Royal Mail Redelivery Cock-Up's.

[ian2095]

Hello.

I have a problem with Royal mail making promises to do this and failing miserably.

Basically i had the Postman deliver a packet to my house on the 13th of this month but because it was too big for my letter box he left a card to say it was returned to my local delivery office and i could arrange to have it redelivered by calling the number after 48 hours or via online.

I decided to arrange to do this via the Royal Mail website and arranged for this to occur last Saturday the 18th.

Both my wife and i where in at various times so someone was available all day but nothing appeared so i telephoned yesterday the 20th and spoke to a man at the Complaints Department about the problem as i obviously wasn't very happy with them.

According to the man i spoke to it wasn't delivered for reasons not entirely clear,stating the bl**dy obvious.

I told the man that that aa all calls are recorded for training and security purposes that i wanted it record that failure to redeliver was a breach of contract and i was going to post information on various consumer websites and to see about legal action for compensation.

The man said it wasn't breach of contract as it was only a service request and i cannot do this/sue them.

I got the address to send a written complaint and agreed to another redelivery for today (21st) but the man didn't know if it would come by van or by normal postman.

The man gave me a reference number to qote if i had to call again about this matter and all i had to do was wait.

I had the normal mail delivery today at 11.15am and as the van comes at about 08.00am i called the complaints department again and spoke to a lady this time.

I again explained the problem and gave the reference number for her to check what was happening and was told that i should wait till 2.00pm as the delivery can be later if the normal man is off and someone on overtime has to do the job.

At 2.10pm i called and spoke to another man and again explained the problem and quoting my reference number for him to check what was happening.

He told me that the lady earlier shouldn't have said what she did about 2.00pm as it is only a service request.

He further said that he couldn't call the local office as it closed at 1.00pm and i would have to call them again in the morning.

As i was getting pretty fed up by this time i told him clearly that i was going to post all the information on consumer websites and to see about breach of contract to which he replied it was up to me.

I asked to speak to a supervisor and after waiting on the phone for some time i was eventually put through to that perosn.

I again expalined the problem and told the lady who i spoke to that i was going to post information on websites and to see about compensation and she then put the phone down on me.

I did say that i was going to put down all of the information including dates,names,times and all that was said and she wasn't happy about me saying this.

I wanted to know what i can do as i am very pi**ed off with the level of service and also i wanted to know if i can post names of Royal Mail employees who i have spoke to about this matter.

Perhaps someone more knowledgible than i can give me guidance on the procedures i can now undertake against Royal Mail.

[vandermerwe]

Ian, that was an interesting narrative concerning Royal Mail and their contractual obligation.

 

They essentially put me out of business eighteen months ago by not delivering reply paid business cards to me requesting contact from my company, yet they charged me for them, and even gave docket numbers and dates for when they were allegedly delivered.

 

Postwatch intervened. No compensation. No explanation - just bull dust. Got a refund of £7 for charges made though!! Bought a bottle of wine to share with my dearly beloved who had help me run a similar business for 25 years (not in England though!!)

 

At the end of July I got another bill from them for some £200 'top up' for the reply service - again nothing received (by this time I had changed to a reply paid envelope rather than a card)

 

Since I am unaccustomed to using the type of language their staff would probably understand I have yet to respond.

 

However, by chance, I discovered the CAG site and try and chuck in my ten cents' worth from time to time to try and help and/or give moral support to people who seem to be even worse off than I am.

 

But, to get back to the contractual relationship with Royal Mail.

 

During July I sent four letters to a certain bank, addressed to their street address and correct post code not one of which was acknowledged.

 

I then sent copies by recorded mail to the branch - a rather attractive listed building in a nondescript West Midlands town - sought a delivery receipt which a) said the envelope had been delivered by their Nondescript office, and (b) signed for by Fanny Adams (or someone of similar name).

 

It had not, and neither, I gather had the others. Some clerk at the branch eventually told me no mail was delivered to them by Royal Mail - it all went to a central processing depot.

 

Probably in Bangalore.

 

By this time I damned well just gave up.

 

But what about my 'contract' with Royal Mail to deliver an article to a given address?

 

Would love to learn the views of others.

 

Vandermerwe

[ian2095]

Dear Vandermerwe.

Thanks for the information you posted about your problem with Royal mail and it sounds like you had something far worse than i in your dealings with them.

I receved the packet today and it clearly says to be redelivered on Saturday so i am still going ahead and see about complaining as i am fed ujp with their level of service.

I will post any information i get for other members to see and if anyone does have further information on how to mess around Royal Mail then please post it as it is always useful knowlege.

[mazzzzz]

Hi all i too have had numerous occasions when mail has not been delivered to me the most recent being a birthday present sent recorded delivery, this was (attempted to deliver) as royal mail state when they clearly did not, the card was put through my letterbox by the local postie who NEVER brings large items and clearly did not have this parcel as i was in at the time, i re-booked a delivery online and waited in all day but nothing came i then rang complaints dept who tried to see where my item was but they said it was not at the local sorting office so it must be on the van for delivery that day. wiated again to no avail then actually went to the sorting office as advised to online only to be told the item had been sent to a distribution centre for re-delivery, i asked what this meant and was told it would be sent back to my LOCAL sorting office who would then try to re-deliver, this is now 7 days later still no present nobody seems to know where the item is yet the sender paid for this to be recorded delivery, seems to me that royal mail dont care about there customers just how easy they can make money, i have read in other posts that my item will probably end up in some auction or will be a free present for some post office workers friend or family, how can this happen when you pay for a service which has tracking numbers yet royal mail cant even track it themselves?

[postggj]

these complaints about royal mail are to common now ime afraid

 

the reason is we dont have the staff or materials to do the job any more

 

cost cutting frenzy

 

forget complaints, they are just there to take the flack and dont give a toss

 

parcel going to a distribution centre for redelievery, tosh

 

if it was by parcel force, purhaps, but not royal mail

 

only special delievery is tracked

recorded is just a signature on delievery, or when a 739 card is left

[nostiches]

Hi there

 

I got sent 3 birthday cards in Sept from 3 local areas in Renfrewshire - none of them arrived or have since. I got a parking ticket in June, went on holiday for 3 weeks in July. Mum kept eye on the post and noticed the reminder for the ticket - still £30. So she duly popped the cheque in the post. In September, as my local council is one of those councils who call a parking ticket a 'criminal offence' as compared to a 'civil offence' like most other councils, I was sent a court letter to pay £45 for this same ticket. Phoned the paying office to see if they had received the cheque - they never got it. I was furious.

 

I got on the blower to Royal Mail complaints - I said also I was going to sue them, but the man actually was alright. He sympathised. Anyway, I contacted the District Court; their response was that this happens 'all the time' and I said so what do I do now? They said 'pay up'. I said 'No'. They said, you will have to go to court. I said but it's Royal Mail's fault. I was livid.

So, I wrote an email to my local MP Douglas Alexander and I protested my sheer annoyance at such an injustice. My poor mammy bye the way, when I told her about the court letter, she was ill the entire weekend. She felt it was her fault. Douglas wrote to the court and Royal Mail. 1.5 weeks later, the court wrote to me and said a Justice of the Peace had agreed with me and so I need only pay the £30 and forget the 50% late payment fee bunged on top. I recieved a grovelling apology from HQ at Royal Mail and 12 fisrt class stamps. Douglas then wrote to me again saying I can contact him again if I need more help. Oh, my mail and most of my friends, family and neighbours mail does not come before 1-2pm; sometimes it is 4 in the afternoon.

 

Recorded delivery - you can claim compensation on this but you cant claim a bean on standard 1st or 2nd clas posted mail.

 

Contact your MP, they will appeal to common sense on your behalf. I detest and resent Royal Mail. I once got £400 stolen in the post - my fault but I was young then; I just padded the cash up and stuffed it into a padded envelope.

 

For those of you who don't know this, there are lots of other delivery companies, postal that is, who provide a service identical to Royal Mail. Go online and look them up. Not only are they cheaper but reliable.