Quite by chance I though I would check the date a recorded delivery letter was actually delivered. I was quite disconcerted to find it hadn't been, especially since it contained a £10 postal order for a SAR.

On checking some others I found two more that hadn't been delivered.

So, I have three non-delivered Recorded Deliveries -

Inland Revenue

Bank of Scotland

Fredricksons

The most recent of these (the SAR) is more than a month old.

I reported this on the Post Office website but have had only an auto-response email back from them.

Lesson No 1 : always check that recorded delivery is delivered.

They could well have been delivered but not signed for, or they could have been part of a bulk sign

So hth do I prove the letters were delivered??? Paying for RD appears to be a waste of time.

Yep! Ive had this as well.

I sent my cca request to First Crapit by recorded delivery and it has become a "lost item" which is royal mail speak for it was probably delivered but no signature was taken.

Recorded delivery only means that it should be signed for on receipt it is in fact just sent through the normal postal system with first and second class mail. Ive sent the second CCA via Special Delivery which "guarentees delivery by 9am the next day" This is also supposed to provide a signature at the other end but guess what........Ive just checked online to find that they cannot provide a signature for this one as well!!!!!

palomino.

Providing you have the postal order receipt you can check at the post office to see it it has been cashed, I think you fill out a form. Then if they have cashed it you have proof of delivery for your letter.

Yes, I know about that and I think I'll do it. It still doesn't give me a delivery date although the encashment date is probably close enough.

Mind you the PO procedure is a bit Victorian and very slow and tedious. Just like their deliveries ...

I always believe that if you have the slip to say that the letter went recorded delivery (especially as they now actually check the address before they send it and it says "address verified -yes or no" on it, then that is proof enough that YOU have done your part in sending it!

Remember, as Moorcroft say, the fact that you have sent it, even if not read by them, is enough

Yes i have the slips. They want me to send them off somewhere for investigation. Fat chance - all they will get are photocopies!

I've had this recently with Goldfish. I sent letters (only asking for confirmation from them that they'd sold my account on, nothing monumental or anything!), 3 times over the course of 10 weeks. All were sent to the address I'd used previously and always had a reply from. They all went 'missing', but none were returned to me. I had a word with my local P/O lady who thought it was very fishy.

Bulk signings should still show as delivered when you look online, and if you can see the electronic proof of delivery bit (which doesn't always work), it just shows a signature with however many items were signed for. What concerns me is that they seem able to take recorded items without signing (which would explain why none of mine made it back to me despite the times involved).

I do love the way though that pretty much all correspondence from the banks will be standard 2nd Class post, and we're just assumed to have received it, no matter how important the contents. We have to spend a minimum of 72p a time just to try and ensure we get the courtesy of a response!!

I had a couple of recorded delivery letters not show up- luckily both companies have now responded.

I've had more trouble with Cap 1/Debitas saying they haven't got a letter which was signed for.

Yep! Ive had this as well.

 

I sent my cca request to First Crapit by recorded delivery and it has become a "lost item" which is royal mail speak for it was probably delivered but no signature was taken.

 

Recorded delivery only means that it should be signed for on receipt it is in fact just sent through the normal postal system with first and second class mail. Ive sent the second CCA via Special Delivery which "guarentees delivery by 9am the next day" This is also supposed to provide a signature at the other end but guess what........Ive just checked online to find that they cannot provide a signature for this one as well!!!!!

If it's sent SD and not signed for you can reclaim the cost from RM as it is a guarenteed service - theres a form to download on royalmail.com

Use the 1pm service as it is cheaper.

If a postie leaves a recorded letter without getting a signature they will lose their job so keep putting the complaints in.

(Recorded go into the general mail but on reaching the destination delivery office the local postie takes responsibility for it).

I wrote a letter of complaint to the local Post Office (where I post all my letters). The 'manager' rang me up and said they were only acting for Royal Mail and I would have to complain to them (RM).

I suggested that, in the interests of customer service, she might like to forward the complaints onwards. She said 'it's not in our procedures'. I had to hang up before I used some pretty foul language.

So, I guess I'll have to write to Royal Mail and wait the anticipated 7-10 days for a response. Unfortunately I have this ominous feeling in the pit of my stomach that the letter will be lost in the post ...

There was a similar scenario with the postal order. I have to write to the Post Office at an address in Chesterfield. Why can't they just forward the application onwards? There seems to be a disconnection with reality somewhere.

I'm seriously angry at the jobsworth attitude of the Post Office : we'll make you queue for 1/2 hour and then take your money. After which you can p*** off because we don't care a fig.

(When I left the PO there were 27 people waiting - in the middle of the afternoon. Some were laden with stacks of mail. GOK how long they were going to have to wait.)

You can write to the Postal order services and they will tell you whether the PO has been cashed or not. I have had the same with my S.A.R - (Subject Access Request) with Barclays when I got no response from them I contacted the Post Office to see if they PO had been cashed. I actually went into the post office and they gave me an address to write to to check. PO postal order service wrote back within 7 days stating that the PO had not been cashed but would let me if the bank was to present it for cashing within 28 days. Therefore on that basis I sent another PO for £10 to Barclays with a letter stating that I understood that they had not cashed the first PO and not to cashed both PO's. I did not get any response from the bank so I had to write to the post office again to see if they had cashed any of the postal orders, after seven days I got another reply from the PO stating that they had not cashed any of the Postal Orders. The Bank was way out of time with the S.A.R - (Subject Access Request). I finally got a letter back from the PO two months after sending the PO to the Bank stating that they first PO was cashed but they did not cashed the second PO so I took the letter from the Post office department in to the PO and got me £10 back but you have to wait 28 days before you can do it. The PO gave me back my second £10 postal order when I produce the letter that I got from the Postal Order department. Keep all your receipts and number of PO.

I sent the Barclays my S.A.R - (Subject Access Request) request in December and after many chase letters and writing to the post office to see if they had cashed my Postal Order I finally got my S.A.R - (Subject Access Request) 80 days after I had initially sent it to the bank.

Not sure if it is a ploy by the bank to get more money for their time but I did not let them keep both £10 postal orders. In the end they did get my first request as they had cashed the postal order that I sent them with my first request albeit 60 days after I had sent it to them. It is with the Information Commissioners Office at the moment, not sure if it going to any good by sending it to them as they seem to be on the side of the Bank.

Also, you do not have to send you letter by RD, all you have to do is to get a certificate of posting which is free, again you will have to asked for this when go to the counter at the post office you will print out of the date that you have posted the letter to the organization concerned. Very quick, this is all you need as proof that you have sent the letter.

The post office will give the address to write to regarding the Postal Orders being cashed, I do not have it to had a present. 8)

Thanks Allwood.

Yes I have the address to write to.

I also have all my receipts and whatever - comes of long experience dealing with creditors and DCAs.

Interesting that you can still get proof of posting (I'd forgotten about them). However this can fall down when specific deadlines are in place such as requests for credit agreements and SARs.

Palomino, I was embroiled in a right war of words with the post office on exactly this subject regarding "non delivery" of recorded and Special Delivery items.

Their attitude to be honest stinks. I had sent out some 30 odd letters some recorded, some SD. 19 of them according to the RM website had not been delivered /signed for, 2 of those 19 were Special delivery. They sent me a book of stamps for each Recorded Delivery letter and £20.00 compensation for the SD letters. They also promised to look into it to ensure that it didnt happen again !!.

I have one Special Delivery letter still showing up as "awaiting collection". When I asked what that meant, I was told it goes into a collection point which is usually emptied once a month ? This was for a Bank and sent 3 weeks ago ??

So good luck with your complaint.