Warning - Post Office extortion

CAGEY_2

Having posted my father's birthday card in plenty of time the Royal Mail subsequently managed to "lose" it. No matter I thought, I'll put in a complaint and see if they will compensate me for the gift voucher and the money that I had put inside.

A week later, a letter lands on my door step telling me that they do not offer compensation for cash/vouchers posted via first class post, and that I should use special delivery if I want this to be covered.

I contacted PostWatch (the postal watchdog) who told me that, despite no-one has ever heard of this clause, because it exists in the conditions of carriage, available from any pathetically under staffed post office, there is nothing they can do about it.

When pushed, it became obvious that there was nothing that the postal watchdog could do about anything and that Royal Mail could get away with anything it likes. The useless young lady at PostWatch even told me that I should have used Special Delivery to send the card, and couldn't quite grasp the concept that being charged over £4 to cover an item which I had already put a first class stamp on seemed to be the Post Office's way of extorting inordinate sums for performing a service which people expect anyway.

I would love some help on this issue. But the main reason that I am posting this is to warn people NOT to use the Post Office for sending items of moderate value.

Badger_Lady

I always knew this was the case - don't send money in the post. Didn't realise that you had the option of Special Delivery, actually!

Stephen_Leak

You used a service on the basis of assumptions and without thoroughly researching all of the options and alternatives. Not very wise, I'm afraid. Whilst I cannot comment further without breaching forum etiquette, I am sure that - unfortunately - someone will be along soon to rip your head off.

dmg24

Is it not common sense that you do not put money (in any form) in normal post?

The useless young lady at PostWatch

So why was she useless? Because she was right, and you were wrong? She gave you the correct information, I think that is pretty good service!

scorpio13

I agree with the OP, to a certain extent.

I remember when you were allowed to send things like postal orders etc. via 1st class post and receive compensation. So long as you showed proof of posting & proof of the value of the item lost.

Royal mail special delivery for a lightweight letter or card costs £4.25 (i think it is now) as opposed to 34p for a 1st class stamp!

Special delivery works out relatively cheaply when you post heavier or more valuable items........but £4.25 for a letter or card with say a £10 gift voucher inside it, is too much.

Royal mail are definetly 'taking the p'....- in my opinion.

CAGEY_2

I'm glad that everyone seems to have been aware of this situation other than me. It would appear that wanting to send someone a gift for their birthday is a crime as far as some of you are concerned.

However, it is a disgrace that you all accept this situation so readily.

Why shouldn't I be able to put a few quid in a card. If I take my car to the garage and happen to leave a CD in the stereo is it my fault if a greasy mechanic steals it ? And would you all accept that it has been nicked ?

If I put a stamp on a letter and put the letter in a post box I expect the Royal Mail to deliver that letter to the address given. In the same way, I would expect my CD to still be in the car when I got it back.

I thought this forum was about money-saving and not getting ripped off by companies, not about accepting criminal behaviour or incompetence.

Not so long ago people accepted bank charges when they went overdrawn. Nowadays they claim the majority of them back.

custardy

unfortunatly your looking back through misty eyes.
when RM could spend infinate money and staffing levels were high it was different.
you now have mass volumes,downstream access and many other factors.
coupled by so many scammers.
you have no proof of delivery or non delivery so in effect you want RM to compensate you without proof

dmg24

There is no proof of criminal activity here, so the car analogy is irrelevant.

RM deliver thousands of items each day. In an operation of that size it is inevitable, even in the most perfect of operations (I am not saying that RM does fit this definition), that items will go missing.

RM acknowledge that their service is not perfect. Therefore they offer premium services for those that wish to send items of value.

I really do not see the problem here. You did not know that you should not have sent a gift voucher through normal post. You made a mistake, put it down to experience. It was your mistake, not that of RM.

Yet another case of people expecting businesses to act like charities?

CAGEY_2

Interestingly, it sems that they would compensate me if I had sent a DVD or a book. And I wouldn't have any "proof" then either !

The fact is that I have never made a claim for compensation before. I have never been advised about the Royal Mail's conditions of carriage before, or even that they have any.

Another interesting point is that, had I sent the card via special delivery, and insured it, I would have been able to claim up to £2500 without "proving" what was in the envelope.

Yes there are crooks around. But I don't see why we have to accept that the Post Office is allowed to deny responsibility for the people they employ. To use the garage analogy once again : If the CD could not be found, you would expect the garage owner to compensate you for your loss, wouldn't you ?

CAGEY_2

I'm glad that DMG24 is not one of those whingers who go overdrawn, get charged by the banks and then have the audacity to try and claim back the charges incurred by their own inept money management. And I'm glad that they are willing to accept such inept behaviour by a national company.

As regards criminal behaviour, I use the term theft because our postman, when I informed him what had happened, told me not to trust our local sorting office because of all the thieves that work there. And I'm pretty sure that he knows more about what happens to my mail than you, I or anyone else.

Debt_Free_Chick

CAGEY wrote: »

Why shouldn't I be able to put a few quid in a card. If I take my car to the garage and happen to leave a CD in the stereo is it my fault if a greasy mechanic steals it ? And would you all accept that it has been nicked ?

I think there's an important difference here.

The garage can accurately identify who had access to the car and who had an opportunity to steal the CD - report it as a crime and, no doubt, the Police would make an arrest.

Contrast this with trying to identify who - in the long chain of Royal Mail delivery services - had access to the item and the opportunity to steal it. It's impossible - there is simply no way of identifying which items of post are handled by particular members of RM staff.

I take your point - that it should be feasible to send cash or vouchers via first class post, but there are simply too many opportunities for unscrupulous individuals to lift the item. To be honest, pretty much the same opportunities exist with Special Delivery, but I guess that RM hope that the "special handling" of the item is a sufficient deterrent to thieves. Interestingly, SD items can be lost and stolen too - but at least you get the compo. The extra cost is, essentially, the insurance premium.

Don't you also get compo with Recorded Delivery, which is a fraction of the cost of Special Delivery?