Broken parcel who pays??

Mandles

Right short one here. I sent a lampshade recorded delivery .Bubble wrapped it & wrote fragile on it.I think the post office played football with it & it broke. Will i get money back for it from post office?Do i have to refund buyer now?

Tojo_Ralph

If goods are not on list of goods not covered, (ie china and glass etc), then yes, the PO should pay out eventually.

As for when you refund buyer, I would tend to at least make sure things are as they appear before refunding anyone so get the evidence, (buyer needs to keep all packaging etc), start the claim, keep the buyer in the loop 24/7 and see how things pan out.

Edit... Having just seen how the lampshade was "packed"... it looks like the packaging was not suitable, so it may well be a case that the PO won't pay up.

bleugh

can you be more accurate with your description of wrapping please?

sounds like you're responsible for inadequate wrapping,

if you send fragile items through the post, they MUST be encased in something that protects it

just putting a little bit - or even a lot of easily deformed bubble wrap and a fragile sticker is NOT enough, for glas, it HAS to be boxed

have a look in ikea/argos/anywhere/B&Q do they store glass lampshades with bubble wrap on the shelves?, nope, virtually all are boxed

if you didnt box it, then i'm afraid you'll be hard pressed to get compensation, it really would have been your fault :-(

Mandles

It was a huge lampshade(one of those retro pull down tough plastic shades). I wrapped it with new bubble wrap & wrapped all wire fittings in seperate bubble wrap tightly together. I then wrapped it in brown paper & wrote fragile all over it.I even handed it to the collecting postman & told him it was a lampshade as he was amused at what it could be.

Hermia

I think it's possible that the PO will say you should have put the lampshade in a box as I'm not sure bubble wrap is enough for an item like this.

Re: claiming from the PO. I refund the buyer once the PO have refunded me (unless it's a really cheap item). My buyers have been fine about that because I keep them updated on what is being done.

soolin

You really have two issues here, one the claim from the Post office, and two the refund to the buyer. If the buyer paid by paypal then they can do a chargeback regardless of whether or not you agree with the refund, or even get a refund from the RM.

As others have suggested you need the buyer to retain the packing materials to make a claim so get back to your buyer before they throw all that away.
I also assume your item was less than £30 since you sent it Recorded, you will probabl yneed to prove 'value' usually by submitting your ebay invoice, but don't forget you that even if they do accept the claim you won't get the post and packing element of the invoice repaid.

Soo

Contains_Mild_Peril

Royal Mail info about damaged goods here:
http://www.royalmail.com/portal/rm/content1?catId=400144&mediaId=500139
There's a link to their packaging advice page, but it doesn't include instructions on packing for items like yours, so the question of whether the packaging was adequate may be subjective one. I normally use a cardboard box with bubble wrap or carrier bags around the item for anything likely to get damaged if subjected to abuse in transit. "Fragile" stickers are of limited value, since they may encourage careful handling when actual people handle the parcel, but some of it is done by machines which can't read the labels!
I find inside-out boxes from 24 packs of cans of beer quite useful for packing biggish items. I once sent a hat which only weighed about 140g, but the parcel weighed over 700g when packed.

Malestrom

My wife used to work in the Plymouth sorting office and I can tell you that writing 'Fragile' on any package means absolutely nothing to the Post Office.

Firstly, a lot of stuff is machine sorted, for example those with printed labels, and machines don't treat 'Fragile' packages any different to normal ones.

Secondly, anything with a handwritten label is hand-sorted into large bins in the sorting room, which are area coded. Items are NOT placed carefully into each bin, they are thrown into the bin, sometimes from across the other side of the room. Other items get thrown on top. Sometimes the item misses the bin. You have to understand that PO workers sort thousands of items each night, they do not have time to walk your package to the appropriate bin on the other side of the room, carefully place it into the bin and then make sure no other items land on top from either themselves or the other ten, twenty or fifty people that are also sorting.

It is YOUR responsibility to ensure that your package is adequately protected. Writing 'FRAGILE' on something only means that the Post Office delivery person shouldn't* try to ram it through your letterbox or throw it over your wall. By this time, its probably already ruined if poorly packaged.

*there are exceptions of course.