So, it was bound to happen eventually - I have had a parcel go well and truly missing. Gone, without trace, bye bye, see you later etc. etc.
The parcel contained some 1 oz BYB and 1 oz Silver forum bars for 2018 - by the by, if you ever see serial numbers 103, 104 and 105 for 2018 1 oz bars on sale let me know - these are the missing bars! The same is also true for the 2018 1 oz BYB Bars numbered 46, 47, 48, 49 and 50.
It was a package to Canada and the last information we had on the tracking said it left the UK.
I wanted to share my experience about this lost parcel and tell you what I did and also share the good news that I got COMPENSATION from the Royal Mail!!!!
Firstly, before I share the story I wanted to say up front that the customer was refunded in full out of my own pocket. I did this BEFORE I knew that I would be getting compensation for the loss. I will explain more about that as I tell the story.
I sent the parcel via Royal Mail International Tracked and Signed to the customer in Canada. The total order value was £180 and I decided to send it with only the standard £50 cover that the Royal Mail offers. There are a few reasons for sending it with only £50 cover. The first is that I honestly thought that sending PM's via International T&S was likely never to be paid out if lost. I take this risk on board myself and I am happy to compensate out of my own pocket for the majority of my orders. There are some exceptions and I always ensure the customer understands this before they place an order and commit. The second reason for not choosing the £250 insurance limit is that it costs £2.50 more per parcel. With the volume of parcels I have sent in last year and not having had a single one go missing I felt that the amount I would have spent extra on all of these packages would actually have been more than if I had paid £2.50 more per parcel.
Regardless, I never actually thought that I would be able to make a successful claim as the Royal Mail would likely find some reason not to pay out - and I was also not 100% sure about sending Precious Metals with International Tracked and signed.
Low and behold though - I made a successful claim against this lost package! I had the receipt from the post office to show I posted it with the correct tracking number. I supplied an invoice that is generated by my website when a customer purchases an item. These two documents were enough to convince the Royal Mail that they should pay out.
So I have been re-imbursed the £11.15 on the postage as well as the maximum of compensation - £50. I am still down by about £80 over all but that is a lot better than down £130!
It is refreshing to know that the Royal Mail will pay out for International Tracked and Signed.
I will continue to use my best judgement on the insurance level for my parcels being sent internationally - this is a decision for me to make and in relation to how I look to do business. But I would highly recommend for people selling on the forum to have a good think about the compensation level that is needed for international parcels!
Have you had similar experiences?
Comment here!
Thank you for your continued support of SteemSilverGold
Hey BYB I'm waiting on my delivery of the 2018 #steemsilverround from the good, old, USofA.
Now apparently it's been delivered and signed by my, even though I was in work at the time of delivery.
If had a call from parcel force telling me the driver "thinks he might have left it with the neighbour on the right".....
I finish work in 30mins so I pray its there 😭😭😭
Did you find it?
Nope!! Not cool at all, it's gone missing.