Do Royal Mail return packages if they get damaged in their hands?

Jorsha

Hi, i bought some star wars lego off of ebay for an exceptionally good price (£6.50 and £4 postage, retails for £39.99) The item was boxed, and all complete it said on the listing. It also said it would be sent first class, so I was a bit fed up as won it last thursday and still haven't recieved it. Today, I recieved a message saying :
" hi parcel was returned to me today box damaged whilst in the care of royal mail lots of missing pieces so i will have to make the claim as they never got to deliver the parcel to you so sorry for any inconvenience i am going to see how much it will cost to replace pieces from bricklink to see if it is worthwhile in the meantime i will refund your money in full take care.***** **** "

I'm a bit dubious because I didn't think that the Royal Mail returned items if they were damaged in their care. If the pieces were going to get lost in the post then wouldn't it be the fault of the seller for badly packing the parcel?
I have another inkling that maybe the seller is trying to get away with not posting the item when it has sold for a low price.
What would you do in my situation, I'm going to wait and see if they relist it, but I would like to also know if royal mail do return parcels.
Thanks, Jorsha.

Premier_2

Normally Royal Mail try to deliver the item to the intended recipient, even if they have damaged it. It would arrive (hopefully) with a Royal Mail apology and what to do if the contents are damaged/missing.

Only if the item were so badly damaged that the addressee was no longer visible would it probably be returned to the sender (assuming that was still visable)

I'd just file a non-performing seller claim and ensure I avoided that seller in future.

pinkshoes

100% dubious.

I've had an open damaged parcel before, where it arrived all damaged with the bits in a royal mail bag, and a special sticker! It would not be returned to sender, as it MIGHT still be ok, so they are talking out of their derrière!

I would reply asking for a photo of the damage with the royal mail sticker, and which bits were missing, and hint that perhaps they can re-send it at a reduced price due to the damage.

If they send another waffle reply fobbing you off, then I think a big fat negative is in order!

soolin

They do sometimes return them to sender but not usually that quick. I have receievd damaged items in the past where I am the buyer not the seller and they just arrive in a special RM bag with an apology for the damage and a ntoe usually blaming it on the machines.

I agree with the others, it sounds like seller didn't get the price they wanted.

Jorsha

Thanks very much for your advice.
I wouldn't have known what to do otherwise, I can't express enough how much I appreciate your help

custardy

the only scenario i would see this in, is if the package was so damaged that only the senders details were legible

marky-g

i work for royal mail & know the lads that work in the brokes departement(in my area) & the only way anything would be returned to the sender is if the recipient's address is totally illegible,not because it has been damaged

kprigg

I agree, how would the Royal mail know that bits are missing in the package?!
I have had things received where the box has come open & it has been re-sealed with Royal mail tape.
As others have said, they would only return to sender if they didnt have your address anymore.
Maybe you could play them at their own game & ask them to re-send what is left?

Jorsha

kprigg wrote: »

Maybe you could play them at their own game & ask them to re-send what is left?

Thanks for your help, just wondering if they might take it a step further and maybe jump on the packaging and take a few pieces out - In my eyes if they've lied once they'll definitely do it again.