@royalmail Royal Mail destroyed parcel in transit, returned to sender then refused refund

[The Phantom]

Got a bit of an annoying issue with Royal Mail.

Will try and keep this as brief as possible.

 

I sent a parcel to friends in Germany containing some baby clothing for which I paid just over four pound to go as a small parcel (airmail).

The parcel never arrived and six weeks after sending it out it came back to me, in a clear plastic bag from Royal Mail, my parcel was more or less obliterated, the shipping bag I used was totally shredded with the contents falling out. The address was no longer visible as that part of the mailing bag was totally ripped away. Only my return address was still legible, so it was returned to me by what the enclosed apology letter says was Royal Mail’s lost mail centre.

 

The contents although partly visible / fallen out were still undamaged, just a bit blackened from whatever caused the bag to be destroyed. (A machine ?) I managed to clean the contents (clothing ) but had to pay again to re-send them.

 

I decided to make a claim against Royal Mail for the wasted postage costs for the first attempt to send the parcel.

 

I submitted evidence of the destroyed packing and my proof of posting slip.

 

Royal Mail then requested from me proof of value of the contents as otherwise apparently they couldn’t process my claim.

 

I wrote back to them stating that I managed to salvage the contents and I didn’t have any receipts for the clothing as it wasn’t new and even if it had been I would not have kept the receipts.

I couldn’t have anticipated that Royal Mail would destroy the parcel and then asking to see receipts for the contents to be honest.

I told them I only wanted a refund for the wasted postage costs as they failed to deliver the parcel to Germany, which is what I paid for.

 

They wrote to me today refusing any compensation / refund, because (I quote) “a postage refund is only available in the event of loss. In the event of damage to an item, we will look to compensate for the damaged iten, but still no potage refund is available.”

 

They apologised for the inconvenience and that was it.

 

I am not happy about this and would still like to pursue this as they charged me for a service they failed to carry out.

What are my next options if any ?

[obiter dictum]

have a nose at this thread

 

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?458115-taking-Royal-Mail-to-Court-**WON**&highlight=royal+mail+won

[The Phantom]

Had a quick read, he did very well there taking on RM.

Circumstances slightly different as he was trying to claim for actual damage to his item.

 

I just want the wasted postage costs refunded, as Royal Mail was paid to take a parcel to Germany but failed to do so.

They sent it back to me, forcing me to pay for the same service twice.

 

I think I have to escalate the complaint in the first instance and then to maybe Ofcom, I can't see a court case against RM for £4.- being a viable option for me.

I'll have a read of some other threads in this Postal forum as well

[citizenB]

Yes, I believe you do have to exhaust their complaints procedure before you can escalate your complaint to the Ombudsman. IMHO, RM are being very unreasonable.

[The Phantom]

Yes, I have to go to RM internal escalations team first, but reading the other thread they seem to be as much use as a chocolate teapot.

After that I think the Postal Ombudsman is called POSTR or something similar.

I will take this further but I think for £4.- RM should refund me at this stage. They destroyed my parcel and returned the item to me and charged me for it.

Any reasonable company would refund.

[citizenB]

I think over the years I have been on CAG, I have lost all faith in any of the Ombudsman services.

 

 

I agree, it would be much better customer service for them to admit what they have done and refund you the postage - but that is not going to happen without a fight - they would rather stick masonry screws in their eyes before that happens !

[aburobert]

Sorry if this thread is getting a bit long in the tooth!

 

Have you tried Trading Standards? The Post Office were paid to provide a service which they failed to carry out - transporting a package safely to an address in Germany. As they failed in their part of the contract they should refund.

 

I have, in the past, successfully used Trading Standards to get refunds for Recorded Delivery items that were not signed for. My argument being I paid for a signature on delivery. The Post Office tried to argue the item had been delivered which to me was immaterial as I paid extra for the signature which they failed to provide. I got my refunds in the end though in cash after being fobbed off with a book of first class stamps (which I kept as an 'extra' compensation as they never asked for them back). I told them I had not paid them in stamps but money which I expected to be returned!

[obiter dictum]

Royal Mail has immunity from any civil loss with normal post unless sent via premium service such as special delivery.

 

Harold & Stephen Co Lts V RM {1978} 1 AII ER 939

[aburobert]

The OP is not claiming for loss but for failure to provide the service paid for - therefore the claim is for a refund of monies paid for a service not provided.

[obiter dictum]

When you use Royal Mail to post an item outside of premium services, as in normal 1st and 2nd class s post no contract is entered into beteween the sender and Royal Mail. You need to read the link before just dismissing it. That is case law so sets legal precedent.

 

The normal recourse is for Royal Mail is to send a sod off letter via a book of 1st class stamps

[The Phantom]

OK, update :

 

They have sent me a cheque for £4.05 for the postage costs.

I wrote to their customer service department (e-mail) and they replied they could refund the postage costs if the item had to be re-sent

So they requested POP for the second time I sent the item to Germany which I provided them with via e-mail (scan copy was sufficient) and they sent me a cheque through the post a couple of weeks later.

 

So after a bit of e-mail writing they did in the end refund.