Damaged Post - The Royal Mails liability ?

[jock_munro]

Hi There,

 

I received a package from Germany in the post (I live in England). It was very badly damaged, the jiffy bag had actually been bent in half so much that it had burst open, with its contents hanging out. The contents to me is extremely valuable, it was a letter from a musician who I am a very big fan of, which was very personal and also signed. To me this is priceless, but understand that it doesnt have any real monetary value. However there were also two signed CDs in the jiffy bag which were damaged.

 

I wrote to the Royal Mail to complain and received a default reply stating that under "Universal Post Union" rules claims should be sent to the postal provider of the country from where the item was sent.

 

However, I believe they still have some responsibility for ensuring the package was delivered in a reasonable condition. The very fact that the jiffy bag was not bagged, or taped up, or repaired in any way really angered me, as it was so obvious that the contents were in danger of falling out.

 

Has anyone else had similar situation ? Did you escalate it further ? Does the Royal Mail legally have any liability for this sort of thing ? Or does full responsibility lie with the postal provider who was sending the package. Surely the royal mail should deal with the complaint and escalate it to that provider on your behalf ?

 

Any ideas ? Any advice would be appreciated.

 

Thanks

[barracad]

Surely the royal mail should deal with the complaint and escalate it to that provider on your behalf ?

 

No, it's the other way round. UPU guidelines state that any claim has to be made in the country of posting, and then if necessary they will escalate it to Royal Mail. The two postal authorities will decide liability between themselves but regardless of that, the sender still needs to make the claim in the country of posting.

[barracad]

Actually, further to my previous post... the guidelines dictate that the complaint needs to be made in the country of origin, it doesn't necessarily state that it's the sender who has to make the complaint, so you could try complaining directly to the postal authority, but they may advise you to instead contact the sender for them to complain.

 

The contact details taken from the UPU website are as follows:

 

Deutsche Post AG

Headquarters

Charles-de-Gaulle-Strasse 20

53113 BONN

ALLEMAGNE

 

fax: +49 228 182-70 99

[jock_munro]

Barracad, thanks for confirming this. I just needed to know either way, or if Royal Mail were doing the slopey shoulders thing.

 

The problem with contacting the sender is that he's quite an established & famous musician, and what he sent out to me is quite a rare occurance, and for fans its a real collectors item. I would feel a bit of a plum going back to him and saying "thanks for my ultra rare letter and signed CDs, they turned up damaged, could your find time in your business recording schedule to write and complain to the German post office"..etc..

 

Thanks for providing the address. That is very kind of you. I will write to them with scans of the damage and see how far I get. Much appreciated.

[perplexity]

I can tell you from my own experience that Deutsche Post refuse to communicate with anybody but the sender.

 

An established & famous musician employs an agent to cope with this sort of thing, though appearances are deceptive.