and second class small/medium/large parcels now come with free delivery confirmation (this is the number you are so suspicious of). If RM fail to deliver, then they owe you compensation for your lost item.

Claim forms are online 

[adamedx]

The buyer opened a refund case immediately after the delivery deadline, received a refund from the seller and the case was closed.
The seller filed a complaint with RM and is waiting up to three months for a response from RM because it is the international GB-DE.
If RM confirms receipt of the parcel and I do not receive compensation.
What to do next?

[jckl1957]

Are you the seller and find yourself in this situation or is this entirely hypothetical?

[adamedx]

I am a seller and this is a real situation waiting for a response from Royal Mail

[irt303]

"All first and second class small/medium/large parcels now come with free delivery confirmation"

@myriad*seller - Hi, I've not heard of this before, may I ask how one would access this delivery confirmation? I assume we're not talking about a tracking number, which would show delivery (or otherwise).

I've checked a few recent Certificates of Posting for items I sent untracked. One of them has a reference number (all digits) in the format xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx - is that what you're referring to? If so, I'm even more confused because a) the C of P that has this number is for a Large Letter, not S, M or L Parcel, and b) the other certificates don't have this reference number.

Or is this delivery confirmation number/code something displayed on eBay's system, not on the C of P or Royal Mail's system?

Sorry to butt in with all these questions, but I'm intrigued as to what this delivery confirmation is, and where/how it can be accessed. I hope you can shed some further light on this, thanks.

Edit: Or - another possibility - as the OP is about an item sent internationally, is this delivery confirmation only for items sent internationally (which mine were not)?

[jckl1957]

If the parcel is delivered after you refund you have to try and get the buyer to pay you again.

Otherwise, you have to wait for RM to decide whether or not to compensate you.  I assume you have started your claim.  They can be very slow (and sometimes very reluctant) to compensate for lost items.

I only post overseas nowadays using a tracked service because of a higher than expected number of items reported as lost, and difficulties and delays getting money back from RM.