Parcelforce missing expensive item, lies about insurance and claiming

alonefusion

I packaged something up intending to send special delivery but it was just over the £11 delivery cost I predicted (2kg weight limit) I wanted special as item was worth £400 and would be there next day.

The person at post office counter told me I could send parcelforce for £12.98 which was "just as good" to which I assumed he meant 24 hour delivery and compensation.

I told him it was worth £400 and was it covered and he said yes.

Anyway item went "missing" and multiple phone calls from myself and buyer which have all been conflicting i.e one says its lost, another says its in depot, even the depot itself says its waiting there I kept getting told to not claim until they could determine without doubt it was lost.

I realise today I have just missed the 30 day deadline and was told its up to the claims team if I can claim and theres only 1 record of a phone call being made and they always tell customers to make a claim if theres any doubt but either way theres no enhanced compensation on it so I wouldn't get the full amount!

So I was lied to about the original cover level as why would I send Parcelforce if it cost the same as special delivery if not more once compensation is taken into account!

What do I do now? Even if my claim is sucessful I have lost £300 due to screw up from Post Office staff, do I make a complaint to the PO? And will I get anywhere about complaining to Parcelforce about being told to wait as they can just claim its my word against theirs?

marliepanda

Why didn't you choose special delivery? You say it was over £11, but so was parcel force? I don't get the mention of the £11

Parcel force express 24 only has £100 cover as standard. If you have no proof you were told £400 was covered you'll find it difficult to get your money back. I always check myself before sending anything expensive that it's covered.

alonefusion

The £11 was for items under 2kg, my item was about 2.2kg so would of been £26 if I remember correct to send it at which point I thought I would just go home and arrange a courier but really wanted item gone that day as promised person I sold it to I would get it done that day.

Looking at the Parcelforce website the extra for insurance would of been £10 so would of been £1 or £2 difference at most to send and I would of just sent Special if I knew that or done it by courier (other reason was I was staying at relatives and they were going away the following day so couldn't stay there so didn't want to rush up town with my bags and heavy item to post or drag my bags and heavy item to a shop that does courier collections)

My brain was suspicious but I thought that if special is £27 delivered then Parcelforce is cheaper as its either a slower service or not guaranteed by 1pm.

marliepanda

if they were the same service, no one would pay £26 for special delivery.

Unfortunately if you have no proof that they said that I am not sure what they can do, plus I assume on your receipt there will be some mention of the compensation? I haven't sent by PF for ages but my PO receipts for Special delivery have the compensation amounts on them. Does your receipt mention anything about a £100 compensation limit?

tomtontom

You can complain to the PO, but in the absence of evidence you'll get a book of twelve stamps.

Do Parcelforce record their phone calls? This will help with your complaint about the complaint timeframe.

Nilrem

Actually IIRC there is a parcel force service for around £15 which offers the same sort of compensation (PF have a lot of variation in pricing depending on speed of service, value, weight, whether it's picked up or collected, and whether it's collected from the depot by the recipient, collected from the post office or delivered).

Parcelforce and SD are different operations both owned by the same parent company, so prices for similar services vary a lot.

Whilst SD goes up massively at 2Kg as it's intended for small items, Parcel Force charges are far more flexible.

It sounds like the post office staff didn't understand the different Parcel Force services and sold the op the wrong level of service.