Royal Mail ,!how do i handle this re lost Ebay item

andybk

Hi all , i sold an item on ebay over christmas was posted as soon as new year started , Unfortunately i was naru'ed just after over a silly account issue (fee payment card was out of date ) I emailed my buyers and said it was nothing to worry about and will be back soon items were in the post as it was only 3 days since auction ended

, that evening one buyer who bought my sons old nintendo did a paypal charge back , I asked him why and he said ebay told him to ( the email actually said "we strongly advise you not to complete the transaction")
so to put his mind at rest i sent scan ,proof of postage (i know i should have sent it recorded) the buyer then seeing it was sent standard parcel , then immediately escalated the claim .

Knowing paypal, i knew i didnt have a leg to stand on ,so tried to send a refund this i couldnt do as button was gone , as when a claim is initiated you have to wait for the outcome of their investigation , I even rung paypal and they told me to leave it and wait for a week or so to see if item turned up .
The buyer was getting very heated wanting to know where his refund was and i recieved numerous rude emails .
Anyway after the refund went through i made a claim to royal mail and after a month i recieved a letter saying they have written to my buyer to confirm they never recieved their item and had not heard anything so will close the claim unless they hear from him , There isnt much chance of that as i think he was just making a claim to scam the item ,
Where do i go now ? have i lost the item and postage .and is it worth following up with mail complaints dept

blue_haddock

Sorry but sending an item such as a nintendo without getting it signed for is asking for trouble.

frivolous_fay

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=1008487&highlight=postwatch

Someone who argued with RM and had some luck.

bluebell13

Hey, this is the closest I'll get to being famous! the argument I used with Royal Mail was that my buyer could well have moved during the time I was claiming, and could they prove he still lived there? I also stated that the paperwork I had presented via E-bay showed I sold a considerable amount and that it was only the second claim I had put in, so i was hardly likely to try and defraud them for about £15ish (from memory) I would persevere but speak to someone and be polite but firm. Good luck!

andybk

blue_haddock wrote: »

Sorry but sending an item such as a nintendo without getting it signed for is asking for trouble.

Yes i know , but being an old item worth about £20 and trying to keep postage down , i learnt a hard lesson ,
But what effect is this going to have if royal mail want conformation of non delivery from the buyers many of whom are scam buyers these days ,
The fact ebay have removed the neg button for sellers is only going to make this worse , The new chap in charge of ebay is going to crash and burn the site looking at the problems he has created

kevinyork

Weve heard that excuse from RM before too. They dont have a leg to stand on. As has been said if the buyer has moved or simply cannot be bothered to respond to RM (and what incentive do they have anyway) then this would be very unfair on the sender. The only way RM can deny your claim is if the buyer responds and says they did receive their item.

We escalated such an issue about a year ago and the Chairmans office at RM said this policy was going to be revoked as they realised it would fail in court. Unfortunately it depends on who you speak to in RM customer service. Ask for a Manager. Normally you get a little more sense from them.

I suggest you contact RM again, point out the flaws in this method of processing claims and say you will escalate to a County Court claim if they dont pay up.