Royal mail mess up, missed prize :(

applepie*

Today my neighbour came round with a red missed delivery card from the beginning of September - he's been away for 6 weeks and the postman put the card through the wrong door - so annoying as we were in all day that day! Obviously it has been too long to collect the parcel and it's been returned to sender.

Looked it up and it's the Sony Xperia I won from the pepsi comp, was wondering why it was taking so long to arrive.
So gutted that the postman just couldn't knock on the right door-the slip has my number on it!

Have emailed pepsi to see if they can resend it - do you think I should be hopeful? Thinking of complaining to royal mail too, but doubt that will get me anywhere.

Rosiemary

I would complain to royal mail and request compensation to the value of the phone. You may need something in writing from your neighbour. It's definitely been returned? You could try Pepsi as well.

Daza

A sorting office will only keep recorded / special delivery items for 18 days before returning to sender -- so I would say it will have been returned by now

Special delivery items should only be delivered to the name / address shown on the package -- However you will not be able to complain to Royal Mail to get compensation as you didn't have the contract with them -- Pepsi are the ones that had the contract with Royal Mail as they paid for the service to deliver the package ......... you will need to contact Pepsi themselves and explain what has happened.

Blulu

Interesting one. I would say this is about 2 separate 'contracts'. Your arrangement is with Pepsi. Pepsi have an obligation to provide you with your prize. So as you have not received your prize, you should contact them. It would probably be helpful to them if you explained what happened.

The other contract is the one Pepsi have with the RM. They paid them to deliver your parcel, so it's really up to them to recover any losses from the RM, if they choose to.

I'm no expert, but that is how it looks to me. I also would be surprised if Pepsi don't make it right with you, by either sending you another one, or the financial equivalent.

GL

Blu X

Rosiemary

Daza wrote: »

A sorting office will only keep recorded / special delivery items for 18 days before returning to sender -- so I would say it will have been returned by now

Special delivery items should only be delivered to the name / address shown on the package -- However you will not be able to complain to Royal Mail to get compensation as you didn't have the contract with them -- Pepsi are the ones that had the contract with Royal Mail as they paid for the service to deliver the package ......... you will need to contact Pepsi themselves and explain what has happened.

Well I am not sure if this is correct as the the Royal Mail error has caused a significant loss to the OP so I am sure a compensation claim would be appropriate if Pepsi cannot or will not send it out again. Lets hope Pepsi can help.

starrybee

No, Blulu is correct. As far as RM is concerned, their contract is with whoever posted the item, ie Pepsi. They're certainly not going to give OP any compensation.

applepie*

Thanks everyone! I have emailed Pepsi to say what happened and guess I just have to wait and see what they say.
Really hope they can sort it though as this is the best prize I've ever won and was so excited when I got the winning message!

Daza

Rosiemary wrote: »

Well I am not sure if this is correct as the the Royal Mail error has caused a significant loss to the OP so I am sure a compensation claim would be appropriate if Pepsi cannot or will not send it out again. Lets hope Pepsi can help.

The op has had no loss at all - they didn't pay RM for the service, nor did they pay for the goods that were inside the package. The op has not paid a single penny for goods or services, so there is no loss

RM (and any other courier) will only ever deal with the person that paid for the service (IE - The sender - in this case Pepsi) - they can try and contact RM but they will be told they have no contract with them and will only deal with the sender. (my other half works for RM)

sheils6

I hope Pepsi sort it out for you applepie. I don't see why they wouldn't when they would get the phone back.
Just like to say that when RM messed up a delivery of tickets for me and the company wouldn't help I did manage to get compensation from RM. It took ages and I had to go to their Review Panel but I received the whole £360 for the tickets I had won.

Rosiemary

sheils6 wrote: »

I hope Pepsi sort it out for you applepie. I don't see why they wouldn't when they would get the phone back.
Just like to say that when RM messed up a delivery of tickets for me and the company wouldn't help I did manage to get compensation from RM. It took ages and I had to go to their Review Panel but I received the whole £360 for the tickets I had won.

Agree. Obviously it cannot be dealt with under the law of contract but there can be a claim under the law of tort. As I said previously the OP has suffered loss (the phone) due to lack of care (negligence) by the RM (delivering to the wrong address) and the OP could well be entitled to damages (compensation) for the value of the phone.

Blulu

Obstinate me, but I still think that RM's obligation is with whoever purchased their service. Have to remember that a company can always do more than they are required to.

I'm sure they would have it clearly set in stone whether they compensate the sender or recipient, otherwise they could end up paying out twice for the same loss/damage.

I have sold quite a lot on eBay and Amazon (only a small amount are prizes - can I borrow the tin opener for this can of worms?) Very occasionally something has gone missing or been damaged, and RM have always been great and quite quick at paying out. I just filled out their form, sent it off with proof of postage and Bob's my auntie (I have a strange family) they sent the payment.

The fact that it took time and had to go to a review board for our Sheila suggests to me that they agreed to compensate her as something exceptional. Of course they might choose to do the same thing here if Pepsi don't play shuttlecock. But more likely is that Pepsi will sort it with the OP, and if they can be bothered they will then claim from RM.

Blu X