Item not received.

steve1905

I have received an email (10/11) from a buyer asking me why they hadn't received their item. I posted the item by 1st class recorded post on the 31/10.
I have checked on the royal mail tracking page but this informs me there are no details on this particular item. This seems to happen quite often for recorded delivery items - they don't show item delivered.
I have made relevant inquiries with the royal mail and I am awaiting details of the tracking. I am in the position to be able to send the buyer a duplicate, should I wait for the response from royal mail or send out another one right away?
thanks for any help

steve1905

steve1905 wrote:

I have received an email (10/11) from a buyer asking me why they hadn't received their item. I posted the item by 1st class recorded post on the 31/10.
I have checked on the royal mail tracking page but this informs me there are no details on this particular item. This seems to happen quite often for recorded delivery items - they don't show item delivered.
I have made relevant inquiries with the royal mail and I am awaiting details of the tracking. I am in the position to be able to send the buyer a duplicate, should I wait for the response from royal mail or send out another one right away?
thanks for any help

Further to the above, I have telephoned the royal mail and they confirm that the item has not been signed for and is basically classified as "in transit". I will not be able to make any claim until the 18th Nov. Should I wait until then before I post a duplicate item - it seems a bit unfair on the buyer?

soolin

The buyer is unlikely to want to wait for 15 working days which is when the item is considered lost by the Royal Mail. Stall (politely!!) the buyer as long as you can, but assure then you will refund if item does not arrive. Then in week 2 or three if you can, just refund in full and then after 15 working days recover your losses from the RM.

Soo

Fidget

I sent a parcel out first class recently and I got emails from the buyer asking why she hadn't received it after a week. It did show up the following friday so there was a delay of about 10 working days so I would say there's still a chance it will show. I wouldn't send anything out just yet.

Benji

Fidget wrote:

I sent a parcel out first class recently and I got emails from the buyer asking why she hadn't received it after a week. It did show up the following friday so there was a delay of about 10 working days so I would say there's still a chance it will show. I wouldn't send anything out just yet.

You might want to remind your buyer that they can claim compensation from the PO for a delayed item - iirc it's £3.20 for a weeks delay. That might cover the p&p they paid (?) and make them a happy bunny.

Alternatively, maybe you would want to claim it:rolleyes:

Benji

steve1905 wrote:

Further to the above, I have telephoned the royal mail and they confirm that the item has not been signed for and is basically classified as "in transit". I will not be able to make any claim until the 18th Nov. Should I wait until then before I post a duplicate item - it seems a bit unfair on the buyer?

My personal opinion as a 2600+ ebayer is to pop the replacement in the post asap - as you acknowledge above, it isn't their fault the PO messed up and the buyer has a contract with YOU, not the PO.

However, if I may give a little warning, the PO are frequently sending letters out to investigate missing items and if your buyer fails to respond to one of those letters your claim won't be paid - it will end up in the same bin that your original item fell into!

If you send the replacement ASAP with a polite note about answering any correspondence from the PO (they send an SAE), you will have a happy customer who is more likely to help you with the PO. The alternative is a delayed replacement, an unhappy customer who will possibly say 'stuff you'.

soolin

Benji wrote:

You might want to remind your buyer that they can claim compensation from the PO for a delayed item - iirc it's £3.20 for a weeks delay. That might cover the p&p they paid (?) and make them a happy bunny.

Alternatively, maybe you would want to claim it:rolleyes:

Have you a link for this compensation? Whenever I've had problems with huge delays in items arriving the RM have stated that unless special delivery is used they do not guarantee any of their items to arrive in a specific time frame. I was told that a claim for compensation could be considered for slow items only after 15 working days and they directed me to their website.

I did try to claim for a delay of just over 2 weeks recently (not an ebay item thankfully!) using the online form but it would not accept it unless item was delayed 15 working days or more.

Soo

FloFlo

Personally I would suggest apologising profusely to buyer but asking them to wait the 15 days give them the date that RM say they should receive it by and say that if it has not arrived by that date you will refund or replace immediately. I have found most buyers are happy to wait if they feel they are being dealt with profesionally and kept in contact with. Recently I have had several items that all took longer than normal to reach buyer but all turned within the 15 days. I have almost 1100 feedback and only 1 item has gone missing right back when I first started selling.

Hintza

It really comes down to the value of the item. If it is not expensive I would send another fairly quickly.

In this instance you have got this far ask them to wait until post on Monday and check they have been to sorting office if nothing then I would pop another in the post.

steve1905

thanks for all the advice, as always.

I have been giving this a bit of thought, I think I will follow the advice. I will email the buyer to let them know I will post a replacement, if they haven't recieved orginal item by Monday. I will obviously request them to return the first item if it should turn up. I will also 'drop in' a mention' that I will file a request for compensation with the Royal mail after 18th Nov. if 1st item not delivered. This may help in getting item returned should it arrive.

This, hopefully, will satisfy the buyer and keep my 100% feedback intact.

thanks again

Benji

soolin wrote:

Have you a link for this compensation? Whenever I've had problems with huge delays in items arriving the RM have stated that unless special delivery is used they do not guarantee any of their items to arrive in a specific time frame. I was told that a claim for compensation could be considered for slow items only after 15 working days and they directed me to their website.

I did try to claim for a delay of just over 2 weeks recently (not an ebay item thankfully!) using the online form but it would not accept it unless item was delayed 15 working days or more.

Soo

This is specifically for delayed mail - so you can't claim until it has arrived:rolleyes:

Has your mail item arrived six or more working days after it was posted?
If so, your mail is classified as ‘delayed’, and we’ll give you compensation of 12 First Class stamps. If you provide additional evidence of delay and your claim for compensation is accepted, you will be sent a cheque for £5, or for £10 if your item has suffered substantial delay (i.e. was delivered more than eleven working days after the day of posting') and you provide additional evidence or proof of delay.

The link is http://www.royalmail.com/portal/rm/content2?catId=14000176&mediaId=3100011