Seller said sending via Royal Mail but sent Hermes

dondo

Hi all

I bought an item on eBay and the seller for which I had to pay postage and on the listing it said would be sent via Royal Mail 2nd Class signed for.

It was actually sent via Hermes which meant delivery time was longer than it should have been (it was a birthday present)

Other than via leaving feedback to state what happened do I have any recourse given that the postage may well have been cheaper than what I paid?

Hasbeen

dondo wrote: »

Hi all

I bought an item on eBay and the seller for which I had to pay postage and on the listing it said would be sent via Royal Mail 2nd Class signed for.

It was actually sent via Hermes which meant delivery time was longer than it should have been (it was a birthday present)

Other than via leaving feedback to state what happened do I have any recourse given that the postage may well have been cheaper than what I paid?

How do you know delivery time was longer? You state it may have been cheaper?

What does seller say to all these assumptions?

F&L

The cost is unlikely to have been much different if the seller paid for a signature with Hermes although they often take a signature even when the seller doesn't pay for it. Hermes almost always arrives two days later (Sunday excluded) if the parcel reaches them on the day of posting. Royal Mail is meant to arrive two days later but can take a day or two longer. Some buyers prefer Royal Mail as if not in, it is easier to collect from them or to rearrange delivery for a specific day.

You don't have any recourse against the seller regarding the postage issue.

dondo

Hasbeen wrote: »

How do you know delivery time was longer? You state it may have been cheaper?

What does seller say to all these assumptions?

Hi there

I was able to track it on the Hermes website so I know how long it took from despatch to arrival.

I haven't contacted the seller yet, just thought I would see if there was any official line as such

DigForVictory

I've sent things by myhermes when the packaging has just failed the royal mail size test, but I do let the buyer know & it's automatically tracked. Sure deliveries can get left in odd places but it's usually not a dealbreaker. I wouldn't assume it was cheaper by hermes either as if was re-routed by packaging then money and effort has been spent wrapping.

I think you might feed back that communications were not as hoped if the seller knew this was to be a birthday present?

cattie

I sometimes send things via Hermes that I listed as being sent via Royal Mail. The reason is usually to do with sizes or weights once wrapped that would make it far more expensive to use Royal Mail, meaning the cost would have to hit my pocket as you can't charge the buyer extra p&p after payment.

I've never had anybody complain & neither do I complain if I've bought something that hasn't been sent by the stated method. As long as the item arrives intact within a few days I don't really see what difference it makes as to who delivers it.

soolin

cattie wrote: »

I sometimes send things via Hermes that I listed as being sent via Royal Mail. The reason is usually to do with sizes or weights once wrapped that would make it far more expensive to use Royal Mail, meaning the cost would have to hit my pocket as you can't charge the buyer extra p&p after payment.

I've never had anybody complain & neither do I complain if I've bought something that hasn't been sent by the stated method. As long as the item arrives intact within a few days I don't really see what difference it makes as to who delivers it.

I would be careful, there are many less tolerant buyers who hate certain couriers with a vengeance and would likely leave poor stars or even a neutral in a fit of pique. Many people have local RM collection points so order knowing that as they work they can always trundle down on a SAturday to collect any parcels , but where this would not be possible with a courier. You could also lose money on outward postage if a buyer was never able to take time off work to wait for a courier so just allowed it to be sent back to you and expect a refund.

We all make mistakes in postage and have had the need to change a postage method, but this should be extremely rare, if ever at all, and after understanding the very real risks. If you find you have not calculated postage correctly on a regular basis you might want to invest in better scales and a better 'sizer' if only a solid builders type tape measure.

[Deleted User]

soolin wrote: »

I would be careful, there are many less tolerant buyers who hate certain couriers with a vengeance and would likely leave poor stars or even a neutral in a fit of pique. Many people have local RM collection points so order knowing that as they work they can always trundle down on a SAturday to collect any parcels , but where this would not be possible with a courier. You could also lose money on outward postage if a buyer was never able to take time off work to wait for a courier so just allowed it to be sent back to you and expect a refund.

We all make mistakes in postage and have had the need to change a postage method, but this should be extremely rare, if ever at all, and after understanding the very real risks. If you find you have not calculated postage correctly on a regular basis you might want to invest in better scales and a better 'sizer' if only a solid builders type tape measure.

I'm one of those buyers I must admit. I buy items that are listed as using RM for delivery, so expect it to be sent that way or I would not of purchased otherwise.

kangoora

It could be an honest mistake by the seller, I sometimes do it inadvertently.

For example, I list an item that is large letter and select Royal Mail as the cheapest postage. The next item I list may be parcel size which I usually send via Hermes.

The problem is that the listing tool pre-populates the postage type from the previous listing. If you don't specifically change it back to Hermes, because, you may be in a rush and have 20+ items you want to list that day then it gets listed as Royal Mail delivery. This also works in reverse and I've listed large letter items as Hermes delivery, so naturally they get sent by Royal Mail as there is a significant difference in cost between RM Large letter and Hermes parcel cost.

Normally I catch this at some point and then have to manually edit each listing I've got wrong - a few times I don't catch it and I don't find out until the item is bought.

It isn't some conspiracy to defraud you of postage charges, well, Hermes Signed For is about 41p cheaper for the seller than Royal Mail 2nd Class Signed For so very few people are going to deliberately chance upsetting people for that small amount.

I personally see no difference in delivery times between Royal Mail and Hermes.

theonlywayisup

dondo wrote: »

Hi all

I bought an item on eBay and the seller for which I had to pay postage and on the listing it said would be sent via Royal Mail 2nd Class signed for.

I would be miffed if someone changed the carrier post sale without telling me, but less so if it was a service that required a signature to one that didn't

dondo wrote: »

It was actually sent via Hermes which meant delivery time was longer than it should have been (it was a birthday present)

When you say it 'took longer' what was the delivery estimate and how much did it change by?

dondo wrote: »

Other than via leaving feedback to state what happened do I have any recourse given that the postage may well have been cheaper than what I paid?

You can message the seller and ask why they changed the service, express your dissatisfaction and advise the item was late (if it was - it's hard to tell from your OP) and leave appropriate stars and late mark.

LadyDee

Surely the only real problem would be if the parcel arrived too late for the birthday - but why do people leave it until the last minute to buy presents, so that a couple of days delay means a worry? There are so many important things in the world to be concerned about. Oh well, it takes all sorts.