Royal Mail compensation for item lost

PandaPants_2

I sold an ebay item a few weeks ago and it never arrived. It was only about £6, but im totally skint and it's the principle of the thing as i've had to refund the buyer.

As it was only a cheap item, i don't have a tracking number or proof of postage so is it still possible to claim from Royal Mail? Their website states that you have to have proof of postage.....

soolin

Very unlikely that the RM will entertain a claim for loss without proof of posting although you might want to wait for custardy to sign in as he is our expert.

PandaPants_2

Its a vicious circle, they charge a fortune for registered post, yet if you don't use it you have no comeback when the service you paid for isn't delivered. (Pardon the pun) :rotfl:

I've had a few things gone missing now and i'm starting to get ANNOYED!! (And poorer) But how can i justify asking a buyer to pay £4 for postage on a bottle of nail polish or a t-shirt?? Damn Royal Mail.

Rant over.....

soolin

You don't need to send items tracked to be covered against loss. Just ask for a free certificat eof posting when you send your goods via a post office and that is all you need to start a claim from RM.

This applies to all goods up to £36, for items over that you do need to either use special delivery or look into parcels with added insurance.

custardy

without proof of posting i tihnk the best you can hope for is a pack of stamps which is often given as a norm for general complaints
rd is 70p on top of whatever p&p you are charging but really you need to ensure you get proof of posting up to £36 if posting via 1st class

PandaPants_2

Thanks for the info guys, ill know better next time!!

Brooker_Dave

PandaPants wrote: »

Its a vicious circle, they charge a fortune for registered post.....

It's only 70p extra.

PandaPants wrote: »

I've had a few things gone missing now and i'm starting to get ANNOYED!! (And poorer) But how can i justify asking a buyer to pay £4 for postage on a bottle of nail polish or a t-shirt?? Damn Royal Mail.

Rant over.....

As a buyer I'd rather pay extra for a secure and quick service.

pinkgem

i didn't know this until yesterday, but after phoning the RM for an update on a claim, i was told I can only have £36 back in total for an item sent by 1st class, i can't have the £36 item cost plus the £3ish postage cost

The person i spoke to said if you send something by standard parcels that cost £10 to post you can only be covered for an item worth up to £26.

soolin

pingem, everyone you talk to at claims will give you a different answer. They even pay out using different rules, sometimes you get the lot back, sometimes only the item cost. The last two claims i made I got back the full amount, plus a book of first class stamps which made no sense at all.

Mousie_2

i recently claimed for a parcle i sent to a friend of mine. I filled out a form I got from the post office, stating what it was I sent and the value of the item, I sent in my proof of posting, I did not have proof of the value of the item.

A couple of weeks later I got a cheque for £12 something which covered the £9.99 for the value of the item and also the postage.

pinkgem

i have almost always had the postage cost back as well as item cost, but the items posted have always been worth less than £36.

so i was a bit miffed yesterday, as i thought the item cost was covered up to the value of £36 plus postage cost on top of that. surely you should get the postage cost back if you didn't get the service you paid for - eg item not delivered.

it was a claim for an item lost in post that someone did a paypal claim for. i had only had one email from the buyer informing me that item not received and asked me where it was. i said i didn't know where it was as not trackable and asked them to check sorting office and asked if they would mind waiting another few days, but they just did a paypal claim straight away telling paypal they had no response from me! so anyway i sent royal mail the paypal claim dialogue showing the buyer saying she had not received the item and proof that paypal had refunded her but they still wrote to the buyer on 23rd april to ask if she had received the item, and not surprisingly she hasn't replied as she has already had her money back!