Has anyone had any problems with Royal Mail/Post Office?

The past couple of months I've been selling my things on eBay and have actually had a few problems with the Post Office and Royal Mail.

1. One of my items 'mysteriously' went missing in the post. It wasn't just a letter, it was about 20cm x 15cm x 6cm, so a little hard to misplace. The person then demanded a refund.

2. One of the items had been ripped (a lot of forced was needed to do so) and the contents taking out, with the letter then delivered empty.

3. I was undercharged postage at the Post Office, causing the recipient to pay extra, plus handling fees, which they demanded back from me.

4. An item was badly damaged, despite being solid, thick porcelain (difficult to break, unless thrown hard) even though it was covered in several layers of bubble wrap, and again I'm being charged for the damage.

5. I sent an item first class and it took over a week to get delivered, and was being hounded by the buyer throughout this time.

Should I try to get some compensation for any of these? I have packaged my items properly and efficiently, and sent them off on time, but they've been ruined/lost/miscalculated by the Post Office/Royal Mail at my loss and eBay reputation. This could stop me getting potential custom in the future, meaning I'd be at even more of a loss.

Is there anything I could do?

Reply 1

PrincessAriadne

I had two items go missing. Veeery irritating!

Reply 2

PrincessAriadne

If you used a service where compensation is available, then go for it, otherwise I don't think you can I'm afraid.

Reply 3

User182034

15

Always get proof of posting then you have some proof of sending and should be able to claim something. It's years since I had problems with Royal Mail but a birthday card was never delivered (they sentme a book of 12 stamps as compensation...) then I posted a package with the sender's address on the back and it came back to me (the sender) rather than the intended recipient.

Reply 4

james99

1

You can claim up to £39 compensation if you have proof of postage and proof that the item was lost or damaged, or up to £500 if you sent it by special delivery.

Reply 5

Meenapixi

9

OMG yes I had a heartattack when I was told 2 months after posting my $650 enrollment deposit to boston university that apparently the royal mail had "lost" the package. THEY JUST HAPPENED TO "LOSE" A $650 CHEQUE IN THE ******* POST!!!!!!....I had a field day with the manager of whatever royal mail branch I called. Total idiots, its like we trust them with our important documents and letters and what-not and they find it ever so easy to come back to us and say they just happened to "lose" our post. bakka bakka bakka.

Reply 6

aeiou81

10

Personally not, and everything we've bought from ebay has arrived fine, but you're not the first person I've heard about who has had issues.

Perhaps on your ebay page offer buyers the chance to have the item by recorded delivery or special delivery (and obviously charge them more), saying that due to problems in the past you are making this option available and will not be held responsible if anything happens if they do not choose this service? That way if the Royal Mail mess up you're safe.

Reply 7

stargirl001

11

So many times our postman/woman has just put one of those "we tried to deliver but you werent in" cards through our door without even trying to deliver the parcel. They dont even ring the doorbell. Drives me insane. Just deliver the ******* parcel you *******. Arghhhhh.

Reply 8

filastini

14

Meenapixi

OMG yes I had a heartattack when I was told 2 months after posting my $650 enrollment deposit to boston university that apparently the royal mail had "lost" the package. THEY JUST HAPPENED TO "LOSE" A $650 CHEQUE IN THE ******* POST!!!!!!....I had a field day with the manager of whatever royal mail branch I called. Total idiots, its like we trust them with our important documents and letters and what-not and they find it ever so easy to come back to us and say they just happened to "lose" our post. bakka bakka bakka.

That's your fault for not sending it using Signed-For and insurance. Or did you and got your money back?

Reply 9

evil_s0lution

6

I've never experienced any problems with the post office maybe its just to do with where you live?

Reply 10

gyyy2807

14

I think Royal Mail lost my dad's passport once but somehow they found it again :confused:

can't remember the exact details as it happened ages ago.

Reply 11

fortunecookie

17

Twice I have bought DVDs from the internet and the cases have been completely destroyed.

Doesnt answer your question, but I felt the need to rant. :wink:

Reply 12

fortunecookie

17

Oh and also I got a birthday card when I was like 12 and my nan said she had put a £20 note in there, but when it arrived there was nothing in there. My mums friend works at a sorting office and said he has seen people open birthday card looking envelopes and just pocket the money.

Its disgusting.

Reply 13

joey11223

20

stargirl001

So many times our postman/woman has just put one of those "we tried to deliver but you werent in" cards through our door without even trying to deliver the parcel. They dont even ring the doorbell. Drives me insane. Just deliver the ******* parcel you *******. Arghhhhh.

Yeah I get that one often. I kept looking out the window because it was near 1pm (cut-off for special delivery). I see this royal mail guy jogging to the door with his van parked down the run, no parcel in hand, and he slips one of those "we missed you" notes in the porch. Well I ran after the guy and got my parcel. He was like "well sorry sir but I did knock twice.", "...I was watched you"..."oh.."

Reply 14

Meenapixi

9

farhan

That's your fault for not sending it using Signed-For and insurance. Or did you and got your money back?

yeah I did both those and nope I havn't got my money back, we obviously cancelled the cheque when we found out it was "lost". They havn't been able to locate it.

Reply 15

Henry JW

8

I have an ebay related problem with them at the moment. Ordered a game, completed payment and received a message from the seller saying it had been dispatched. It's been 10 days now and was sent by Royal Mail 1st class. I checked the feedback score of the seller and saw he'd been awarded positive feedback almost 3,000 times and negative only 19 times and had been trading for a year. The worrying thing is that over half of those negs have come in just 2 weeks.

Lucky it only cost me £7

Reply 16

veggie4life

17

stargirl001

So many times our postman/woman has just put one of those "we tried to deliver but you werent in" cards through our door without even trying to deliver the parcel. They dont even ring the doorbell. Drives me insane. Just deliver the ******* parcel you *******. Arghhhhh.

Why on earth would they do that?

It's far more hassle for them to have to fill a card and then take the parcel back to the delivery office than simply hand you the package :rolleyes:

I think the Royal Mail do a superior job delivering over 80 million pieces of mail a day. 30p to send a letter from London to Scotland? Bargain.

Reply 17

Soylent Green

Guys really quick question which is vaguely to do with the topic.

does the Royal mail in any way check whats inside your envelopes?

Reply 18

kat2pult

OP

18

aeiou81

Personally not, and everything we've bought from ebay has arrived fine, but you're not the first person I've heard about who has had issues.

Perhaps on your ebay page offer buyers the chance to have the item by recorded delivery or special delivery (and obviously charge them more), saying that due to problems in the past you are making this option available and will not be held responsible if anything happens if they do not choose this service? That way if the Royal Mail mess up you're safe.

That's actually a really good idea, thanks!

It just annoys me that one of the oldest and most respected and relied upon companies has messed me around quite a lot so far :mad:

Reply 19

Flying Cookie

19

I applied for my provisional driving licence and DVLA told me there was no photo in the envelope. However I remember quite clearly that I sent it. Other than that, the Post has been trustworthy. Actually, now I remember, mum tried to send once a package to her mom and there were too many things inside, it was too heavy, so she took out a couple of coffee and tea packs. They were gone before she knew it.

Has anyone had any problems with Royal Mail/Post Office?

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