Lost train tickets, Royal Mail to blame (+me)

NickIpswich · 17 July 2017 at 4:38PM

Hi, I'm new here, so please go easy! And I apologise for the length here:

On 26 June I ordered £200 worth of train tickets (10 journeys to London and back, on Advance Singles - non-refundable), via Greater Anglia website. I paid on a credit card. The first journey of ten journeys, is 24 July.

In my haste to complete the transaction, I did not realise I had mis-addressed the delivery address. (I blame those Auto-address lookups, my address was not in there

)

I had entered my flat number, but no house/block of flats number. So the eg the address would would read:

Mr NickIpswich,
Flat 4, Ipswich Road
Ipswich
Postcode

Not helpful if you are the poor postman wanting to deliver

I also stupidly did not think of paying for Recorded Delivery.

I realised I had misaddressed the letter after about a week of waiting. It is now 14 working days since my order. I know from other orders that there is a "return to sender" address. I have asked them (LoveRail) and the lady says she would call me if they turn up and she will intercept and return to me. (The chain is a bit weird, I believe it goes Me>Greater Anglia>Trainline>Loverail>RoyalMail>me.)

I checked with LoveRail and with Greater Anglia. They haven't got the tickets back (yet).

I've been to the local sorting office and they have no record of the letter being sent back to sender. (They don't record sending back unrecorded mail, so to speak.) I have been told that the postman would have spotted mis-addressed letter either at the start of shift and would stick a "return to sender" type sticker on it, and it would get sent back to Sender.

Somewhere this process has fallen down, clearly!

Information is contradictory, as RM site says Undeliverable items will be held for 18 calendar days. Its' now 21 calendar days since I should have got it. And by now I would have expected LoveRail to have got it.

I asked GreaterAnglia if they can reprint the tickets. They will not, as they "do not have the originals back yet". I asked if I can cancel the tickets and pay the difference in fare on new Advance Singles. I cannot afford it, as each ticket has £10 cancellation, then you buy new tickets at full price! My only hope is that my order turns up by 24th...

I am told various information. One lady told me there's some kind of vast holding area in the office where over 5000 items of indeterminate status are held. Another lady said this was not the case. As above, I was told that the postman would very rapidly begin the return to sender process. (Also how do they know which items to send back after the 18 days have elapsed if they don't record Undeliverable mail?)

A friend suggested, but I I don't think I am entitled - to a refund under Section 75, the only contractual breach would be Royal Mail not sending back or losing it, as they have a process which has so far failed. And partly the first failure is due to me.

Compensation (up to £20 only?

) becomes available after 10 days of an undelivered First Class letter.

Q) does the above sound correct re: Section 75?
Q) can anyone suggest any other approach?
Q) can I somehow claim back my £200 from any parties involved?

Any other advice is greatly appreciated. Thank you for reading, and I hope this is in the right section.

wealdroam · 17 July 2017 at 4:55PM

I don't think Signed For offers sufficient compensation either at just £50. Although hopefully all the people at the 'wrong' addresses would refuse to sign and it would eventually get to you.
Does Signed For even cover tickets? I don't know.

You really should use Special Delivery for that value.

Section 75 of The Consumer Credit Act won't help you either.

Sorry.

custardy · 17 July 2017 at 5:10PM

Your item wasnt undeliverable,there is no address to hold it for.
Undeliverable items are items such as those too large for the letter box.
The office for held items relates to stamped items with no return address.
If the letter has a return address then thats where it will head. however it is low priority.
Even then,the return address maybe a mailing house dealing with multiple returns.

The item was misaddressed,so RM wont pay compo. Tickets are not covered.
You selected that address(?) so I dont see the company refunding.

photome · 17 July 2017 at 5:45PM

Maybe they have been delivered to the address on the envelope and are now being used by someone else

sorry OP but it isnt anyones fault but yours

Fosterdog · 17 July 2017 at 6:49PM

Do you have a common surname? I only ask because I don't have a common one and when I moved house last year a house moving gift was sent by a friend to an incomplete address but because it was in the right area (I only moved a street over from my old house so same postie) my postie knew exactly where to deliver it. It could be that it is being held back in the local office while they check for anything else to the same uncommon name and will then deliver. Or if you have a common name and an incomplete address there may be someone else which the same name in a similar address and they've been delivered there instead.

If it is being sent back the holding to check against possible addresses for say a week or two could have delayed the return. I know if there is no return address things get sent to Belfast to be opened to check for any possible return address, I don't know if things with a return address also go there or if there is another process.

I once sent something special delivery guaranteed that was carded at the address (nobody home) and they failed to collect in the allowed timeframe. It was the best part of a month before it got back to me with the return address clearly marked. Another special delivery was refused at the address and still took almost two weeks to come back. The service is likely to be even slower for just standard services.

NickIpswich · 17 July 2017 at 11:05PM

Thanks all. Photome, bit of a harsh post? You can read above that I admit it is mostly my fault, and I just want to know my options.

Thanks custardy. I will ask RM how long returning takes, but the lady at LoveRail indicated this was usually fairly quick. However, Fostering I am.inclined to side with you, and think it will be slow.

Photome, I had moved to that address one week before so the postperson wouldn't have known me to mail it through a door. AND there was no house number so they wouldn't know which house to put it in. There's a lot of blocks of flats on my road.

Thanks for your thought on section 75 wealdroam.

theonlywayisup · 18 July 2017 at 7:16AM

Mostly your fault? Totally your fault. Royal Mail are not at all to blame.

Post 3 explains what will happen to the envelope/parcel. You will have to wait to see if they are returned and identified.

Browntoa · 18 July 2017 at 7:20AM

I always collect at the station , saves these problems

can be ANY station that's convenient , I often pick them up from the nearest station to where I work prior to the day rather than the departing station on the day

photome · 18 July 2017 at 3:50PM

NickIpswich wrote: »

Thanks all. Photome, bit of a harsh post? You can read above that I admit it is mostly my fault, and I just want to know my options.

Thanks custardy. I will ask RM how long returning takes, but the lady at LoveRail indicated this was usually fairly quick. However, Fostering I am.inclined to side with you, and think it will be slow.

Photome, I had moved to that address one week before so the postperson wouldn't have known me to mail it through a door. AND there was no house number so they wouldn't know which house to put it in. There's a lot of blocks of flats on my road.

Thanks for your thought on section 75 wealdroam.

Not sure my post was harsh.

Did you have the option to pick up from the station? thats the safest way

soolin · 18 July 2017 at 8:40PM

Browntoa wrote: »

I always collect at the station , saves these problems

can be ANY station that's convenient , I often pick them up from the nearest station to where I work prior to the day rather than the departing station on the day

Same here, I've been buying the cheap 1st class tickets from London mainline stations but picking them all up from my local station. I have sets of tickets with booked seats for trips for each of the next three weeks already and no postage to pay.

I'd always worried about tickets being lost in the post if I paid for them to be sent.

photome · 18 July 2017 at 9:24PM

Browntoa wrote: »

I always collect at the station , saves these problems

can be ANY station that's convenient , I often pick them up from the nearest station to where I work prior to the day rather than the departing station on the day

I think it can be any card as well

Lost train tickets, Royal Mail to blame (+me)

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