Royal Mail compensation for stree and time?

polar68

My daughter sent her University exam resit request by recorded mail, first class, well in time for the university to receive this. Royal Mail lost this letter and my daughter was now past the deadline for the resit, which meant she would possibly have to resit the whole year! We went to the Post Office where she was told it was nothing to do with them and to contact RM- after 20 mins on hold we were told that they lost the letter and agreed to send us a letter to confirm that this was the case. Went to bank to try and cancel cheque which was in the original letter and were told it would be £5. My daughter eventually managed to persuade the University to allow a 'late entry' for resit under the proviso that she would bring in the letter from RM to confirm it was their fault. 7 days later, still no letter from RM and another phone call to RM only be told it's on its way and to wait. 10 days later, still nothing. Another call to RM and copy letter will be put in post but no promise of when this will arive. She would now like to claim compensation for the stress this has caused her as she had to make several phone calls, visit her university with the registered mail receipt (during the holidays) and still the possibility of resitting her year if the letter doesn't arrive soon! Any advice is welcome

stugib

polar68 wrote: »

She would now like to claim compensation for the stress this has caused her as she had to make several phone calls, visit her university with the registered mail receipt (during the holidays) and still the possibility of resitting her year if the letter doesn't arrive soon! Any advice is welcome

Only Special Delivery covers consequential loss IIRC - recorded delivery you're pretty much limited to the value of the contents of the envelope.

cyberbob

Recorded delivery is only normal mail with a signature at the end (which they don't get a lot of the time) If you wanted proper tracking and guaranteed delivery she needed to use Special delivery as stugib said.

Royal mail wont compensate as the wrong postal method was used if you wanted guaranteed tracking and delivery

soolin

Also bear in mind that standard mail, which recorded is, has no guarantee of delivery time. 1st Class is estimated to arrive enxt day, but RM do not consider it delayed or lost until 15 working days (3 weeks). I suspect you were fed a whole load of nonsense just to get you off the phone, or else they are waiting for the 15 workign days before confirming it is lost.

dmg24

If she posted it well before the deadline, why did she not speak to the university before the deadline to arrange an alternative means of accepting the submission? Even if it had been the day before the deadline, she would have had time to submit a new form, either by SD or by fax (which is often accepted as an interim measure).

bap98189

Ask yourself what you want from this. The best outcome is for your daughter to be able to sit her exams - right? Forget compensation, forget your anger towards the Royal Mail, and focus on the important thing - getting the university to allow her to resit.

You sent it by recorded delivery, so you will have a tracking number. Put that into the RM website and print out the page showing it was posted, but never delivered. If you don't have a letter from the RM, that is the best evidence you can produce. Take that, along with whatever else you need to the university. It is in the universities interests to allow her to sit the exams, and they are probably more than able to bend rules for one individual.

She should also not just deal with the admin people at the university. She needs to speak to her her tutor/head of year/department or whoever from her own department. They will probably be able to help push this through so she is able to sit the exams.

Then, once you have that sorted out, look at the way you or your daughter dealt with this. If a document is that important, and you sent it by a trackable delivery service, then don't just send it off, track it. Make sure it arrives. Phone up the university to ensure they have received it if necessary.