HELP: refused compensation by Royal Mail

Tipustyger

I am so angry. Before Christmas, I imported some white PS3s and sold them on Ebay. Most of them arrived without a problem but one was damaged in transit and sent back. As the packaging was not damaged, I reused it to send another one and submitted a claim for damages to Royal Mail. The item was sent special delivery and so I was told that it was insured for upto £500, no problem as I sold it for £280. As it didn't have the original packaging I was told that I should just send it in as I would have packed it which is what I did.

After looking at the item, Royal Mail have said the packaging was of a high standard and so they cannot agree that the are responsible for the damage because it was well packed :mad: I am furious.

Worse still, they say they are going refuse my claim because they contacted Sony about the problem who have told them it is illegal to import and sell PS3s outside the counrty for which they were intended. As such, Royal Mail they don't have to compensate for illegal activity. :mad: Does anyone kow if this is true? I don't see how it can be as I imported it through a reliable wholesaler and all the correct taxes etc have been paid.

Can anyone offer any advice, particularly on this legal issue. I'll have lost out on a lot of money otherwise and I really can't afford to right now with piles of bills to pay. Any advice would be highly appreciated.

pinkgem

hmm, so if the packaging was sufficient then they don't pay out for damage, but if the packaging was insufficient they would blame you and again not pay out for damage.

frivolous_fay

I'm a bit confused about exactly what RM did that damaged the item, if the packaging wasn't damaged.

custardy

as said,what was damaged without the packaging being damaged?

soolin

I wonder if this is a misunderstanding about how compensation works?

Royal mail only compensate when they have damaged the item, if th epackaging wasn't damaged you can sort of see their argument that the item was in fact damaged by other means, or even faulty to start with.

AS for not paying out for illegal items, I'm sure custardy can point us to a direct link, but yes this has been discussed before. Items that cannot be traded in the UK should not be sent via Royal Mail . If they are then you are in breach of the regulations for using the service and lose the compensation.

Alfie_E

Tipustyger wrote: »

After looking at the item, Royal Mail have said the packaging was of a high standard and so they cannot agree that the are responsible for the damage because it was well packed :mad:

That sounds like something straight out of Catch 22.

Tipustyger wrote: »

Worse still, they say they are going refuse my claim because they contacted Sony about the problem who have told them it is illegal to import and sell PS3s outside the counrty for which they were intended. As such, Royal Mail they don't have to compensate for illegal activity. :mad: Does anyone kow if this is true? I don't see how it can be as I imported it through a reliable wholesaler and all the correct taxes etc have been paid.

Describing it as ‘illegal’ tends to imply that it’s criminal. It’s not criminal, but it’s most probably unlawful and a trademark infringement. If you sourced the PS3s from outside the EU, it’s a clear trademark infringement. See Tesco loses Levi jeans trade mark battle and Trade mark law protects against parallel imports, says EU. If you sourced them from another EU country and modified them to work better in the UK, there’s also the risk of trademark infringement. See Sony obtained an injunction preventing Tesco from importing Playstations from France. You might be noticing a certain Tesco theme here.

Royal Mail’s compensation is effectively a form of insurance. If what you’ve done is of questionable legality, I think you will have an extremely hard time getting compensation. You wouldn’t normally expect an insurance policy to pay out to someone whose claim directly resulted from unlawful activity. However, if all you did was take, say, a German PS3 and sell it on within the UK, you’ve done nothing wrong.

stolt

I had a similar problem to this with a mobile phone a year or two back, i sold it on ebay and was damaged, the buyer sent the phone back i rasied a claim and sent the phone to royal, standard issue repsonse the packaging was not sufficent.
Although this was how the phone was delivered to me by royal mail from the supplier i bought it off. they asked for me to send it back, only to be told the same thing and this time they included a booklet advising how people should package there goods up....


I got onto postwatch and filled in a claim form who took up the fight on my behalf i had to resend the phone yet again, but to cut a ling story short, royal mail did refund me in the end after postwatch agreed with me and they also refunded the postage cost for me having to send it to them for inspection three times. its worth phoning postwatch (will have to google it i'm afraid) and let them take up the matter.

good luck

Tipustyger

I belive the item was damaged by mishandling etc. The problem is that the CD slot won't work and it is a delicate mechanism. It could easily have broken by not being handled carefully.

As for the PS3, I imported it from Japan and had no idea that there would be a problem as lots of people sell them. There is no way I would have sold them otherwise. I don't understand why this is the case but will read the Tescos link that was referred too. I've called them and explained that I don't think the refusal is fair and that their reasoning regarding the packaging doesn't work.

Tipustyger

soolin wrote: »

Royal mail only compensate when they have damaged the item, if th epackaging wasn't damaged you can sort of see their argument that the item was in fact damaged by other means, or even faulty to start with.

AS for not paying out for illegal items, I'm sure custardy can point us to a direct link, but yes this has been discussed before. Items that cannot be traded in the UK should not be sent via Royal Mail . If they are then you are in breach of the regulations for using the service and lose the compensation.

I checked the item before it was sent so it has certainly been damaged in transit. I undestand that illegal activty cannot be compensated. I was shcoked at this as I didn't belive I had done anything wrong and it just felt like they were trying to wriggle out of admitting liability.

As for traded in the UK what exactly does that mean as many PS3, and other imported goods, are clearly available for trade? I'm a little confused and wishing I'd left them alone. I would never have sold them if I thought there would be any legal problems.

custardy

yes but damaged in transit is physical damage.
if the internal mechanisms have been damaged by shock then you would struggle to prove this

theres little legal problems,sony just flexed its muscles and pretty much clamped down on grey imports

Tipustyger

custardy wrote: »

yes but damaged in transit is physical damage.
if the internal mechanisms have been damaged by shock then you would struggle to prove this. theres little legal problems,sony just flexed its muscles and pretty much clamped down on grey imports

When you turn on the machine, you simply can't insert a DVD etc so it is clearly damaged in a demonstrable way. They have agreed that it is damaged but don't accept liability.

I have looked the the article on imports. It seems to argue that you cannot source the same products from outside the UK in order to sell them in the UK at a cheaper rate. However, this is was a model that was not available in the UK but Japan only as a special edition. Also, it wasn't sold cheaper so I'm still wondering if I have a leg to stand on. Guess I'll wait and see what they say while in response to my call whilst I mull over what to write in the letter.