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northantsrich

Lost in UK post with Royal Mail Signed for 1st class. Any thoughts?

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northantsrich

Hey Guys,

I have an issue where I sent a watch within the UK via Royal Mail Signed for 1st class. It appears that RM have lost the watch as its not showing up as signed for at the other end.  First time this has ever happened to me.  It would be good to hear your thoughts and experiences with this. 

Sending Royal Mail Signed for 1st class is pretty much the standard way we send things internally. Do any of you guys send via higher cost fully insured services?  

As the watches are counterfeit it's pointless sending things insured as the carrier will not pay out in the event of a loss. After all how can you prove proof of purchase without proving its a counterfeit watch.  I have always assumed that when sending watches internally all loss or DOA issues were just part of the game and were at the risk of me as a buyer and not the seller. 

Anyway it would be good to get your thoughts on this. 

 

 

 

 

Edited by northantsrich

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Adit

Really sorry to hear this.  I had a similar experience this week with a set of silver spoons I bought on-line.  Exactly what I wanted and at a very good price. I received a torn open and empty padded envelope inside a clear plastic Royal Mail liveried bag with "Our sincere apologies" printed on it. 

The "Customer Service Team" (or should that read "Person (singular)") on the phone number given take forever to answer (three 20+ minute calls before eventually getting through). I was then told to chase-up the sender to make a claim! I asked if there was such a thing as cctv in the sorting office as some thieving bastard had stolen my items and was almost laughed at! There would be no investigation by them whatsoever.  

The seller said he would refund me,  as making a claim against Royal Mail was a complete waste of time.

"Signed-for" is a joke too. Many times I have found parcels  (including M2M watch purchases from here) just slung in my porch, with no signature from me whatsoever.  It would be all too easy to claim non-receipt of item.

aRv8D.jpg

aRNzo.jpg

:noway:

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Del
33 minutes ago, northantsrich said:

Hey Guys,

I have an issue where I sent a watch within the UK via Royal Mail Signed for 1st class. It appears that RM have lost the watch as its not showing up as signed for at the other end.  First time this has ever happened to me.  It would be good to hear your thoughts and experiences with this. 

 

How do you know it’s lost? What does the tracking state?

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Wires
11 minutes ago, Del said:

How do you know it’s lost? What does the tracking state?

There is no tracking with Royal Mail Signed for,  you are only updated when it has been signed for as it just goes in the normal post. If it is sent Royal Mail Special Delivery they and you know exactly where it is at all times as it is scanned and kept in a secure place within each sorting office it goes through up until the postman delivering it. My mate has been a postman for over 30 years and has never heard of a RMSD item going missing as they always know where it is and who scanned it last to put it where it should be, well worth the extra cost especially if you are possibly not going to be in when it’s delivered as it will be be kept separate from the other mail again until you get it not just put back with all the other Mail

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simey83

I lost a BK V6S sub, coming back from a modder. He sent it first class instead of RMSD. Never seen it again. And they were no help at all!!!. Sorry to hear this mate. I have heard of things just turning up ages later tho, out of the blue. So there is hope.

Hope it turns up buddy. Keep giving them a hard time!!

Cheers

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Del
1 minute ago, Wires said:

There is no tracking with Royal Mail Signed for,  you are only updated when it has been signed for as it just goes in the normal post. If it is sent Royal Mail Special Delivery they and you know exactly where it is at all times as it is scanned and kept in a secure place within each sorting office it goes through up until the postman delivering it. My mate has been a postman for over 30 years and has never heard of a RMSD item going missing as they always know where it is and who scanned it last to put it where it should be, well worth the extra cost especially if you are possibly not going to be in when it’s delivered as it will be be kept separate from the other mail again until you get it not just put back with all the other Mail

I thought this, which is why I nearly always use RMSD - it’s very little extra over 1st class signed for. 
 

My question remains though, how does @northantsrich know the package has been lost?

If RM has confirmed it lost then he could at least claim the £50 max compensation. 

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Ant0702

You are right about the insurance claim, unless you claim for something else of equivalent value that you have evidence of - not that I would advocate this, as it is fraud.

However, in my experience recorded signed for is pretty meaningless, other than it does provide some accountability. It does seem that here is a far greater degree of governance/security around special delivery and I have never had any go awry. 

I have lost something through all other RM services, right down to having a sliced open empty package delivered with the contents having been stolen. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t think this is representative of RM workers overall, rather that there are thieving scumbags in every walk of life and the fact is that they go for the easiest low risk target and special delivery appears to be less easy than others.

One final thought - For all that, It is really rare for packages to disappear and they do often turn up weeks later for some inexplicable reason.

Just my two penneth.

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northantsrich

I have not had confirmation it's lost yet, all they are saying when I put in the tracking number is the following "Your item was posted at Post Office® branch, xxxxx Post Office xxxx on 02-01-2020. More information will be available once delivery has been attempted." All I'll say is that it was send on the 2nd and it's now the 17th so...

I'll give RM a call later next week and see what they say.  

When I sold the watch I said I would send it next day signed for and thats exactly the service I used.  

I am a pretty skeptical person and honestly I suspect the watch arrived but the PO just never got the signature.  Like other have said above it appears this is not unknown. 

What Wires says was pretty interesting. In the future I'll use a fully tracked service and just charge more for postage, but honestly I have never had an issue with signed for in the past.  

 

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Del
8 minutes ago, northantsrich said:

 

I am a pretty skeptical person and honestly I suspect the watch arrived but the PO just never got the signature.  Like other have said above it appears this is not unknown. 

So you think the buyer is trying to scam you?

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Stufuse

I had the same issue with a fully tracked 1st class service. According to ya king never left the post office same message as yours. I believe the buyer received it checked the tracking hasn’t changed and knew I couldn’t prove otherwise:

I did check and The post office I took it too didn’t have it and Royal Mail didn’t know what had happened, I split the loss with the buyer. Another member had a good idea, try find the buyer on social media and then catch them wearing the watch in a photo lol I don’t use it so didn’t bother


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I had the same issue with a fully tracked 1st class service. According to ya king never left the post office same message as yours. I believe the buyer received it checked the tracking hasn’t changed and knew I couldn’t prove otherwise:

I did check and The post office I took it too didn’t have it and Royal Mail didn’t know what had happened, I split the loss with the buyer. Another member had a good idea, try find the buyer on social media and then catch them wearing the watch in a photo lol I don’t use it so didn’t bother


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thejudge

Probably wont help the OP now but might be worth adding to the M2M FAQ anything over say $100 seller should really use a tracked and signed for mail service.

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northantsrich
17 minutes ago, Del said:

So you think the buyer is trying to scam you?

I would not really say that Del, but the skeptical part of my brain is saying it's a possibility.  If the PO have delivered it but it's not registered because no signature was taken then it could be a possibility. Like I say I am just a sceptical person so I dont want to say this is not a possibility to consider. 

Honestly I thought the fact it was signed for gave the service a little more security.  At the end of the day I did send it using the service I said I would so it's not like I have tried to mislead someone with the service I used. 

Edited by northantsrich

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northantsrich

 

13 minutes ago, Stufuse said:

I had the same issue with a fully tracked 1st class service. According to ya king never left the post office same message as yours. I believe the buyer received it checked the tracking hasn’t changed and knew I couldn’t prove otherwise:

I did check and The post office I took it too didn’t have it and Royal Mail didn’t know what had happened, I split the loss with the buyer. Another member had a good idea, try find the buyer on social media and then catch them wearing the watch in a photo lol I don’t use it so didn’t bother


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I had the same issue with a fully tracked 1st class service. According to ya king never left the post office same message as yours. I believe the buyer received it checked the tracking hasn’t changed and knew I couldn’t prove otherwise:

I did check and The post office I took it too didn’t have it and Royal Mail didn’t know what had happened, I split the loss with the buyer. Another member had a good idea, try find the buyer on social media and then catch them wearing the watch in a photo lol I don’t use it so didn’t bother


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Honestly that what I am thinking might have happed. The buyer is asking me to split the loss but I am not that keen to do that. If it was a member on the forum that I knew and had seen at a meet then I would do that no problem, but this guy just joined and has less than 10 posts. 

I sent the watch using a next day signed for service and thats the service I used so...

Edited by northantsrich

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Stufuse

If they genuinely haven’t received then it’s maybe a little unfair for them to take the whole loss. Royal Mail can investigate after 10 days. My wife sends lots of parcels for work, sometimes it turns out the parcel was In fact delivered, you may get lucky.


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northantsrich
6 minutes ago, Stufuse said:

If they genuinely haven’t received then it’s maybe a little unfair for them to take the whole loss. Royal Mail can investigate after 10 days. My wife sends lots of parcels for work, sometimes it turns out the parcel was In fact delivered, you may get lucky.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Thats the reson I have asked for other peoples experience. I don't want to be a jack ass but at the same time I don't what to be taken for a ride when I did exactly what I said I would do. 

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Wires
46 minutes ago, northantsrich said:

 

When I sold the watch I said I would send it next day signed for and thats exactly the service I used.  

 

 

The main difference in how you sent it as first class recorded delivery and Royal Mail Special Delivery is that with recorded they will ATTEMPT to deliver it the next day and with RMSD they GUARANTEE to deliver it before 9 or before 1 depending what time you pay for (I’m sure your aware but others may not know the difference)

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Stufuse
Thats the reson I have asked for other peoples experience. I don't want to be a jack ass but at the same time I don't what to be taken for a ride when I did exactly what I said I would do. 


I’d fill in the claim form, once it’s been 10 days. They don’t want to pay out if they don’t have to and they might find out what happened to it. If not, they’ll want and invoice or receipt for the item proving its worth to pay you the £50. It’s up to you what you do then.


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GingerApple

I've never used the shitty service, only ever RMSD. I had one watch I sold get lost (stolen by the twatty postman) in Belgium. I got the full amount back via an insurance claim. It was very easy tbh, no fraud involved; I told them at the time of posting the exact value and that the package contained mechanical watch parts, which it did, and that's what I claimed for. They wanted to see proof of payment (PayPal) and proof of postage (the two receipts you get at the Post Office) and that was it.  They made sure it all checked out, the PayPal details matched the person on the address etc and they paid out in no time, easy peasy. The annoying thing is you have to wait ages before making the claim, about two months for international claims I think it was.

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Del
56 minutes ago, northantsrich said:

I would not really say that Del, but the skeptical part of my brain is saying it's a possibility.  If the PO have delivered it but it's not registered because no signature was taken then it could be a possibility. Like I say I am just a sceptical person so I dont want to say this is not a possibility to consider. 

Honestly I thought the fact it was signed for gave the service a little more security.  At the end of the day I did send it using the service I said I would so it's not like I have tried to mislead someone with the service I used. 

Do you have proof of postage? If so then you have nothing to worry about, other than an obligation to claim the £50 compensation. If RM have no record of delivery then they are at fault and should pay up.

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Lagger

Having been scammed several times I usually put in my sales once posted its yours not mine.

Harsh I know but fuck em, if you don't like that don't buy it, everyone's a winner :-)

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MetalMickey
1 hour ago, Del said:

Do you have proof of postage? If so then you have nothing to worry about, other than an obligation to claim the £50 compensation. If RM have no record of delivery then they are at fault and should pay up.

Del is right. I’ve had two payouts for lost reps. Just share a PayPal receipt no need to say it’s a rep. 
In fact I got a cheque just this morning for a (non watch) parcel sent normal first class not signed for. 

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splke

I do use 1st class signed for quite a bit 

You get the image if the signature and who signed for it plus tracking info 

aFPbE.jpg

 

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Waspy
5 hours ago, Adit said:

Really sorry to hear this.  I had a similar experience this week with a set of silver spoons I bought on-line.  Exactly what I wanted and at a very good price. I received a torn open and empty padded envelope inside a clear plastic Royal Mail liveried bag with "Our sincere apologies" printed on it. 

The "Customer Service Team" (or should that read "Person (singular)") on the phone number given take forever to answer (three 20+ minute calls before eventually getting through). I was then told to chase-up the sender to make a claim! I asked if there was such a thing as cctv in the sorting office as some thieving bastard had stolen my items and was almost laughed at! There would be no investigation by them whatsoever.  

The seller said he would refund me,  as making a claim against Royal Mail was a complete waste of time.

"Signed-for" is a joke too. Many times I have found parcels  (including M2M watch purchases from here) just slung in my porch, with no signature from me whatsoever.  It would be all too easy to claim non-receipt of item.

 

The recipient does not have to call the Customer Service Team or make a claim. That is the sender's job, he is the one who paid for the service, he is the Post Office's customer.

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Adit
6 hours ago, Waspy said:

The recipient does not have to call the Customer Service Team or make a claim. That is the sender's job, he is the one who paid for the service, he is the Post Office's customer.

 

12 hours ago, Adit said:

..... I was then told to chase-up the sender to make a claim!

...The seller said he would refund me,  as making a claim against Royal Mail was a complete waste of time.

No refund received as yet. 

Yes, you are correct Waspy.

In this case, it was my property which was stolen by Royal Mail (as I had bought it) and it was me who paid the seller for their service, with the p&p, but the sender who actually paid them for their service. The recipient is the customer too though I guess.

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Adit
8 hours ago, splke said:

I do use 1st class signed for quite a bit 

You get the image if the signature and who signed for it plus tracking info 

 

My mate is a manager in a courier company and he says that they often find parcels left (when the lobby is vacant for a minute), regularly "signed-for" by a mysterious "Mr. Britton", as "proof".

He says there is no such person at his workplace and it is pure impatience on the part of the delivery person.

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