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Royal Mail theft insures bleak Christmss for grandchildren
pistonvalve
Posts: 201 Forumite
I am posting this in the hope someone on here can give some advice or pull some levers.
Last week I ordered over the net some gift vouchers from Toys-R-Us to the value of £80. They duly arrived last Thursday (27-11-14). On that same day I forward posted them together with a Christmas card to my grandchildren in North Somerset.
The postmaster at my local post office advised not to send recorded delivery (now called ‘sign for’) as compensation is limited to £50.00 but offered special delivery costing £7+ as the compensation limit was £500.00. As recorded delivery was going to cost £2 odd I took a punt knowing at worst I might loose £30, so the consignment went on its way using the ‘sign for’ service.
On Friday 28th about 1pm my daughter-in-law phoned to say letter received with Christmas card but no sign of the gift vouchers and there was signs of ‘tampering’ with the envelope. My immediate action was to phone Toys-R-Us and put a ‘stop’ on the vouchers, this was confirmed later as a ‘void’ had been placed but would not know until Tuesday if the vouchers had been used beforehand also they would not refund or replace if the ‘void’ was successful. So they would sit on my £80 for ever and a day!!
Royal Mail (RM) were contacted and ‘hid’ behind their terms and conditions – no compensation would be paid as vouchers were sent using the ‘sign-for’ service. RM were totally dis-interested that theft had taken place whilst the consignment was in their care and that the postmaster’s advice was wrong!! Customer services did take some details though.
Post Office Ltd were not interested but thought some re-training was necessary at my local post office. they added - The advice given by the postmaster was wrong and knowing the nature/value of the contents should not have accepted the letter using the ’sign-for’ service.
Clearly there has been a theft whilst in RM hands. Wrong advice was given by the post master – a matter for Post Office Ltd.
The potential loss of £80 may seem small to some but I am a 71 year old pensioner who can ill afford to lose this which took a long time to save up.
Advice please on the best way forward
Mike.
Last week I ordered over the net some gift vouchers from Toys-R-Us to the value of £80. They duly arrived last Thursday (27-11-14). On that same day I forward posted them together with a Christmas card to my grandchildren in North Somerset.
The postmaster at my local post office advised not to send recorded delivery (now called ‘sign for’) as compensation is limited to £50.00 but offered special delivery costing £7+ as the compensation limit was £500.00. As recorded delivery was going to cost £2 odd I took a punt knowing at worst I might loose £30, so the consignment went on its way using the ‘sign for’ service.
On Friday 28th about 1pm my daughter-in-law phoned to say letter received with Christmas card but no sign of the gift vouchers and there was signs of ‘tampering’ with the envelope. My immediate action was to phone Toys-R-Us and put a ‘stop’ on the vouchers, this was confirmed later as a ‘void’ had been placed but would not know until Tuesday if the vouchers had been used beforehand also they would not refund or replace if the ‘void’ was successful. So they would sit on my £80 for ever and a day!!
Royal Mail (RM) were contacted and ‘hid’ behind their terms and conditions – no compensation would be paid as vouchers were sent using the ‘sign-for’ service. RM were totally dis-interested that theft had taken place whilst the consignment was in their care and that the postmaster’s advice was wrong!! Customer services did take some details though.
Post Office Ltd were not interested but thought some re-training was necessary at my local post office. they added - The advice given by the postmaster was wrong and knowing the nature/value of the contents should not have accepted the letter using the ’sign-for’ service.
Clearly there has been a theft whilst in RM hands. Wrong advice was given by the post master – a matter for Post Office Ltd.
The potential loss of £80 may seem small to some but I am a 71 year old pensioner who can ill afford to lose this which took a long time to save up.
Advice please on the best way forward
Mike.
0
Comments
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Do you have anything in writing (or email) from the Post Office, admitting you were misadvised at the local branch? If so that would be a big step towards an admission of liability.0
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pistonvalve wrote: »I am posting this in the hope someone on here can give some advice or pull some levers.
Last week I ordered over the net some gift vouchers from Toys-R-Us to the value of £80. They duly arrived last Thursday (27-11-14). On that same day I forward posted them together with a Christmas card to my grandchildren in North Somerset.
The postmaster at my local post office advised not to send recorded delivery (now called ‘sign for’) as compensation is limited to £50.00 but offered special delivery costing £7+ as the compensation limit was £500.00. As recorded delivery was going to cost £2 odd I took a punt knowing at worst I might loose £30, so the consignment went on its way using the ‘sign for’ service.
On Friday 28th about 1pm my daughter-in-law phoned to say letter received with Christmas card but no sign of the gift vouchers and there was signs of ‘tampering’ with the envelope. My immediate action was to phone Toys-R-Us and put a ‘stop’ on the vouchers, this was confirmed later as a ‘void’ had been placed but would not know until Tuesday if the vouchers had been used beforehand also they would not refund or replace if the ‘void’ was successful. So they would sit on my £80 for ever and a day!!
Royal Mail (RM) were contacted and ‘hid’ behind their terms and conditions – no compensation would be paid as vouchers were sent using the ‘sign-for’ service. RM were totally dis-interested that theft had taken place whilst the consignment was in their care and that the postmaster’s advice was wrong!! Customer services did take some details though.
Post Office Ltd were not interested but thought some re-training was necessary at my local post office. they added - The advice given by the postmaster was wrong and knowing the nature/value of the contents should not have accepted the letter using the ’sign-for’ service.
Clearly there has been a theft whilst in RM hands. Wrong advice was given by the post master – a matter for Post Office Ltd.
The potential loss of £80 may seem small to some but I am a 71 year old pensioner who can ill afford to lose this which took a long time to save up.
Advice please on the best way forward
Mike.
Outwith a good will payment from POC,you will not get much else.
Signed for is basically a big flashing light there is something of value inside a card.0 -
No unfortunately not, only an admission from Post Office Ltd customer services over the phone. I have the post receipt and a reference number for the enquiry
Mike.0 -
It's a sad endictment on Royal Mail that their staff can't be trusted with something of value!
Its a sad indictment of yourself that you just clumped all their staff in that.
My partner got £20 stolen from her purse at work last night. So all staff in the catering industry cant be trusted?
RM are a massive employer with mainly honest staff (its a job with a high level of trust)
However a card with an RD label is an obvious target for the type of person who would steal.
RD offers no greater security on its travels than standard mail.0 -
Yes I realise that now, I have asked my MP for help
Mike.0 -
The Post Office told you to use Special Delivery, you ignored that advice.
Not sure theft is necessarily the right conclusion to jump to, wait until Tuesday and see if they have been used. You'll probably find that they've not.0 -
Yes but the Post Master inferred a limit of £50.00 compensation and he did not say 'no compensation was payable if vouchers were sent 'sign-for'0
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Its a sad indictment of yourself that you just clumped all their staff in that.
My partner got £20 stolen from her purse at work last night. So all staff in the catering industry cant be trusted?
RM are a massive employer with mainly honest staff (its a job with a high level of trust)
However a card with an RD label is an obvious target for the type of person who would steal.
RD offers no greater security on its travels than standard mail.
You said not to use signed for as it indicates there is something valuable in the card. Thats disappointing as you should be able to trust RM employes.
On your partner I don't know where she was but if you leave your purse unattended then there is a chance someone could nick some money. The difference here is the OP entrusted their vouchers to Royal Mail and this trust was misplaced.0 -
pistonvalve wrote: »
The postmaster at my local post office advised not to send recorded delivery (now called ‘sign for’) as compensation is limited to £50.00 but offered special delivery costing £7+ as the compensation limit was £500.00. As recorded delivery was going to cost £2 odd I took a punt knowing at worst I might loose £30, so the consignment went on its way using the ‘sign for’ service.
Not sure I understand this bit
Value £80, insured for £50 so you under insured by 37.5%
Surely they would reduce any payout by that amount so you were actually risking £48.750
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