Awful Royal Mail service

rliu

I won tickets for the Big Chill festival taking place from 04/08/2011 to 07/08/2011 from a competition run by the drinks company Magners. They sent me the tickets via Special Delivery on Tuesday evening, with the mail out being Wednesday I should have received them Thursday morning. By Thursday afternoon the tickets had not arrived so I asked Magners for the posting reference. Before they got back to me I went to the deliveries office for my local post office (Orpington) and asked about the item using my address. They told me nothing was there. By late afternoon (after 5pm) I got the ref no sent to me from Magners and using the Royal Mail tracking service I found out the item ' has reached its PO Box and is awaiting collection/delivery.' I had not set up a PO Box at any point and upon contacting customer service of Royal Mail was told this was unusual for mail addressed to residential addresses. Furthermore the mail had apparently arrived at my local sorting office by 9.30am, so my local post deliverymen had made absolutely no effort to deliver the item (people were in at home all day) and then told me the item was not at their office when I had asked earlier on.
For instances like this I feel Royal Mail's compensation policy of just refunding the cost of sending is not enough, it's time they took some responsibility for consequential loss for their poor performance. I've had other couriers deliver same day within 2-3 hours of sending before.

George_Michael

I feel Royal Mail's compensation policy of just refunding the cost of sending is not enough, it's time they took some responsibility for consequential loss for their poor performance

Consequential loss cover is available for Special delivery shipments and costs about £3 extra.

Consequential loss
Sometimes the damage, delay or loss of an item can lead to greater loss than the market value of the item itself. Delayed legal documents or damaged photographic transparencies are two examples. If you are sending such an item, you can opt for Consequential Loss cover which will entitle you to extra compensation should something go wrong

You can apply for consequential loss compensation if you're using Special Delivery™ for any UK destination, except the Channel Islands, Isle of Man or HM Forces addresses.

Just ask for consequential loss when you send your item by Special Delivery™ Next Day. Compensation claims can be made through our Customer Services within 14 days of posting. Remember to include the receipt for purchase when you file your claim.

wealdroam

rliu wrote: »

For instances like this I feel Royal Mail's compensation policy of just refunding the cost of sending is not enough, it's time they took some responsibility for consequential loss for their poor performance.

There is nothing to stop the person sending the package taking out suitable insurance, is there?

In fact, Royal Mail offer it...

Consequential loss


Sometimes the damage, delay or loss of an item can lead to greater loss than the market value of the item itself. Delayed legal documents or damaged photographic transparencies are two examples. If you are sending such an item, you can opt for Consequential Loss cover which will entitle you to extra compensation should something go wrong

You can apply for consequential loss compensation if you're using Special Delivery™ for any UK destination, except the Channel Islands, Isle of Man or HM Forces addresses.

Just ask for consequential loss when you send your item by Special Delivery™ Next Day.

Did your seller not offer consequential loss insurance?
Perhaps you should ask the seller to cover you consequential loss... after all Royal Mail were acting as their subcontractor to deliver the package.

rliu

OK I'll ask if the sender had taken out consequential loss insurance and if they hadn't then yeah I agree they had a part to play in my misfortunes by being overly optimistic about the Royal Mail.

Oliver14

So how many letter parcels do you receive a year with no problems? I'm betting the majority. A company made a mistake i'm afraid the mythical couriers arent perfect either. Have you ever heard of HDNL?

brettcta

see also: yodel, dhl (drop it, hide it, lose it)

vuvuzela

rliu wrote: »

I've had other couriers deliver same day within 2-3 hours of sending before.

You were either very very lucky or the sender paid a massive fee.

scheming_gypsy

rliu wrote: »

I've had other couriers deliver same day within 2-3 hours of sending before.

that's what happens when you pay for same day delivery.

custardy

rliu wrote: »

I won tickets for the Big Chill festival taking place from 04/08/2011 to 07/08/2011 from a competition run by the drinks company Magners. They sent me the tickets via Special Delivery on Tuesday evening, with the mail out being Wednesday I should have received them Thursday morning. By Thursday afternoon the tickets had not arrived so I asked Magners for the posting reference. Before they got back to me I went to the deliveries office for my local post office (Orpington) and asked about the item using my address. They told me nothing was there. By late afternoon (after 5pm) I got the ref no sent to me from Magners and using the Royal Mail tracking service I found out the item ' has reached its PO Box and is awaiting collection/delivery.' I had not set up a PO Box at any point and upon contacting customer service of Royal Mail was told this was unusual for mail addressed to residential addresses. Furthermore the mail had apparently arrived at my local sorting office by 9.30am, so my local post deliverymen had made absolutely no effort to deliver the item (people were in at home all day) and then told me the item was not at their office when I had asked earlier on.
For instances like this I feel Royal Mail's compensation policy of just refunding the cost of sending is not enough, it's time they took some responsibility for consequential loss for their poor performance. I've had other couriers deliver same day within 2-3 hours of sending before.

do you mean delivery office or mail centre?

if you want same day then pay for a same day service. I dont see the point of you even mentioning this?

shaun_from_Africa

if you want same day then pay for a same day service. I dont see the point of you even mentioning this?

Why did you mention a same day service? as the OP didn't. All they stated was that they wanted the service that was paid for and not supplied (ie, Special delivery next day)

custardy

shaun_from_Africa wrote: »

Why did you mention a same day service? as the OP didn't. All they stated was that they wanted the service that was paid for and not supplied (ie, Special delivery next day)

why cant you read?

rliu wrote: »

I won tickets for the Big Chill festival taking place from 04/08/2011 to 07/08/2011 from a competition run by the drinks company Magners. They sent me the tickets via Special Delivery on Tuesday evening, with the mail out being Wednesday I should have received them Thursday morning. By Thursday afternoon the tickets had not arrived so I asked Magners for the posting reference. Before they got back to me I went to the deliveries office for my local post office (Orpington) and asked about the item using my address. They told me nothing was there. By late afternoon (after 5pm) I got the ref no sent to me from Magners and using the Royal Mail tracking service I found out the item ' has reached its PO Box and is awaiting collection/delivery.' I had not set up a PO Box at any point and upon contacting customer service of Royal Mail was told this was unusual for mail addressed to residential addresses. Furthermore the mail had apparently arrived at my local sorting office by 9.30am, so my local post deliverymen had made absolutely no effort to deliver the item (people were in at home all day) and then told me the item was not at their office when I had asked earlier on.
For instances like this I feel Royal Mail's compensation policy of just refunding the cost of sending is not enough, it's time they took some responsibility for consequential loss for their poor performance. I've had other couriers deliver same day within 2-3 hours of sending before.