Royal Mail item not returned to me!

rosieraspberry

I sent an ebay buyer an item I'd sold to them and she did not collect from the post office within 17 days so the item showed as being returned to sender.
The item was sent 2nd class (bought online and has a tracking number but was just standard 2nd class - didn't pay extra for recorded or anything).
I have still not had the item back 3 weeks after Royal Mail were meant to be returning it.
I contacted them to try to claim for this loss as items are covered up to £20 through Royal Mail and they sent back a standard response saying the procedure was to go to the national returns place and if there was no address on the outer packaging it would be opened in secure conditions to look for a returns address on the packing slip inside. They said if I don't hear from them again it'll mean they will have disposed of it as they can't find where to return it!!
The returns address was on the back of the parcel but it has not been returned to me and I'm not holding out much hope.
Am I able to make a claim for this or because the buyer left it at their sorting office for 17 days and delivery was originally attempted does that mean I am unable to claim?

gazebo

Have you checked with your own delivery office to see if the returned item is there?

It could be possible if your surname and the full postal address including flat position (if applicable), that they have attempted to deliver it to you but may have not left a card to tell you.

I don't know if you are able to make a claim or not, however, I do recommend you use their Twitter account to complain as they are more efficient in handling queries.

sheramber

according to https://personal.help.royalmail.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/7171/~/what-happens-if-you-can%E2%80%99t-deliver-my-mail%3F

If there's no return address or franking mark on the item, we’ll send it to the National Returns Centre (NRC) in Belfast. We'll then open the item to try and find a sender's address. If we do, and the contents aren’t newspapers, magazines or advertising materials, we’ll then return it to the sender.

If we can’t find a return address, items will be held for one month pending a customer enquiry. my bold