5 out of 7 parcels not delivered after 8 Days Royal Mail, advice needed

pinchez

Hi

I'm not a regular seller on eBay but once in a blue moon I’ll have a clear out, so I sold and posted 7 items via 2nd Class Tracked and signed for, 8 days ago and only 2 have been delivered and the rest are showing in transit.

One buyer went straight through eBay for a refund without contacting me first, eBay have now put my account on hold. 2 more buyers want a refund tomorrow if their items don’t arrive. I’ve tried to contact Royal Mail but after 40 mins on hold I gave up, their website just sends you round in circles.

I stand to lose around £250 if these parcels are lost, can anybody give me some good advice on how I should proceed?

Thanks 

Miser1964

Signed For 2nd Class items are covered against loss or damage up to £50 each, so if RM have lost them you can claim the sale price back.

That said, to be so unlucky with 8 items makes me wonder how you packaged/addressed them.

olgadapolga

Miser1964 said:

That said, to be so unlucky with 8 items makes me wonder how you packaged/addressed them.

Or perhaps they are stuck within Royal Mail's system somewhere. I had a batch go missing once - it turned out that the bag with the missing item in didn't leave the drop-off point until I went there and asked them to physically look for the items.

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

8 days ago was the Tuesday after the Bank Holiday and Royal Mail always seems to struggle with delays after a bank holiday.

Other than refund and either claim after the usual 14 working days or ask for the money back from the buyers, or for them to return the goods (at your expense) if the parcels eventually filter through there's not much to be done other than keep communication to a high standard and offer apologies to the buyers.

No help now but maybe for the future  RM Tracked 24/48 is far better than 1st/2nd Signed For (which is not a tracked service) and usually (always?) cheaper, labels available to buy with RM here:

https://send.royalmail.com/

Worth noting not all parcels will get a signature or delivery scan so I wouldn't poke the bear by questioning silent buyers, only worry about those who get in touch to query delivery  

Exodi

I'd assume they were all posted at the same time because if they were all posted separately then the odds of that happening seem infinitesimal and would instead point to an issue in how they were packaged/addressed.

I think Signed for 2nd Class only updates tracking when delivery is attempted (rather than showing all the stages, e.g. being out for delivery) - I think if the tracking is indeed showing that delivery has not been attempted after 8 days of receipt, then I'd be opening compensation claims for them.

You should not blame the buyers.

tightauldgit

Exodi said:

I'd assume they were all posted at the same time because if they were all posted separately then the odds of that happening seem infinitesimal and would instead point to an issue in how they were packaged/addressed.

I think Signed for 2nd Class only updates tracking when delivery is attempted (rather than showing all the stages, e.g. being out for delivery) - I think if the tracking is indeed showing that delivery has not been attempted after 8 days of receipt, then I'd be opening compensation claims for them.

You should not blame the buyers.

I think you need to wait 10 business days to open a claim on 2nd class mail but yes other than that I agree that if they haven't shown up then make a claim for the loss and you should be OK. I find RM always have been pretty reasonable on paying out claims for losses/damage/ 

caprikid1

I did not think you could claim the sale price only the cost of the items sold ? RM Also want receipts for the cost of the items.

Interested to hear anyone who has claimed on unusual items IE Antiques where no receipt existed ? 

hermante

RM has always paid the ebay selling price when I have claimed. Since refunding the buyer gets fees back (minus 30p) I actually make more money when RM loses the items

jon81uk

caprikid1 said:

I did not think you could claim the sale price only the cost of the items sold ? RM Also want receipts for the cost of the items.

Interested to hear anyone who has claimed on unusual items IE Antiques where no receipt existed ? 

Its been a long time since I last made a claim from Royal Mail, but as a private seller, selling old belongings, I got the sale price back from Royal Mail. Likely because the best way to find the value of second hand clothing is to sell it on eBay! Business sellers would only normally get the cost price of the item back.

soolin

Just for clarification the RM time frames for claiming are as follows 

https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/consumer/post/if-you-think-your-post-is-lost/

If the item was sent to somewhere within the UK, you must claim within 80 days from the date the item was posted. How long you need to wait before you claim depends on how it was sent. If it was sent:

• by first class post, you can claim 11 working days after it was posted

• by second class post, you can claim 14 working days after it was posted

• by special delivery, you can claim 5 working days after it was due to arrive

• using the articles for the blind service, you can claim 11 working days after it was posted

For example if the item was posted by first class post on a Wednesday, you can claim 2 weeks later on Wednesday.

soolin

pinchez said:

Hi

I'm not a regular seller on eBay but once in a blue moon I’ll have a clear out, so I sold and posted 7 items via 2nd Class Tracked and signed for, 8 days ago and only 2 have been delivered and the rest are showing in transit.

One buyer went straight through eBay for a refund without contacting me first, eBay have now put my account on hold. 2 more buyers want a refund tomorrow if their items don’t arrive. I’ve tried to contact Royal Mail but after 40 mins on hold I gave up, their website just sends you round in circles.

I stand to lose around £250 if these parcels are lost, can anybody give me some good advice on how I should proceed?

Thanks 

It is not uncommon for buyers to go straight to an eBay claim, there’s very little point in contacting the seller first. Ido get frustrated though when people decide the eBay estimates are guarantees , but eBay seem to be pushing the idea that everything now arrives magically almost immediately.

If the items were sent signed for I’ve always found that a very poor service and more expensive than the RM online RM48 which is much more reliable, that might be worth noting for later sales. 

However, once a buyer opens an INR claim the seller must be careful to keep an eye on the escalation date, never ever let it reach escalation, always refund (through gritted teeth if necessary) before that point. If you refund then your FVFs are refunded (minus 30p) and you don’t get any sort of strike or warning. If however ebay step in, you loose your FVFs , still lose your money and you get a rather nasty strike on your account. You will unfortunately have to refund before you can even start an Rm claim , but keep an eye on the tracking and escalation date meanwhile.