Complaint to Post Office regarding lost package

SimonWilson_2

Hello!

I was hoping for some advice on what to do next regarding a complaint I had about a lost parcel.

On New Years Eve last year, I sent a large parcel from a Post Office branch, who sent it with tracking via DPD, to an Ebay buyer. They had spent £120 on the item (some vintage toys I had kept in my parents attic for decades). I paid £12.50 for the tracking service.

The parcel never received an update to the tracking, and after about 3-4 weeks it was declared as missing. I eventually had to refund my Ebay buyer.

In order to come to the conclusion that the parcel was missing, I had to contact both the Post Office, and DPD. Both companies directed me back to the other.

Each time I contacted DPD I was told that my complaint had been passed on to their complaints department, but that "something had gone wrong" and that it would be transferred "within 48 hours". I have contacted DPD about 6 times and had the same response each time. Its been 4 weeks since the last time I called, and still no sign of a complaint form coming my way from them.

And then when contacting the Post Office: Calling them is useless because its all automated and impossible to talk to a real person, so my only option was to fill in the complaint form on their website.

Eventually I had a response from them that they would investigate the complaint.

Then on a Friday morning (09-02-24 - 6 weeks since I sent the parcel) I received a mail from the Post Office:

I’m writing to let you know we’ve received your complaint. Thanks for taking the time to tell us what happened.

To help us investigate the issue you've raised we need to ask you for more information. 

 

What we need
We need you to send us further details around your complaint, which you can do by replying to this email.

Here's the information we need from you:

 

- Your Post Office receipt

- Confirm if you bought the postage in the branch

- Proof of value of the mail item sent

- DPD advising they never received the item

 

Once we have all the information we need, we aim to resolve all complaints within 15 working days. We’ll let you know if we think we’ll need a little more time - this is only the case with more complicated cases.

Then we’ll inform you of the outcome of your complaint.
We know that making a complaint can be a stressful process, but rest assured we take every complaint seriously and will be in touch throughout the process.

I was on a long weekend trip away at the time of receiving this email. On Monday I received this message:

I’m writing to let you know that we have not yet received the information we previously requested on 09.02.2024.

To help us investigate the issue you've raised we need to ask you for more information.

... (middle of the mail was same body of text as before)

If we have not received the requested documents within 3 days, your case will be closed. If you need to contact us after this date, please complete the form on the following link

I returned from my trip late on Tuesday, and on Wednesday morning hastily began preparing the documents, only to find in my inbox:

I’m writing to let you know that we have not yet received the information we previously requested on 12.02.2024 and 09.02.2024.

 

I can now confirm that your case has been marked as 'Resolved'. If you still need to contact us further regarding your concerns, please complete the form on the following link and a member of the team will contact you directly

I was pretty angry about this as I had barely had time to respond, especially since I had been very patient with the post office and DPD with their "5-10 working days" policy on their communications to me (which was always exceeded).

The second to last mail had warned "within 3 days" but in closing the case by Wednesday they had actually closed it earlier than the 3 days.

Nonetheless I replied back with all the documents I needed to provide.

I have not received any response back, and I am afraid they have just placed blame on me for not reacting immediately, and ignored my email. I re-logged a complaint using their online form again, but its now been longer than the maximum time they say it would take to reply back, so now I feel as though they have moved on and will not help me.

So I am out £12.50 plus the £120 I would have earned from the sale, plus the items I sent which were lost and a disappointed ebay buyer. Its been very stressful trying to contact these different companies who have been very unhelpful.

I do not want to drop this but i actually do not know what to do next as I feel as though neither company is willing to help me.

Is there somewhere else I can contact regarding this case?

Pollycat

DE_612183 said:

DPD or Post Office?

Yes, it's very confusing,

martindow

Pollycat said:

DE_612183 said:

DPD or Post Office?

Yes, it's very confusing,

A lot of POs are now drop off points for DPD parcels.  I think this needs to be pursued with DPD rather than the PO.  

OP, have you tried live chat on DPD's site?  I've found them helpful, although if you've booked via an intermediary like Parcel2go you need to chase it via them.  

I hope you're not too late to claim on the insurance as most carriers want you to claim within a certain timescale.

soolin

I am a little confused- but then my local PO's don't offer DPD. However it is worth noting that PO are only handlers and there doesn't seem to be any mechanism for claiming for loss from them at all. When they act for RM th eonly claim is via RM.

My understanding is that it is the same for DPD  as on this link 

DPD Parcel Delivery Support | Post Office®

it says quite clearly

• What happens if my parcel goes missing?

  Please contact the retailer you purchased from if a return goes missing or contact DPD if you've sent an item through their service.

So its back to DPD.

Incidentally your loss you are claiming is the £12.50 postage, £120 item cost- , you haven't also lost the item. You've either lost the item or the money, not both.

SimonWilson_2

soolin said:

I am a little confused- but then my local PO's don't offer DPD. However it is worth noting that PO are only handlers and there doesn't seem to be any mechanism for claiming for loss from them at all. When they act for RM th eonly claim is via RM.

My understanding is that it is the same for DPD  as on this link 


it says quite clearly

• What happens if my parcel goes missing?

  Please contact the retailer you purchased from if a return goes missing or contact DPD if you've sent an item through their service.

So its back to DPD.

Incidentally your loss you are claiming is the £12.50 postage, £120 item cost- , you haven't also lost the item. You've either lost the item or the money, not both.

Thanks for the reply, Ill try DPD again. 

Regarding the losses, you're right my wording is wrong there; I'm just frustrated the item itself had vanished.

soolin

SimonWilson_2 said:

soolin said:

I am a little confused- but then my local PO's don't offer DPD. However it is worth noting that PO are only handlers and there doesn't seem to be any mechanism for claiming for loss from them at all. When they act for RM th eonly claim is via RM.

My understanding is that it is the same for DPD  as on this link 


it says quite clearly

• What happens if my parcel goes missing?

  Please contact the retailer you purchased from if a return goes missing or contact DPD if you've sent an item through their service.

So its back to DPD.

Incidentally your loss you are claiming is the £12.50 postage, £120 item cost- , you haven't also lost the item. You've either lost the item or the money, not both.

Thanks for the reply, Ill try DPD again. 

Regarding the losses, you're right my wording is wrong there; I'm just frustrated the item itself had vanished.

I rarely ever use DPD but be aware a lot of couriers have very short time frames in which to claim-and you may already be technically out of time.

SimonWilson_2

soolin said:

SimonWilson_2 said:

soolin said:

I am a little confused- but then my local PO's don't offer DPD. However it is worth noting that PO are only handlers and there doesn't seem to be any mechanism for claiming for loss from them at all. When they act for RM th eonly claim is via RM.

My understanding is that it is the same for DPD  as on this link 


it says quite clearly

• What happens if my parcel goes missing?

  Please contact the retailer you purchased from if a return goes missing or contact DPD if you've sent an item through their service.

So its back to DPD.

Incidentally your loss you are claiming is the £12.50 postage, £120 item cost- , you haven't also lost the item. You've either lost the item or the money, not both.

Thanks for the reply, Ill try DPD again. 

Regarding the losses, you're right my wording is wrong there; I'm just frustrated the item itself had vanished.

I rarely ever use DPD but be aware a lot of couriers have very short time frames in which to claim-and you may already be technically out of time.

But if I have been contacting them ever since it was lost, been persistent yet have repeatedly been asked to wait, how is that fair?

I called again this afternoon and was told my case has been forwarded to the claims department (again), so I have no choice but to wait and see.

Is there a third party (such as Ombudsman) I can use to resolve this?

Pollycat

martindow said:

Pollycat said:

DE_612183 said:

DPD or Post Office?

Yes, it's very confusing,

A lot of POs are now drop off points for DPD parcels.  I think this needs to be pursued with DPD rather than the PO.  

OP, have you tried live chat on DPD's site?  I've found them helpful, although if you've booked via an intermediary like Parcel2go you need to chase it via them.  

I hope you're not too late to claim on the insurance as most carriers want you to claim within a certain timescale.

The OP has now edited their original post.
The Post Office really had nothing to do with this once the parcel was handed over to DPD.

GadgetGuru

Funny - Im going through almost the exact same issue:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6509037/failed-collection-or-lost-parcel#latest

My claim is through the retailer though, as it was an item return and they provided the prepaid DPD label etc.....

soolin

GadgetGuru said:

Funny - Im going through almost the exact same issue:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6509037/failed-collection-or-lost-parcel#latest

My claim is through the retailer though, as it was an item return and they provided the prepaid DPD label etc.....

Luckily that becomes an issue for the retailer then!