royal mail exempt from cc claims

[volvo62]

I had a parcel sent to me through royal mail,which was insured,the item was trashed by Royal Mail, I claimed the insurance only to be told by royal mail 5 months later that it was not wrapped properly, I disputed this ,postwatch backed me but royal mail refused to compensate me,postwatch have no powers over royal mail ! so I issued a small claim, royal mail made me visit the court 4 times, then lodged the defence, which was they are immune from prosecution. Today I got the judges comment which was that under the postal act 2000 he could not grant judgement however he stated that this was widely unknown and that in his opinion the item was wrapped correctly and at the very least royal mail should make an ex gratia payment.

 

not surprisingly royal mail have not made any payment

 

I have since contacted postcom to see if this very unfair protection can be removed.

[buzby]

BTDT. This protection is scheduled to be removed 'soon' (from memory, 2010) and the Postal Act exemptions will be gone. My judge similarly agreed that RM showed bad faith in everything they did, but could not rule in my favour. However, like you 1 had 4 court appearances and their (very expensive city legal firm) told the judge they had instructions to seek FULL expenses as their costs had been considerable. The judge said that was their problem, and said that both parties would have to pay their own costs. I was out £49 plus my loss, but they had to pay me the maximum £33 compensation for loss, and take hit on their own legal fees. I really enjoyed that.

 

As for Postwatch/Postcomm, a complete waste of space - as you found out. Well meaning, but otherwise totally ineffective.

[NZGirl]

I know this is an old thread but I was just browsing as I have had terrible trouble with the Royal Mail redirection service on three separate occasions. They refused to compensate me due to their immunity to prosecutions. Taking into account what has been said so far, would this immunity apply in respect of the international redirection service, which I have paid a substantial amount over the last few years to use. Surely a contract has been entered into and they have a duty to provide the service? Any assistance would be much appreciated

[buzby]

The immunity only covers them in respect of the actions of their staff - if you paid for a service (like redirection) and they did not provide it, they would have to refund the fee charged, I doubt whether you could force them to pay compensation. International redirection could be a further problem, as they have no effective responsibility once the item leaves the UK. What have they failed to do?

[NZGirl]

An enormous amount of mail got delivered to my Uk address and was not redirected and another load were returned to sender, so all the problems were UK related.

[volvo62]

royal mail sent me £75 the lawyer acting for them said the judge said he thought they were obligated to make an ex gratia payment, it must have been painful as it took them plenty time to do it.

[barracad]

The Redirection Service is another service they are forced to provide under the Postal Services Act, so again they have no liability in respect of failures. If they haven't provided the service correctly then the most you would be entitled to would be a refund of the fee you paid. They may of course offer additional goodwill payments but there is no obligation to do so.

 

From memory, I think it advises you of this on the application form (that it is non-contractual, provided under Postal Services Act etc).

[NZGirl]

Thanks for the info. I am sure the purpose of the Act was not to allow them to hide behind it to provide a poor service. It just seems bizarre that you pay them to do something, they don't do it, cause you all sorts of hassle and extra expense but have no responsibilities whatsoever. I guess I will have to let it go. You live and learn. If I was ever in that situation again I think I would just change my address to a relative or friend and ask them to send mail on once a week and pay them. I have a permanent overseas address now so hopefully no more Royal Mail:)

[skyelet]

Cheers. Like I said, it was packed in the original packaging of the PC case that was shipped to me without problem. This is a thick heavy duty cardboard box, and the internals was that thick sort of dense slightly flexible styrofoam-thats-not-styrofoam packing thoroughly surruonding and protecting both ends.

 

Heres some pics on a review site if you're interested

 

Overclock3D.Net :: Review :: Antec P182 Advanced Super Mid Tower :: Introduction

 

Would you believe thats the exact case i had and boy oh boy did i suffer from overheating! i gots a new one with perspex on the side now, another antec, slightly less bulky now too and a WHOPPING huge fan attached next to the mobo.