smashed pot - royal mail's fault...

jclm_2

hi,

could anyone give me advice?!?!?! i sold an expensive pot on ebay (it sold for £50) and i sent it via recorded Royal Mail. it was wrapped up well, and this was about 2 months ago. however, the buyer got in touch, very upset, to say the pot had arrived smashed, in bits! i refunded his money immediately, but because he left me negative feedback, i also sent him another pot (for free...)

so i'm £100 out of pocket... :mad:

i just spoke to the woman at the post office, who said i would need a photo of the bits of broken pot (or the broken pot itself) to make a claim from royal mail. the pot was far to heavy for the buyer to return it to me (anyway, that's a stupid idea! what a waste of money!) and i forgot to ask him to photograph the remains in any case. is there any way to claim for this, or do i just have to accept that i've lost this money? i don't have a lot of time to fill out forms needlessly (i have a baby) if it's not going to result in getting the money back, so any advice is really appreciated.

many thanks

xxx :beer:

fluffnutter

RM have well-publicised rules about sending valuable items and insurance. Did you use the correct service, i.e. special delivery?

They're also going to need proof aren't they? We could all pop down the post office and say 'um, that really expensive thing I sent? Well you broke it. Can you give me some money please?'

And re. 'filling out forms needlessly', I'm guessing you're going to have to do some paperwork to make a claim. You can't just expect the money to miraculously appear in your bank account, baby or no baby!

fluffnutter

How do you know it was smashed anyway....? You might have just sent somebody two pots, one of which they've flogged on!

The usual practice (as a seller) when someone asks for a refund for damaged goods is to get the damaged goods back before you refund them. That way you know you're not being ripped off. Rather than being 'a stupid idea', it's actually standard practice!

fluffnutter

jclm wrote: »

the pot was far to heavy for the buyer to return it to me

But you sent it to him in the first place so how was it far too heavy to be sent back?

Honestly, I hate to be harsh but the more I read your post the more I think you've been incredibly naive.

paddyrg

If it was a £100 pot it would have to go via one of the insured services (special delivery for instance), and more or less they can say if it got damaged, it wasn't properly packaged by definition.

Even if you didn't ask for the broken pot to be returned, I'm somewhat surprised you didn't at least ask for a photo of the damaged goods to ensure they weren't simply being re-sold. I have a thing where for some items I sell, if there is a complaint that it is damaged and needs replacing, I make sure it is VERY damaged/wrecked/torn/defaced and photographed before replacement!

custardy

jclm wrote: »

hi,

could anyone give me advice?!?!?! i sold an expensive pot on ebay (it sold for £50) and i sent it via recorded Royal Mail. it was wrapped up well, and this was about 2 months ago. however, the buyer got in touch, very upset, to say the pot had arrived smashed, in bits! i refunded his money immediately, but because he left me negative feedback, i also sent him another pot (for free...)

so i'm £100 out of pocket... :mad:

i just spoke to the woman at the post office, who said i would need a photo of the bits of broken pot (or the broken pot itself) to make a claim from royal mail. well wheres your proof?the pot was far to heavy for the buyer to return it to me why? were they incapable of getting it in the first place?(anyway, that's a stupid idea! what a waste of money!) and i forgot to ask him to photograph the remains in any case.who would be at fault there? is there any way to claim for this, or do i just have to accept that i've lost this money? i don't have a lot of time to fill out forms needlessly well if your time is so valuable why waste it asking questions here?(i have a babyand?) if it's not going to result in getting the money back,now is not the time to be asking these questions so any advice is really appreciated.

many thanks

xxx :beer:

so lets get back to the beginning
what service did you use?
what packaging did you use?

del76

From my dealings with Royal Mail as a business customer, which from the sound of it you are. The fact that you had another pot to replace the one that broke indicates this IMO.

With proof of loss in transit or damage in transit RM will refund the cost of the item at wholesale price.

eg: You sold the pot for £50 now you may of produced this pot yourself in which case you will have to document how much it costs you to make and claim this (raw materials & labour). If you purchase the pots in for example for £20 to resell on they will refund up to £20 (or whatever your purchase price is) up to £20. Thats for recorded delivery i think the claim limit is £35. For proof of posting I think the maximum claim amount is 10 or 20 times the cost of posting or the cost of goods to you whichever is the lesser amount.

By refunding and sending a pot free of charge you have no claim for this pot against Royal Mail.

custardy

del76 wrote: »

From my dealings with Royal Mail as a business customer, which from the sound of it you are. The fact that you had another pot to replace the one that broke indicates this IMO.

With proof of loss in transit or damage in transit RM will refund the cost of the item at wholesale price.

eg: You sold the pot for £50 now you may of produced this pot yourself in which case you will have to document how much it costs you to make and claim this (raw materials & labour). If you purchase the pots in for example for £20 to resell on they will refund up to £20 (or whatever your purchase price is) up to £20. Thats for recorded delivery i think the claim limit is £35. For proof of posting I think the maximum claim amount is 10 or 20 times the cost of posting or the cost of goods to you whichever is the lesser amount.

By refunding and sending a pot free of charge you have no claim for this pot against Royal Mail.

basic RM compensation is always 100 x the present cost of a 1st class stamp

del76

custardy wrote: »

basic RM compensation is always 100 x the present cost of a 1st class stamp

Not if the item is less than that, compensation is to recover your losses not to profit from. That may be the maximum but not what you would get if your item was only a couple of quid. Thats my understanding anyway when I have had to complete claims.

custardy

del76 wrote: »

Not if the item is less than that, compensation is to recover your losses not to profit from. That may be the maximum but not what you would get if your item was only a couple of quid. Thats my understanding anyway when I have had to complete claims.

you were stating the compensation limit

arcon5

Why are you £100 out of pocket? You sold it for £50 so it cost you about £25? + postage assume to be about £6 x 2 = £62 which they paid £50 for so you lost £12.

If you was replacing it then why did you refund the buyer? They can't have the product and the money!!

If somebody reports an item damaged to me then they either:
- return it to me OR
- send clear photographs, which if they aren't clear enough or look suspect then return to me OR
- bug*er off


I would be surprised if they reimbursed you without evidence! Fraudulent claims are not few and far between with royalmail so they have to take precautions.

You will have to learn from this one and put better procedures in place for the future!! Or you could make a claim for 'non-delivery', although not exactly legal.