Royal Mail Compensation

[jordan10000_123]

Hi,

I've recently sold an item for £60. I've dispatched this Royal Mail tracked 48hrs which 'covers the sold value'.

The parcel was dispatched on the 12th and tracking hasn't updated since the 14th. I've contacted RM who basically said they can't see any tracking updates, and to claim on the 22nd.

The item was a 20yr old doll therefore I don't have an original recipt. 

Does anyone have any recent experience with making a claim as I've seen so much conflicting information as to whether RM payout for the sold value. 

Thanks in advance.

[parsley2003]

And stamps that nobody will able able to use any more in the future

[tressygirl]

I've received two compensation amounts from Royal Mail  for lost items,  both in cheque form,  for me to trot down to the bank and deposit  them into my bank account.  Saves them asking for bank or  as you suggested PayPal account details, which many people are loathe to give out online,  unless necessary.

@davrman 

@dfernand101 

[hugothecockapoo]

I use parcel to go...always pay out providing you cover the correct cost of the goods you are sending...Never let me down once in 23 years of selling online.

[parsley2003]

There's no bank in my town wouldn't work for me

[ile136yz]

My Bank is not in a nearby town, but at the local post office shop I can send the occasional cheque for free to my Bank.

[4_bathrooms]

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@ile136yz wrote:

My Bank is not in a nearby town, but at the local post office shop I can send the occasional cheque for free to my Bank.

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It may be worth pointing out that most mobile banking apps allow you to pay in cheques to your account. Most have daily limits but the thresholds are well above anything anyone is likely to receive from Royal Mail. 

[5216elisabeth]

As a private seller they gave me the full sale price on lost items sent with 2nd class providing I sent a photo of the proof of postage as well as the eBay screenshots.

[dfernand101]

Just out of interest regarding the Ebay screenshots you sent Royal Mail was it the 'Invoice / Packing slip' you sent them which you can print out if you click on 'Print Invoice' (shows both buyer and seller address , order ID and sales value, shipping cost etc) OR instead was it the ebay 'Order Details' which shows a photo of the sales item with title of the item, sales value, shipping cost and tracking status, Order ID and address of buyer only ?? or did you send both ?  

I know Royal Mail on their web page have the option to upload additional documents of proof etc but I haven't used it, I only sent them the a screenshot of the  'Ebay Invoice / Packing Slip' + photo of the the Royal Mail  Certificate of Posting + the receipt I got from the drop shop showing the tracking code / date /time of posting etc

any advice would be appreciated, thanks.

[5216elisabeth]

I'm pretty sure it was just the order details sheet I used to send as it showed all the information they wanted : buyer name and address, sale price, tracking etc.  I haven't done one for a while and fortunately I didn't need to do many.  

[parsley2003]

Hi i haven't claimed for years it's so complicated last time i looked they
wanted my bank account and all sorts, i 've taken the loss a few times as
small amounts. They will want proof of the buyer saying not recieved and
the refund given as well and possibly proof on your back statement, and all
you will get is some stamps which we won't be able to use any more soon.
Last time ui claimed several years ago i did it all online with screenshots
i think

[dfernand101]

I have an item which was bought around 2016 I'm guessing and I don't even know where I bought it, so no receipt just an Ebay invoice - I also had to refund the buyer eventually when all hope of finding it was lost.

Royal Mail 48 tracked 'lost the parcel' the intended recipient tried to get it  from his local Royal Mail sorting office and no-one could tell him where the 'tracked parcel' actually was.

You call up Royal Mail Services to find out where your tracked parcel is and they say 'I don't know it's probably been sent to the Belfast, Northern Ireland returns center for processing' - a very shabby service. Apparently there was a 'Delivery Attempted - Address Incaccessible' on the status of the delivery, only one attempt and then vanished into this air (my parcel).

I have the Ebay sales invoice which I uploaded and the receipt which proves I posted it. I even have photos of the labeled parcel box with the product outside it but there wasn't an option to upload that. I had to give the buyer a refund via ebay 😞

I think they have to give you a reply within 30 days, it's been 9 days already and I haven't received anything apart from a reference code from them for the claim.

[dfernand101]

Also the address was typically accessible as I Royal Mail delivered successfully to this address before. I reckon it was dodgy Christmas Royal Mail temp hires.

[crg_music]

You can pay in cheques using many banking apps, literally take a photo and It takes the info and clears in a couple of days.

Royal Mail will accept a screenshot of the order details page as proof of value.

As long as you have a drop off/collection scan they will pay out so dont just put items you need cover on in the postbox.

[eastlondonstuff]

Just an FYI, for banking cheques most bank allow you to simply take a photo of the cheque using the “deposit cheque” function in their app to bank it. Then you just set it aside until it clears, then you can destroy it. 

[blue_lamp_vintage]

Royal Mail are the people who are abusing the system!!!!!!!!

Who said they were the arbiters of an items value?

...if the item was sold on ebay for £5, that is the value that has been accepted during the Ebay transaction with the buyer at the stated value on the site and is now recorded

Whether I bought it for £1 , £7, 50p or whatever, that is no business of Royal Mails. If I buy a Picasso and lose it, is it only worth £30 for the canvas and £9 for some oil paint?

They are trying to evade their responsibility for losing items and pretending to the public that they are offering a compensated service, which they are not.

I doubt whether this compensation system is legal, especially dealing with a company the took 25 years to investigate Horizon

There should be a class action against Royal Mail for this

[dfernand101]

Royal Mail didn't reply after the 30 days after the initial submission of the claim so I had to escalate it to their complaints department, the blurb on their website stipulated that they would reply within a month. Just talking to a general customer services staff they told me that I had to provide evidence that there had been a refind to show them that 'I was out of pocket', the refund to the buyer was carried out a month ago I informed them but I was able to get a screen shot of the details of the refnd on the ebay order and upload it as supplementary information relating to the claim case via the Royal Mail website.

Why Royal Mail didn't stipulate this at the outset is beyond me, maybe they just want to put up unknown hurdles that are an 'unknown quantity' to put people off and make them stumble when going through the claims process ?

Eventually someone from Royal Mails complaints department called me back and she assured me that the claim would go forward and be processed.

I mean it was clear that the item had gone missing at Christmas and not delivered and had not been returned to me - it was a real struggle to get £60 from them that was due to me for compensation. Lord knows what pitfalls the process would be like if I had to claim, say of an item that has gone missing via Royal Mail International tracked service for £250 worth of stuff.

It makes me wonder about insurance for other companies, I was looking into DHL for sending items to the U.S. which were expensive and their 'DHLitNow' service for print at home required that 'you ring them up' to get 'additional insurance on an item' - I'm like .. 'what ?' - why not just click the check box and pay for online for additional cover - goodbye DHL you are too expensive and vague - guess that leave UPS and Parcelforce to the U.S. as options - I hope they're better.