1st class signed for item considered "lost" how long more should i wait before refunding the buyer?

[gieoha]

Hi ebay community,

This is an update from this post.

I called royal mail about two hours ago and they stated that this parcel is now considered lost since posting it on the 30th June (13 days).The item is worth more than the special delivery comepensation limit and i made the stupid decision to send it 1st class signed. My question is how long more shall i give it to arrive before refunding the buyer or is there a little to zero chance of it showing up and should issue a refund immediately?

Another extended question.Tthis whole exchange has put me out of pocket over £1,000. As you might imagine i'm livid since it's my error in putting such good faith in the now known substandard service paid for.  Are there any other options to escalate this to spread awareness of royal mails poor management of mail or perhaps recieve additional compensation, or both?

Already i'm in the process on claiming maximum compensation for 1st class signed which drawfs the true amount **bleep** away into the gentle summery breeze of july.  I'm furious now but shall forget it soon, but before i do how can i maximise this situation. Oh Helpers of ebay, i call upon your words to tell me i will be alright in life with this degree of stupidity.

[papso22]

You need to refund your buyer before they get the chance to escalate a case to Ebay.  If you don't you will get a defect and you won't get a credit for your ebay fees.  

As for the RM compensation, if you under insured then that is your problem. 

[tsmgmd]

The Royal Mail are quite open about there charges, there different services, the compensation levels, etc. 

There information is available online, at the post offices and in the many leaflets available at the Post Office. 

By your own admission you did not use a service that provided full cover and so the blame is quite fairly and squarely at your door. 

[m25jet]

You may not like what I'm about to say, but Papso22 hit the nail on the head with the first two lines of his/her post.  Therefore issue the buyer with a total refund before he/she gets the opportunity to escalate the matter to eBay, as if the buyer has to do that in order to get a refund it will leave you with a damaging defect on your selling account.

Unfortuntely posting such a high value item using a postal service that doesn't provide a sufficient level of insurance against potential problems such as this is almost like asking for trouble.  You may be able to get a certain amount of compensation from the Royal Mail due to the item getting lost in transit, but it's not going to be anywhere near as high as it would have been had you paid to use a better postal option that would have provided you with an adequate level of insurance that was more in keeping with the level of insurance needed for posting items of the same value as the one that you've just lost.

[john1297576]

Buyer has to open a Not received case, and you have 8 days to refund through the case.  After this time the buyer can ask ebay to step in.You get a defect and no refund of the selling fee.Then you try and claim from RM.

You get what you pay for and Signed For is only up to £50 so if you are lucky that is what you may get. If you had paid for the proper service and cover up to £1000 would you be complaining then?

Why do you think you should get more? If you don't insure your car and have an accident, no insurance company is going to come to your rescue.

Things do get lost but hardly RM's fault that you didn't use Special Delivery. Signed For just goes into the ordinary mail, Special delivery is delivered next day by a different postman to the one on the usual round.

[gieoha]

"Why do you think you should get more?" I do not think this, this is you thinking it. i'm simply asking if there is a way to receive compensation or even additional attention on this case. Using your analogy, my car was insured and the mechanic is going to get to it. My mind just wondered if he would do a few extra bits in light of the circumstance or knew someone that could help out in any way. No harm in asking when nothing is lost.