UK sellers, anyone have experience claiming compensation from Royal Mail for lost parcels?

retro ruth

retro ruth

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If so I'd love to hear from you!

I've had two parcels go missing, even though they were sent Recorded Delivery.

I've heard it's a difficult process to get compensated, so I'd love to hear from anyone who's done it before. Everything I've read about it sounds like it's not worth the trouble of claiming.

Ruth
 
Hello,
Yes I have had experience with this. The process is long, but eventually (normally about a month later) you get your money back. If you dont have an original purchase receipt for the item send the receipt for the price it sold for/ invoice you sent to the buyer. I've had sucess with doing this before.

My mum has more experience than i do though (she sells shellac nail polish) and has had a lot of problems with things getting lost/ broken in the post. She has always managed to claim back. : )

Hope this helps.

Liz
 
thanks very much for replying.

I read that you only get what you paid for the item, not what it sold for? did you get compensated for the sale price?

The other issue is that one of the parcels was jewellery - just a costume jewellery lot, nothing special - and I've read they don't compensate for that all.
 
In the case of the last parcel that went missing it was item i had bought at a fair and had no receipt for, therfore i wrote a very angry strongly worded letter about the fact it was vintage and irreplacable and that the sale price was the only "value" i had for it.

I've never claimed on jewellery, but it being costume i believe you can. I think the problem comes from fine jewellery?

(can you tell i've had a lot of parcels go missing? ha ha!)
 
Thanks so much for your advice. I will have a go.

It's making me think of giving up on royal mail for most items. I used CollectPlus for something recently, and it was really easy. They post parcels fully tracked from £4. Fully tracked costs a bomb from RM. CollectPlus have some terrible reviews, but so far so good for me, and I just drop it off at my corner shop.
 
Ruth, can you use a third-party insurer such as InsurePost or U-Pic? That's how I protect my shipments against non-delivery or damage issues. Fortunately have never had to file a claim, but I have heard from other sellers that it's relatively easy. I send the vast majority of my international orders USPS first class, which is not trackable or insurable through USPS. So, I insure with InsurePost/Shipsaver. (Shipsaver is the eBay & Etsy app for InsurePost/Shipsurance.) You can insure costume jewelry through these services. I think some 3rd-party insurers will cover fine jewelry, but maybe only up to a certain limit--I really don't know on that.
 
I have sent two parcels to Turkey international signed for (I think) which are only tracked until they leave Britain and a couple UK 2nd class signed for that have gone missing. In all cases I have received compensation for the full amount including postage, but you must have proof of sending it and proof of value. Since my items are vintage, I always state the value is nowhere near the original purchase price - which is true, and give a copy of the sale page/receipt, as what it sold for is the most current value. I no longer post to Turkey, since I have not had a parcel sucessfully arrive there and will state I always send via the method that fully covers the sale price of the item anyway for this reason.
 
They were both within the UK, posted to the same area, Birmingham, on the same day - I'm sure they are in one bag that's gone astray. It's possible they'll still turn up. 2nd class Signed For was the service (which used to be called Recorded Delivery). It gives you proof of delivery, but not full tracking, so if it's lost you can't trace it. It's very cheap and in theory includes compensation for loss up to about £40. It's good for cheaper items. This the first time I've had something not arrive.

Thanks for the tip about 3rd party insurance, I will look into that.

Joules Royal Mail is by no means infallible! There was a scandal a few years ago where it was discovered one sorting office had been infiltrated by a criminal gang, who were working there solely to steal.

But I didn't mean I would stop using Royal Mail for international - just domestic, where there is now a lot of competition and other couriers available, like I said I'm thinking of using CollectPlus more for UK deliveries, which is fully tracked, and actually cheaper for anything over 2kg, and has a convenient drop-off point in my local shop.

I used to send loads of stuff by regular Airmail, untracked and unsigned for, and I never lost one parcel.

Internationally, Royal Mail's Airsure service is very good, fully tracked and a day faster than regular airmail, but is only available to certain countries (the USA being one of them, but not Australia annoyingly). International Signed For is like domestic Signed For, you get proof of delivery if it arrives, but not tracking. I use Airsure if available for international post, it's only slightly more than International Signed For.

it's great to hear you've both been fully compensated, thanks. We'll see about the jewellery though, I have a feeling that might not go through.
 
International Signed For IS tracked online all the way to the recipient but only with some mail carriers, so far I know USPS, Canada Post (these two are the best!), Germany and France.

With claiming, the RM has gotten stricter and want proof of what YOU paid for it and not what you sold it for- Ebay auctions excluded as then you just print out the auction. So if you don't have a receipt or you paid peanuts for something, then you are treading on dodgy ground.

Lei
 
Lei, what do you mean by Ebay auctions excluded? these were ebay auctions. Do mean I can then send them the eBay auction details and they'll pay that? Or do mean the opposite, that they won't pay for the amount of the sale?
 
Yes thanks Melanie. I wanted to hear from someone who had actually done it, how it works in practice, and what they will accept as proof of value. All the online stories say it's like getting blood out of a stone. They say give ebay details, but they also say you can only claim the cost of what you paid for it, not what it sold for. Anyway I'm going to try.

Joules, its been nearly 3 weeks. It should take about 5 days max, for 2nd class. Both buyers are being patient, but I will have to refund them soon I think.
 
You can claim with the Royal mail after 21 business days has passed (not including bank holidays or weekends). Have they checked at their local sorting office? I've had people ask where there parcel is and lo and behold, it's been at the sorting office waiting for them! likewise, I've had the odd thing in the UK only going 30 miles from me, take the FULL 21 business days, crazy!!!

Yes, it is easier if they were Ebay auctions to claim with the Royal Mail. Just fill out the form, print out the auction (I also print off the papal payment email too to show that they actually paid for it) and send it off.

It's non ebay transactions that are harder to claim for and that you have to show some sort of receipt as then they will only pay out what you paid for it, if you get my drift.

I've done it but it's easier with ebay auctions.
 
Great thank Lei, that's what I was hoping. Sounds good. I thought it was 14 business days not 21? but anyway I'll check that out.

Yes I already asked one of the buyers (the slightly less patient one) to check his sorting office and it wasn't there. The other buyer hadn't even contacted me - I contacted him to say I'd noticed via tracking that it hadn't arrived and to get in touch if it didn't turn up at all, and his reponse was "I'm sure it'll get here eventually", so I'm less concerned about him!

Thanks a lot everyone, it sounds simpler than all the accounts I read. If they don't do the jewellery, I'll definitely look at 3rd party insurance in future.
 
Out of interest, I just found this on RM's website:

The Royal Mail definition of jewellery includes any:
i) precious metal that has been manufactured in such a way as to add value to it, including coins used for ornament;
ii) diamonds and precious stones;
iii) watches and jewellery where the cases of are made wholly or mainly of precious metal;
iv) similar articles with an intrinsic value other than the value of the workmanship.

I think costume jewellery should be covered then, as it doesn't fit into the description above.
 
Good luck, Ruth, I hope both parcels turn up.... Does sound like costume jewelry is covered, given that definition.

And, speaking of 3rd-party insurance, it's really inexpensive. If you have it through Etsy, our pricing here is $1.05 for domestic shipments, and $1.50 for international--for each $100 of coverage. (I think it's the same thru eBay, but haven't used it recently.) If you buy it for other transactions, it's a bit more, but not much. You have to give them a "tracking" number, but that would be a delivery confirmation number or you can use the customs number for int'l shipments, even if that number doesn't really provide tracking....
 
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