Royal Mail Signed For compensation

snapey

I had cause to send my daughters phone off for repair, and after a couple of weeks, the repair company said it had never turned up.

Unfortunately, all I had used was the 'signed for' service from Royal Mail which proves the recipient received the item but does nothing for you if it goes missing along the way.

I waited the mandatory 15 working days and then raised a claim. The maximum compensation for Signed For is £46, however Royal Mail have just sent me a 'sorry' and a book of 6 stamps to cover my postage. They say that as I cannot prove the value of the phone I am not entitled to any further compensation.

Here's the rub. The phone was provided 'free' with a £20 per month phone contract last Christmas. Now I have to continue paying the contract, but am minus a phone to use on it.

I appealed to RM, providing copies of the phone contract, deliver note for the phone, and also provided an example of the price to purchase a replacement phone (about £230).

The response to the appeal was that as I was unable to provide evidence to the cost they could not consider any compensation.

Anyone any suggestions (apart from don't use 'signed for')?

Thanks

arcon5

If you purchase a replacement phone, I wonder if they would accept this as proof of your consequential loss and pay out the £46....

Failing that, personally I'd resort to underhand tactics and send a parcel through them on a non-signed for service and make a "loss" claim using the receipt for the replacement. Not exactly legal but at least you'd get the £46 you deserve.

Anything above this limit you have lost should be put down to experience and you should ensure you purchase an adequate level of service next time you send high value goods in the post.

Hintza

snapey wrote: »

Now I have to continue paying the contract, but am minus a phone to use on it.

There are plenty of cheap phones available just get one on the correct network and away you go.

custardy

snapey wrote: »

I had cause to send my daughters phone off for repair, and after a couple of weeks, the repair company said it had never turned up.

Unfortunately, all I had used was the 'signed for' service from Royal Mail which proves the recipient received the item but does nothing for you if it goes missing along the way.

I waited the mandatory 15 working days and then raised a claim. The maximum compensation for Signed For is £46, however Royal Mail have just sent me a 'sorry' and a book of 6 stamps to cover my postage. They say that as I cannot prove the value of the phone I am not entitled to any further compensation.

Here's the rub. The phone was provided 'free' with a £20 per month phone contract last Christmas. Now I have to continue paying the contract, but am minus a phone to use on it.

I appealed to RM, providing copies of the phone contract, deliver note for the phone, and also provided an example of the price to purchase a replacement phone (about £230).

The response to the appeal was that as I was unable to provide evidence to the cost they could not consider any compensation.

Anyone any suggestions (apart from don't use 'signed for')?

Thanks

Why cant you prove value? what is the value of your handset in 2nd hand non working condition?

arcon5 wrote: »

If you purchase a replacement phone, I wonder if they would accept this as proof of your consequential loss and pay out the £46....

Failing that, personally I'd resort to underhand tactics and send a parcel through them on a non-signed for service and make a "loss" claim using the receipt for the replacement. Not exactly legal but at least you'd get the £46 you deserve.

Anything above this limit you have lost should be put down to experience and you should ensure you purchase an adequate level of service next time you send high value goods in the post.

consequential loss is an optional extra on SD services only

shocky_2

I had a look at the RM website and they only seem to require "evidence of value". It must be possible to show the value of a phone, surely proof of purchase and proof of how much the phone costs elsewhere should be enough.

It sounds like you have been the victim of some jobsworth being deliberately difficult.

Where are you in RM's internal process? Their website said that there are up to three stages of complaints/appeals. Personally I would keep pushing this forward through the RM process.

snapey

I'm between stages 2 and 3 of the complaints process. First was the initial complaint. Then escalation to the 'Escalated Customer Resolution Team' . The next step is to apply to the 'Postal Review Panel'.

To answer Custardy's question, I have sent them copies of the original contract, the delivery note for the phone to me, and the replacement cost from an on-line retailer.

youngsolicitor - there is no proof of purchase. All there is is a contract with three for £20 odd per month and a delivery note for the phone. My argument is that a 'free' phone in this context is not of no value.

Could this become a common problem? If the phone were stolen from my home might the insurance company say that unless I could prove I bought it then there would be no cover?

custardy

snapey wrote: »

I'm between stages 2 and 3 of the complaints process. First was the initial complaint. Then escalation to the 'Escalated Customer Resolution Team' . The next step is to apply to the 'Postal Review Panel'.

To answer Custardy's question, I have sent them copies of the original contract, the delivery note for the phone to me, and the replacement cost from an on-line retailer.

youngsolicitor - there is no proof of purchase. All there is is a contract with three for £20 odd per month and a delivery note for the phone. My argument is that a 'free' phone in this context is not of no value.

Could this become a common problem? If the phone were stolen from my home might the insurance company say that unless I could prove I bought it then there would be no cover?

you didnt lose a replacement handset
you lost a faulty one

shocky_2

snapey wrote: »

youngsolicitor - there is no proof of purchase. All there is is a contract with three for £20 odd per month and a delivery note for the phone. My argument is that a 'free' phone in this context is not of no value.

I can see the problem but I don't agree with RM on this. How you got the phone isn't relevant to its value. If a friend gives you his iPhone that phone is still worth something, it doesn't become worthless simply because it was a gift.

If you can prove (1) that you sent the phone and (2) the phone has a certain value, then I don't see why there is a problem. RM's website indicates they only require "proof of value", there is no reference to "proof of purchase" (although I haven't read the full T&Cs).

MamaMoo_2

Perhaps work out the difference in cost between your contract, and a SIM only one with the same plan. Usually you'll notice you pay a few quid extra a month if you have a handset.

custardy

MamaMoo wrote: »

Perhaps work out the difference in cost between your contract, and a SIM only one with the same plan. Usually you'll notice you pay a few quid extra a month if you have a handset.

The OP didnt lose a working handset
So RM wont be paying for a replacement handset
they lost a faulty 2nd hand unit
This is the point I made earlier

MamaMoo_2

However, with this handset, they also lost the right to a replacement under warranty, so have effectively lost a replacement handset.