Help - Royal mail Special Delivery will not cover Fragile Items

It_has_to_get_better!

Hi

This is quite a pickle and really need advice on what to do next.

This is what has happened so far:

I sold a Dave Avanzino Shadowbox on Ebay - Perfect Brand New in Box back in July (this is a decorative 3-D picture by Disney for wall display, made of Glass and resin with pieces stuck securely inside the sealed frame).

Sent to Buyer via Royal Mail Parcelforce 48 - fine accept it was wanted for a birthday gift and arrived later than promised under service so I agreed for the buyer to return it to me, which was done via Special Delivery - it arrived back, rattling in box and upon opening the "H" of the Haunted Mansion wording was dislodged and in pieces inside the sealed frame - no way of repairing it. Now it was boxed securely - polystyrene mould; box then bubblewrap and second boxed so that the depth of packaging was at least 6 inches each way.

Under the terms of Special delivery, they permit fragile items to be sent and covered incase of loss or damage. They have refused the claim; I then appealed using the RM Review Panel and they have turned it down; stating that although well-packed; they believe it was too fragile for posting. But when I bought it from USA it arrived fine and arrived to this buyer fine too - I questioned if it had been dropped but they believe that as the outer box showed no significant damage that it was not their problem.

I have collated evidence and want to take this matter further as I have already fully refunded the buyer as good will so I am down £120! Who can I write to and is there any advice to try to recover the funds lost thanks to RM!

Any help appreciated and I would also like to warn other fellow Ebayers that RM Special Delivery does not have the peace of mind protection stated!
Thanks guys!

catmiaow

That does not seem right to me, I would think you are covered as long as you make sure it is wrapped securely. thats the whole point in paying extra.

see these links:
ftp://ftp.royalmail.com/Downloads/public/ctf/rm/Complaint_Handling_Process_Flowchart.pdf
http://www.royalmail.com/portal/rm/content1?catId=69800720&mediaId=84400738

martindow

It is unfortunate for you, but I can see the PO's point. If the box and packaging does not show signs of damage it has not been badly treated. The item must either be very delicate or maybe faulty if it is damaged by the normal rattling around which any parcel is going to receive.

custardy

the fact is if th item shows no damage then the packaging is insufficient
we dont just carry 1 item in 1 van you know
what many people dont consider is the weight placed on items in transit
a item can easily have 100kg of weight on it in the yorkies

soolin

Just a thought, and really of no practical use anyway, but might the buyer have broken something when he repacked it?
Like the others have said Special does cover breakables but you would need to show the packaging was badly damaged. if an item was just broken inside perfect packing then it is obvious it was not packed well enough...

I recently went to to pick up some items that I was carded for at the local sorting office. Post lady bought out several items as she wasn't sure which were mine, the ones that didn't tally (and these are big boxes as mine were books) she literally just dropped on the floor from chest height and kicked them under the counter. If they do that in front of customers I hate to imagine what they do when we are not looking. I was always told to imagine my packages being dropped on a concrete floor, if I had any worries about the sorting office doing that then my packaging was insufficient.