Royal Mail Special Delivery problem

forresthump

Can someone please advise me what I can do about this matter?

On the 6th of November, I ordered a camcorder off eBay. On the 8th of November I received an email from the seller informing me that the item had been sent via Next Day Special Delivery. Now, I live in a building complex where all the items are delivered to a concierge in the morning. Upon taking delivery, the concierge gives the Royal Mail delivery person a single electronic signature on behalf of all the delivered items in the batch (this signature is on the Track & Trace website). ie. He doesn't give one signature per item - just one signature for the entire batch. Nor does he match up the items with the delivery list. He merely assumes everything has been delivered.

So what happened in this case seems to be that the item was on the delivery list, but wasn't actually in the delivery batch. So the concierge signed for it, but it wasn't physically delivered.

So what can I do now? The postman insists that because the concierge signed for it, it must have been delivered...but it clearly wasn't! I don't for a second believe the concierge has stolen it, and (as stipulated in the fine print of the residency contract) the building complex doesn't take any responsibility for lost or broken items.

At present it looks like I have to write off this £350 loss and move on, which doesn't seems fair to me. I've written an email to Royal Mail asking them to investigate it but I'm not entirely sure if they're going to do anything.

Any ideas??

RazWaz

You need to contact the person who you bought it off. They are the ones who created a contract with Royal Mail so it is up to them to force them to investigate.

shaun_from_Africa

But the problem is going to be that there is no reason or incentive for the seller to investigate it so I think it will be down to Forrest to do this.
(either the sender or intended recipient is able to attempt to claim from Royal Mail provided that they have all the required details and receipts)

The seller has recieved their money, they sent the goods, and the online tracking shows that the camera was delivered to the correct address and signed for by someone there.
As far as ebay and paypal will be concerned, the seller is totally in the clear as they have done exactly what was required of them.

I would say that it is up to forrestthump to do the investigating (get the seller to send you the special delivery slip), as the problem appears to have stemmed from the fact that it was their concierge who signed for an item that was not actually delivered.

cyberbob

RazWaz wrote: »

You need to contact the person who you bought it off. They are the ones who created a contract with Royal Mail so it is up to them to force them to investigate.

That is incorrect both the sender and the receiver can ask for an investigation.

The OP would lose any Paypal claim because as far as the seller and Paypal are concerned it has been delivered. Also as there is a signature RM are likely to say it's been delivered

As the concierge signed for the item (even if it was a batch) it was his responsibility to ensure he actually signed for the item and it was present. It is their responsibility I would be pressuring him if not your management company.

forresthump

I completely agree with everything you say, however my problem is that the concierge is hiding behind the fine print of the contract - ie. that the building management don't need to take any responsibility for the loss. I'm so sure that Royal Mail still has the item but I don't think they're going to bother investigating it because they probably think I'm trying to unlawfully extract money from them, which is not at all the case.

cyberbob wrote: »

That is incorrect both the sender and the receiver can ask for an investigation.

The OP would lose any Paypal claim because as far as the seller and Paypal are concerned it has been delivered. Also as there is a signature RM are likely to say it's been delivered

As the concierge signed for the item (even if it was a batch) it was his responsibility to ensure he actually signed for the item and it was present. It is their responsibility I would be pressuring him if not your management company.

RadoJo

I suppose the problem is that the clause in the agreement you have with the building management/concierge seems reasonable until something like this happens, but at least it might be worth pushing for a change in the way they do things. In terms of practical advice, I suppose you could wait and see if the item turns up (assuming that the mistake was honest and it's still with the Royal Mail somewhere in their system) and it's probably worth at least contacting the seller in case it somehow gets returned by accident. It does seem as though you might be at a dead end with the normal routes for pursuing this, but hopefully there's still a chance it might turn up.

custardy

forresthump wrote: »

I completely agree with everything you say, however my problem is that the concierge is hiding behind the fine print of the contract - ie. that the building management don't need to take any responsibility for the loss. I'm so sure that Royal Mail still has the item but I don't think they're going to bother investigating it because they probably think I'm trying to unlawfully extract money from them, which is not at all the case.

unlikely
if an item has reached a delivery office then it is...

• received
• allocated to the duty it will be delivered oh
• signed for by that duty holder
• at the delivery point it will be signed for or carded

special deliveres dont just kick about the office

you say the signature is on the site
did the concierge sign a PDA or paper card/printout?

forresthump

custardy wrote: »

you say the signature is on the site
did the concierge sign a PDA or paper card/printout?

PDA. He was there this morning when I visited the concierge, and he also refused to believe that the item had gone astray.

custardy

forresthump wrote: »

PDA. He was there this morning when I visited the concierge, and he also refused to believe that the item had gone astray.

right well you have an issue then

for an item to appear on the PDA screen it has to be scanned
to be scanned it has to be there
its actually one of the improvements of the PDA over the 'old' prinout system
the postie would have scanned all of the items at the delivery point
a total would have shown on the screen and a signature obtained
you can contact the delivery office,but if the signature is showing online then it means it was scanned and a signature obtained at that point.
im assuming the time shown tallies with when your building gets a signature?

MrB_2

This is a strange one. As I am aware, special deliveries should be signed for seperatly, regardless to what else is signed for. I deliver to some firms that have as many as 30 special deliveries a day, each one signed for individually either with a PDA or paper. I would most certainly put in a claim and ask for it to be investigated

forresthump

Yikes! That means the err is on the concierge's side. I don't want to believe he (or one of the other porters) stole it but that's definitely looking like the only plausible theory now. Oh man...I didn't want to have to take this to the building management level, but what choice do I have now?