Buyer didn't collect parcel now it has come back to me, can I get postage back?

emerald_starcat

Hi

I sold an item on ebay, payment was made and the parcel was sent the next day.

I received a message from the seller 2 weeks later explaining they hadn't received their item.

I double checked their address with them and explained it might be at their sorting office. I told them I would ring their sorting office for them.

I tried ringing the sorting office but no one answered and an answerphone came on eventually. I tried ringing them 5 times a day from Mon to Thurs, and left 2 answerphone messages. I did not get anyone call me back or answer the phone.

I then asked the buyer if they minded going into the sorting office to see if it was there, they went and was told that there were no parcels for them.

This was 2 weeks ago and I refunded the buyer when they told me there were no parcels for them.

Today I get the parcel come back to me!

The postman said that they tried delivering the parcel but no one was in so it was left at the sorting office.

So now I am down by £4.50 - how much it cost to post the parcel.

Can I claim this back from Royal Mail or am I stuck being out of pocket?

How can I prevent this from happening again?

cyberbob

Short answer 'No'

emerald_starcat

cyberbob wrote: »

Short answer 'No'

What about my other question? How do I prevent this from happening again?

soolin

emerald_starcat wrote: »

What about my other question? How do I prevent this from happening again?

Unfortunately there is nothing you can do to stop this happening. It is a rare occurance but very frustrating when it happens to you.

custardy

was it an RD or standard pkt?

emerald_starcat

custardy wrote: »

was it an RD or standard pkt?

It was First Class standard.

custardy

emerald_starcat wrote: »

It was First Class standard.

not much you can do there
however i doubt the buyer went to the delivery office
ther chances of not getting a card and staff in the DO not finding the packet are very small

soolin

custardy wrote: »

not much you can do there
however i doubt the buyer went to the delivery office
ther chances of not getting a card and staff in the DO not finding the packet are very small

Actually in my bit of london the chances are surprisngly high.

We don't get cards half the time and even if you do they struggle to locate th eitem. It is a rare week where I don't go to the delivery office with my parcels to find an argument going on due to a lost Recorded or carded item where the recipient is merely being given a claim form as they can't find the parcel anymore.

Only last week we were carded for a recorded item (the first one in years) and it has taken 5 days for them to locate the parcel as it went missing back in the office.

macfly

London is the worst by far. As the pay rate is lower than my sister's cleaner, or a barman's wage, you tend to get the lower end of the work pool. I always have a wait in my sorting office, but never had one missing.
It may be worth contacting RM customer services in this case. You would end up with a book of stamps at best, but give it a go.

jasmineswhiskers

There is an online re-delivery form. When I had an item not turn up I filled this in on the buyers behalf for re-delivery. (Taking a chance they had tried to deliver it and was now sat in the sorting office.) However someone from the sorting office rang me (funny how there was no-one there when I tried ringing them!) and said I can't do this - anyway for whatever reason the parcel turned up 2 days later.