i sent item recorded del - has not arrived - help!

angelfire

Hi all, I wonder if you can help me? Last Tuesday I posted a phone out to one of my winning buyers - they won it for £66, i sent it recorded delivery signed for.

the buyer has contacted me to say they haven't received the phone so I've rang Royal Mail with the tracking number and they've told me to wait until next week to see if it turns up at either end.

if it doesn't, what happens next? Am I responsible for claiming back the value or is the buyer? I've never had this happen to me before and I don't sell stuff that often - any help would be apprecitated...

frivolous_fay

You are responsible as you have the arrangement with Royal Mail to deliver.

Unfortunately recorded delivery will only cover you up to £32

angelfire

the thing is, I sent several other packages the same way on the same day and they all got there...

vij1366

first of all goto the site https://www.royalmail.com and enter in the details of the recorded delivery and see if it shows up .and who has sighned for it . if it does not show up then ring customer care which you will find on the site(royal mail) and ring them up be polite and tell them u are not impressed they may give u a full refund ,
but this will take about three weeks as they will reuwire u to send in prof of purchase etc and to sign a form . to say its all legitt
good luck:eek:

frivolous_fay

!!!!!! wrote:

the thing is, I sent several other packages the same way on the same day and they all got there...

You sounds like you're doubting your buyer.

You do know how many parcels get lost each year, do you? :eek:

soolin

!!!!!! wrote:

the thing is, I sent several other packages the same way on the same day and they all got there...

Good for them..

However, if your recorded delivery item doesn't show as delivered on the RM website then it hasn't arrived. Ask the buyer politely if they could check with their local sorting office (in other words stall them for a few days!). If it hasn't arrived within week 2 then you will have to refund them, in full, including post and packing.

After 15 working days you can then put in a claim to RM, however recorded only covers up to £32 so they may refuse to pay out anything at all. However, unfortunately that is your problem not the buyers, any insurance is to cover you not them.

Items over £32 should only ever be sent special delivery.

Soo

angelfire

soolin wrote:

Good for them..

However, if your recorded delivery item doesn't show as delivered on the RM website then it hasn't arrived. Ask the buyer politely if they could check with their local sorting office (in other words stall them for a few days!). If it hasn't arrived within week 2 then you will have to refund them, in full, including post and packing.

After 15 working days you can then put in a claim to RM, however recorded only covers up to £32 so they may refuse to pay out anything at all. However, unfortunately that is your problem not the buyers, any insurance is to cover you not them.

Items over £32 should only ever be sent special delivery.

Soo

Can I ask then, how come when you're setting up a listing, you have the option to offer insurance? and how come some buyers put a clause in their listings stating that items lost in the post (unless the buyer requested insurance), cannot be refunded?

soolin

!!!!!! wrote:

Can I ask then, how come when you're setting up a listing, you have the option to offer insurance? and how come some buyers put a clause in their listings stating that items lost in the post (unless the buyer requested insurance), cannot be refunded?

Usually because they don't know how ebay/paypal work, sellers can put whatever they want in their listings, it doesn't make it right and mostly it just puts off established buyers.

A dishonest seller, or one that has poor customer care might get away with that as an ebay claim would fail if insurance was offered but not taken by the customer..but only if insurance was shown as available. However a paypal claim would suceed as all paypal will be interested in is whether th eitem can be proved to be delivered or not.

There is a two tier system on ebay, and whilst paypal users and non paypal users are treated differently I will continue to urge people only to ever use paypal when buying anything. Regardless of the ebay/paypal rules a negative for lost item and no refund will just about kill any hope a seller has of selling anything again. That one neg, if worded well, will be a real problem as it makes the seller look untrustworthy.

Soo

kevinyork

vij1366 wrote:

first of all goto the site www.royalmail.com and enter in the details of the recorded delivery and see if it shows up .and who has sighned for it . if it does not show up then ring customer care which you will find on the site(royal mail) and ring them up be polite and tell them u are not impressed they may give u a full refund ,
but this will take about three weeks as they will reuwire u to send in prof of purchase etc and to sign a form . to say its all legitt
good luck:eek:

Wont be a full refund, only up to £32 as quoted on here. RM will also need to write to the recipient to get their confirmation it didnt arrive-even though their recorded delivery reference will show as not delivered on their system. Currently my claims are taking between 4 and 8 weeks to be processed by RM.

angelfire

Just a little update and further question regarding this: I've rang the sorting office closest to the buyer and they have confirmed that they tried to deliver my item but couldn't get an answer - a card was left but buyer hasn't collected the phone so it's on it's way back to me.

So now I will learn a lesson and re-send via special delivery, however, that will now leave me out of pocket as I'll have paid the postage twice - any suggestions as to what to do?

As far as i can see the buyer is the one at fault for not collecting the item from the sorting office?

frivolous_fay

You could explain politely that the RM told you they left a card, and ask them to pay for redelivery.

Did you ask them to check the sorting office for their item? Sometimes they can be a bit slack about leaving cards.