Overseas item missing

charlies_mum

I sent an item to Argentina, and the buyer said it didn't arrive, so I put in a claim with Royal Mail.

Today I have received a letter from them stating that they need 'proof of value'. They then go on to say

" As you are trading and using a business name the documentation tht has accompanied your claim is not acceptable. We do no accept E-Bay, Paypal printouts or any purchase invoices to your customer. We need to see the manufacturer/supplier invoices (cost price less VAT and profit margin)". They have given me 5 days to provide or they will "assume the matter has been resolved" :mad:

As I sell antiques and collectables, this is impossible for me to provide. The items missing were bought in a mixed lot at auction, so I am unable to prove costs.

Anyone have any suggestions, I sell a lot overseas, but with this attitude, looks I have absolutely no comeback if items go missing.

martindow

I have had the same problem with Royal Mail who seem to be tightening up on claims. It has long been the situation with insurance offered by most carriers who only want to give you what you paid for an item. Many of their insurances specifically state that they only cover new (ie replaceable) items. The Royal Mail site says that they do offer compensation for items up to 100 years old.
http://www.royalmail.com/portal/rm/content1?mediaId=51000714&catId=400031#28500236
in section 4.

With some of my items the invoice groups items of different value together and I have given up on making a claim. For other things i have been able to produce an invoice with the items listed and they have paid the claim at the buying price. There have been previous threads on this and I seem to be in a minority of one in seeing this as reasonable (if not ideal). After all the payment has put me back where I was before selling.

For an item of the value of your order it would be worth following with a letter explaining the situation. I suppose you could offer figures which show your average mark up to justify their paying a percentage of your selling price. I don't think that you are likely to be able to get your full Ebay price. Good luck!