Tangent 21 - Royal Mail

Posted by
SPIKE

Posted on
15:57
Oct 18 2004

Royal Mail

Has anyone been having trouble with Royal Mail lately, especially with parcels? Nearly 2 months ago i won a jacket on ebay I need for halloween, never came, I contacted the seller, they said they psoted it and everything, and I checked their feedback and from the past 2 years they've only had one other complaint from someone outta 500 odd people. Now this appears to be lost completely, so I also ordered a wig from another seller, this also has not turned up, and its been about 3-4 weeks now, again the seller claims to have sent it and has had no bad feedback before. I then decided to bid on another jacket cuz the other seems lost, and yet again, this has been about 2 weeks and not turned up. My Mum said at work they were told Royal Mail are cutting costs from oct 1st and if have trouble delivering a parcel they won't bother. 3 items i've not got yet, seems like it must be Royal Mails fault somewhere and I need this stuff for a white room costume. Has anyone else had trouble? I'm thinking if someone isn't in when they try to deliver a parcel they just take it back to the depot. They used to leave a card when doing this to inform you, but maybe thats changed now i dunno. Its just damn annoying its about Â£40 worth of stuff that i'm not sure will turn up and which I need in a week and a halfs time! I'm gonna complain to them I think! Just wondered if anyone else has had trouble lately though.

(Edited by SPIKE 18/10/2004 16:00)

21 Replies and 3733 Views in Total. [ 1 2 ]

Kneon Light

To be honest we are having trouble all the time.
My wife runs a small business (selling old star wars figs and stuff) so relies on the post a lot.
Last month it took 3 weeks for a small packet to arrive that was posted first class. The postman keeps leaving packages outside our door when we are out because he is too lazy to take them back to the depot (even if it's chucking it down with rain and the parcel is obviously valuable - such as my new digital camera which was sat in a puddle when I got home from work). One package got returned to sender because we were out when it was delivered and the postman didn't leave a slip. Some Angel DVDs I bought from Play a couple of months ago were damaged when the postman forged my signiture on the recoded delivery slip and then rammed the through the letter box.
If buying on ebay it is always asking for trackable postage (recorded delivery is only an extra 70p). At the very least ask the seller to get a certificate of posting - Royal mail do pay some compensation if you can proove the item was posted even if it wasn't insured.

Oh, and if you paid by paypal you can claim your payment back if the item didn't arrive (unless it was sent trackable postage)

Posted: 16:30 Oct 18 2004

Taz Extra medication for all - Pilz-e

I've just been contacted by someone on ebay who I sold something to nearly 2 months ago, saying they never recieved it.
I thought it was all ok, as I sent out some other stuff the same day that all arrived ok.

Is all VERY bizarre.

Posted: 16:56 Oct 18 2004

Samphirette To you I guess I'm just a clown who picks you up each time you're down

by Taz
I've just been contacted by someone on ebay who I sold something to nearly 2 months ago, saying they never recieved it.

I never understand why people wait so long before chasing something. We have customers like that at work, they'll break a part on their machine, we'll send it mega urgent and a week later they'll ring and say "what happened to the part we needed" erm it's been sitting on your desk for a week according to our records.

Whenever I sell or buy something by ebay I always insist on recorded delivery (covers items up to about Â£25) or special delivery. I would never trust something to be sent without.

Again from work, we sent a cheque to a supplier and a week later they didn't believe we'd sent it. So another was despatched this time by recorded delivery *that* arrived before the 1st one (meantime work had to cancel the cheque at a cost). Finally 15 days after posting, the original cheque arrived at it's destination

Posted: 00:14 Oct 19 2004

KaTiEStar B-b-b-b-bonus!

Basildon has been a test area for the last few months to see how things would work if you only got one delievery a day instead of two.

So now we dont get mail on mondays because of the back log, we never get mail before 2pm, we get other peoples mail, 47% of local posties have gone off sick for stress and parcels come atleast 3 weeks late.

And you should see how much the posties have to carry!

Posted: 08:25 Oct 19 2004

Keenangel *Fourteen phonecalls a night??!!*

I've been waiting for a package from Canada for a month now. I have had stuff sent here from there before and its taken two weeks, so far it's been four weeks and nothing has arrived. I must agree with the consensus here in that the quality of Royal Mail deliveries has gone seriously downhill here recently.

Posted: 09:30 Oct 19 2004

Alan Got a message from the Great Lakes Avengers, They offered me a membership but didn't accept... they're a walking disaster... Just don't make sense at all... the worst heroes of all time, To call thems

I'm dreading the order I made on Amazon a couple of weeks ago; namely a decent chunk of the books for my course. The proposed delivery deadline was yesterday. Reckon I should be worrying yet?

Reminds me of earlier this year: they had to send out another copy of an xbox game I ordered because the original one I ordered never turned up (and yes, the courier was Royal Mail). At least they were all nice and friendly about it.

Posted: 10:11 Oct 19 2004

Avenger "Watching stuff is better than doing stuff" - Homer Simpson

Amazon usually send you an email when they are dispatching your order.

Posted: 22:35 Oct 19 2004

Taz Extra medication for all - Pilz-e

I was surprised by the Amazon's current run of prompt delivery.
eg. got email saying was dispatched yesterday & the items arrived today.

Posted: 13:14 Oct 20 2004

CJL Don't be sad, don't be blue, Scotland can win in '82 (earliest childhood quote)

I've just really started selling stuff on ebay, and I always ask for a 'proof or postage receipt' which is free, and can be used to claim compensation when items get lost.

Spike, write back to the people you bought stuff from and ask if they've got a proof of postage receipt for the stuff they posted to you. If they have, get a photocopy and send it to Royal mail.

Posted: 18:17 Oct 20 2004

Just checked my Amazon account: "Estimated delivery date: 14th -18th Oct. 2004", but today, this appeared: "Dispatched 20th Oct. 2004". How in the blazes does that work? Oh that's right, they screwed up! Idiots.

Posted: 13:51 Oct 21 2004

Taz Extra medication for all - Pilz-e

I tend to ignore the estimated delivery dates. They're always off.

Posted: 14:42 Oct 21 2004

SPIKE "Hakuna Matata" Captain Zapy

Well i got the second jacket thank god.
First still hasn't turned up emailed the seller, no proof of psotage so I asked if they could fill out a lsot parcel form as they have to fill ni where they sent it and when, they said they would when theya re next at the post office (sounds like they aren't too bothered) might leave them bad feedback I dunno yet. Other seller with the wig has offered to send a replacement so thats nice of him. So hopefully i'll still have a costume for the white room.

Posted: 16:11 Oct 21 2004

Kneon Light

Did you pay for the first jacket by paypal? If so you are covered by their buyer protection policy and can claim your money back.

Posted: 17:53 Oct 22 2004

SPIKE "Hakuna Matata" Captain Zapy

Nope I payed by cheque

Posted: 20:35 Oct 22 2004

Soupdragon

Royal Mail suck. They lost my broadband modem so spent ages sorting things out with Tiscali!! Then there's been parcels left on the doorstep. Put a big notice on front door saying DO NOT LEAVE PARCELS ON DOORSTEP IT WILL BE REPORTED so far so good. Dunno what happened with a book I ordered from Amazon just didn't turn up. I did email Amazon after leaving it a week or 2 saying it hadn't turned up and they sent me a new one. Oh and whilst on the subject of post offices etc... there are TWELVE scheduled for closure here!!! which in a city this size is downright ridiculous. And they're not all tiny ones either one is a main one at a shopping precinct which is ALWAYS busy plus they're closing down the other 2 either side of that leaving that area without a post office

my local post office is on the list

. The new thing about being able to draw out money from your bank account at any post office with a basic bank account will be ridiculous as at this rate won't be any left!!!

Posted: 14:45 Oct 24 2004

Salustius

Amazon uk charge shipping at rates similar to "Royal Mail signed for" but send it 2nd class, for an EU Country.

Order a piece of software and a DVD. They sent an e-mail saying dispatched on Nov. 9 2004. It never arrived. The delivery estimate was 12th to 15th. Wrote them on the 17th complaining. They requested to wait until the 19th (a Friday). Wrote in their own site form, since they do not deal with normal emails. Asked for a full refund

They never replied.

Replied to their e-mail. The response follows:

"
We're sorry. You have written to an e-mail address that cannot accept
incoming e-mail. This automated response will, however, direct you to
the right place on our website where you can find information to help
with your query, or make changes to your Amazon.co.uk order.

You will find the answers to the most common questions here:

"
This is no way to treat a customer that in the past 3 years has bought from them close to 1,000 Pounds.

Posted: 16:13 Nov 22 2004

When I complained, they were dead helpful, sent me a replacement game and everything... *shrug*

Posted: 16:20 Nov 22 2004

Kneon Light

I ordered the Buffy season 1-7 box sets. they arrived today but yet again the postman just left them on the doorstep because I was out. They were there all day while I was at work. I've asked several times for him not to do this as they could easily be nicked but he's a complete **** who can't be bothered to take parcels back to the depot.

Posted: 18:51 Nov 22 2004

Kate "Have you been gargling with bong water?!"

Don't complain to the postman - complain to the sorting office. If possible, put your complaint in writing and give examples of times it's happened.

Royal Mail are without doubt far worse in the last year than they have been before, but they still listen when you bitch loud enough

Posted: 20:23 Nov 22 2004

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