I can't foresee any problems. RM are normally prepared to accept that one or two items of their 70m a day will be damaged.
B
Anyone have experience when sending an item via Royal Mail Special Delivery, only for it to arrive at its destination broken?
How likely am I to get compensation from Royal Mail for the damaged goods?
I have filed a claim online, for compensation and refund of the postage.
Have also attached a picture of the damaged item for the claim.
Do Royal Mail tend to pay up in these situations?
Repairing the item would actually cost more than what I sold it for, so just looking to be compensated for what the item was worth.
Have also refunded the buyer of the item.
I can't foresee any problems. RM are normally prepared to accept that one or two items of their 70m a day will be damaged.
B
Chaps
There are lots of goods damaged in the post and they usually have one thing in common. They were packed by a member of the public. There are hardly any instances of damaged goods where a company professionally packed and despatched it. If you order a china teapot on ebay from a teapot maker, it will be packed in a robust manner and you will receive it intact. If Bert Bloggs packs it as a second hand purchase, expect the worst.
I used to run contracts where private companies were used to test mail and parcels for misdirection and damage and over 90% of damaged goods were posted by private individuals. You cannot expect the RM to pay for inadequate packing.
Regards
Mick
On the flip side of the above I have claimed from Royal Mail for an item damaged in the post and received a refund. Filled in the online form and included the pictures. Full refund received for the sale price of the item plus the postage. Very straightforward.
Mick, The item that was posted was a golf club.
I used to buy lots of golf clubs at one time.
They arrive in box, and I can honestly say that I have never received a broken golf club.
The golf club I sent by RM, was sent in the very same box that I had received when buying the club.
It also had built in stability.
Yeh I agree that items not packaged properly is the fault of the sender.
But on the other hand, items packaged properly and then just chucked about willy nilly by RM, is simply neglect on their behalf.
It is quite difficult to break a graphite shaft on a golf club, without the use of excessive force.
The parcel must have taken a severe blow for this to happen.
John
I can confirm that the club was packaged in a more than adequate way. There's no way it was simply just chucked around, to damage it someone must of literally stood/jumped on the box for it to break like it did. I've sent many sporting items by courier (snooker cues) and never had anything damaged, lost yes, but never broken.
John, hopefully you get this sorted without too much hassle, you've been more than fair with me, thanks.
In the few instances I have had issues with Royal Mail its only ever gone one way, no matter how much photo evidence there is, but do I have the option to avoid them in the future? not really, therein lies the problem.
Update.
I have now received a full refund, including postage, from Royal Mail for the item that they damaged, that was correctly packed.
Not as easy as first thought, as they do not make things easy for claimants.
After I had made the original claim by completing the online claim form, I then waited around 14 days for a response.
I received correspondence from Royal Mail which stated that I was only entitled to a book of six 1st Class Stamps as compensation.
The stamps were enclosed, but this was certainly not the way I had envisaged the matter being resolved.
After all, I had paid for next day guaranteed delivery with insurance.
Their negligence led to the broken item.
I then phoned to complain, and spoke to a very helpful gentleman who listened to my complaint and sided with me.
He advised that I send to him at Royal Mail:
1. Proof of postage
2. The damaged item
3. The packaging that the item was sent in.
4. Also to send an email to him with details of the sales price and any correspondence for the sale.
Just as well I had advised Rob to keep hold of the broken golf club, and also the packaging.
The broken golf club and packaging were sent back to Royal Mail using freepost.
A further wait of around 10 days, before receiving the refund and letter of apology today.
I also still get to keep the six 1st Class stamps.
Congratulations and well done for persisting.
Glad to hear the OP got a refund.
I must admit, on the few occasions I've had issues with items lost or damaged by SD, they've paid out without quibble when presented with evidence, but the last time was some years ago.
M
Sold a watch on eBay (Casio, cheap) and sent it RMSD. The watch was absolutely crushed but the buyer didn't save the packaging and without it and with only a before and after picture of the watch, Royal Mail refused the claim. Now he may have crushed it himself (buyers remorse) but I ended up with a crushed watch and giving him a refund. Moral is, always ask recipients to keep/photograph the packaging if the item arrives damaged.
Makes you think about the hassle you might get if a watch went missing/damaged. If they dragged their heels over a relatively in-expensive item imagine what they'd do over £2500! Then again John you might of got 16 stamps at least :D
Glad you got it sorted, finally............