Royal Mail lost a £1600 item, now what?

[jordan_467]

My buyer says they received an empty box when i sent them a RTX 4090, they provided me with pics including the label so i know its legit, i have tracking number and receipt from the post office. I suppose he could have just taken it out and photographed an empty box but he has a lot of positive reviews and no negative so i don't think so. What do i do now? The method used was "Royal Mail Special Delivery Guaranteed 1pm"

[jordan_467]

Just the original box with the gpu in it

[w79805]

10000g is a very round number... I dont even think it got weighed?

[jordan_467]

Prepaid label, i selected a weight and ebay sent me postage via email, got it printed and sent at the post office 

[w79805]

When i get a prepaid label they still ask me to put it on the scale at the post office and the exact weight is visible on the receipt

[notstopbuying]

Well, it should have been weighed at the post office,it is part of the procedure.

The graphics card boxed, the exact model, weighs closer to 3.2kg, something odd about the 10000g.

Can you post a copy of the receipt from the post office, maybe blank out the buyers details though. 

[w79805]

Maybe they purchased postage for "up to 10kg" and it was just never weighed

edit: and if it was never weighed at the post office.. it makes it difficult to prove that an empty box wasnt sent.

[notstopbuying]

Yeah, same experience for me, every time. 

[jordan_467]

 

 here it is

[notstopbuying]

Fair enough, thank you for the photo, so how are you going to proceed? Police involvement? Technically, it is theft, so it it was stolen within the Royal mail system, you need to make a claim and I guess a police report.

Did you send it special delivery with suitable insurance? 

Or was it simple delivery? 

[jordan_467]

An empty box would not weigh 10kg

[jordan_467]

Royal Mail Special Delivery Guaranteed 1pm so max i can hope to get back is £750. I think tomorrow i will first go to the post office where i posted it and ask them some things, then after i am done with Royal Mail the police. 

[w79805]

I think the issue is that 'notstopbuying' has found that the package should have weighed about 3.2kg.

so if the receipt is stating the very strangely round number of 10000g then it probably wasn't weighed at all.

Don't discount the possibility that maybe your employee who posted it stole it.

Royal Mail Special Delivery Guaranteed 1pm can go up to £2500 but only if you purchase additional insurance.

Do these things have serial numbers? do you know it?

[suelel1968]

Hi, I would get on the phone to RM, don't forget PO and RM are not linked any more. PO might be able to help with how the weight gets on the table etc. I hope you get some of the money back.

[notstopbuying]

If it was me, I would call up the buyer, their phone number is part of the sale details. 

Tell them you are reporting it to the police, ask them to ask the person who signed for the parcel, have they got the graphics card? As the police will be visiting their house to ask questions.... This may prompt a rethink from the buyer... If they are trying to pull a fast one, explain it is a very serious matter. 

Be polite, but very firm on the phone, sound serious. 

You might find the buyer closes the case after the phone call. 

Have you checked the type of feedback the buyer has left for other people? Is it always good feedback? Or is there issues with their past orders, causing them to leave back feedback for sellers..... Check all the feedback from sellers, just because it is marked as positive, does not mean the comment is positive, as sellers cannot leave a negative, but they might be negative in the feedback comments. 

How much feedback do they have? 

[jordan_467]

He has not opened a claim yet, he said he would soon, that a red flag? Here is what he said  

 

[notstopbuying]

Imho call them ,tell them the police are going to be coming round to investigate, but give them some excuses that they can use ,  like say ,who ever signed for it or anyone in the house are they playing a joke on them ,but explain you will be taking the matter further and you will be calling the police in a few hours time , say you will give them a few hours to confirm that nobody has it at the house .

Explain the police will visit the property to ask questions .

Those messages from the seller sound like they are fishing ,to see if you are crazy enough to believe them.

Call them, be firm ,polite and reasonable on the phone .

If a person who I knew was in a situation like this with a buyer ,I would call on their behalf, I have no shortage of phone confidence in these kinds of situation .

[w79805]

The mates and buddy creep me out.

"not even a cable inside the box mate"

Maybe that is just how they write but It sounds performative to me.

[pzkpfwv1d]

You should have pruchased extra warranty to cover the entire cost of the item

[papso22]

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@jordan_467 wrote:

Royal Mail Special Delivery Guaranteed 1pm so max i can hope to get back is £750. I think tomorrow i will first go to the post office where i posted it and ask them some things, then after i am done with Royal Mail the police. 

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That's a postage method that is given special attention by RM, including when investigating complaints, but it would have helped if you had bought the right insurance.

I think your buyer has spotted a new seller, knows exactly what they are doing, and is attempting an 'empty box' scam.  Even their messages look suspicious. 

However, you still need to wait for them to open a case for item not as described,  you provide a return label, they send back what they say they got, and then you come back here for further advice.

Until that happens there hasn't been a crime to report to Action Fraud, or indeed anything to report to RM.

[gjalp]

Im inclined to agree. Especially since the postage label was stuck directly onto the box so blame can be passed on. The delivery photo helps too with a dodgy claim as it doesn’t show the parcel. When Ive checked RM delivery photos, they usually show the parcel being handed over or (as sometimes happens with my incoming parcels), a photo of the item/s in a safe place. Special Delivery is never left in my safe place though - those usually show parcel and hands