Royal mail lost parcel. What do I do now?

mossstitchmama

Hi, I am destashing some yarn on a Facebook group.

I invoiced all buyers through PayPal (not friends and family), and posted out five parcels on Tuesday morning, second class postage. Buyers refused to pay for first class or a signed for service.

Four parcels have arrived, one is missing. I have a proof of postage which is for all five parcels together. Do I have to refund the buyer through PayPal and pursue a refund from Royal Mail? Or do I give the proof of postage to the buyer and tell them to sort it out?

This is the first time this has happened so I am not sure what to do. Do the post office make you wait 15 days before they consider something lost?

jeffuk

As the sender you have to claim from Royal Mail. Apologise (Grovel) to buyer first and ask them to wait a few days to see if it is delayed in the system.
Then refund via Paypal and claim off RM.

jeffuk

Its best not to offer the buyer the chance to upgrade postage, charge the rate cover yourself if anything goes wrong.

ballisticbrian

Personally I would get them to wait a bit longer. Just because 4 have arrived is inconsequential. You might want to check the address they gave you in the mean time. If these yarns are larger than "large letter" format, consider using a service like Hermes which will give you proof of delivery and not just posting. Yes, it's not considered lost by Royal Mail until 15 days.

mossstitchmama

I did offer signed for postage, but got moaned at that my prices were too high. I was selling quantities weighing in excess of five kilograms.

Is it going to make any difference that the post office didn't give me separate proofs of posting for each parcel?

ballisticbrian

Is it going to make any difference that the post office didn't give me separate proofs of posting for each parcel?

You will be hard pushed to get any compensation out of Royal Mail for an untracked service what-so-ever.

campdave

Tracking is for the sellers benefit, not the buyers.

What was the value of the yarn? Untracked postage has a payout of £20 IIRC.

rach_k

Does the group you're selling in have any particular terms about postage/lost parcels etc?

If your buyer declined to pay for a more expensive or tracked delivery method, I would ask them to wait until the RM's 15 days are up so you can report the item as missing. Until then it is simply delayed, not lost, and the buyer chose that option not you. That's why it was cheaper! They can't expect to pay less but still receive the same service. When the time is up, refund the buyer straight away and claim from the RM yourself. I know it doesn't work at all like that on eBay but Facebook groups aren't eBay Generally, people in such groups know that the RM makes you wait 15 days to claim and if that's the service they chose, that's what they should be prepared to accept. I would anyway, as a buyer.

fishybusiness

You might want to try myHermes or similar to post parcels of that weight.

Al least they are properly tracked and you can for a small fee extra, require a signature.

RFW

For over 5kg parcels you'll get better courier deals than Royal Mail with tracking.

mrcol1000

RFW wrote: »

For over 5kg parcels you'll get better courier deals than Royal Mail with tracking.

My Hermes do 5-10kg for around £7.50 mark depending on whether you have it picked up from home, or drop it off at a local parcel shop (20p less). Full tracking from you to being delivered. Just be careful with fragile items.