Damaged Parcels - don't know what to do

[deniser]

I've been doing this mail order business for 4 years now.

We send garments by Royal Mail in tough plastic mailing sacks and have been using the same bags for the last 2 years at least. They are good quality bags and used by a well known Menswear company to send out their suits so we know they are tough and sturdy.

In the last 2 months or so I have had 7 orders returned because the bags were damaged in transit and so were the goods inside. The customers have in each case sent the outer packaging to me so I can see what has happened. The outer bag has a hole in it about 1-1.5cms across with black stuff round the edges. It is slightly puckered where the plastic has been caught up. The inner bag has a corresponding hole as does the garment which is ripped and has black oily dirt around the hole.

I have spoken to everyone involved in the chain of getting my parcels from me to the nearest large sorting office and no-one accepts responsibility for the damage. It looks as though the bags have been caught in machinery but I have been told by the sorting office that my parcels are always in a separate sack to any letters and that they do not go anywhere near any sorting machinery but they are sorted by hand. I have been told that even if they did go into the letter sorting machinery, they get stopped by the filter and don't go inside. And that there is nowhere in the system where the bags can get caught up.

I am finding it very difficult to believe that this is just coincidence. I am losing a lot of stock and haven't the time to complete compensation forms for all these as well as customer goodwill as they think we sent a faulty garment to them - until we explain what has happened.

Can anyone shed any light on why this might be happening suddenly?

Is anyone else having similar problems?

Has new machinery been introduced somewhere in the postal system such as in London?

 

[Virtuo]

A quick suggestion would be until you get this matter resolved, anything you send out from now on should have some sort of insurance on it. At least that way you're mitigating the problem in the future.

 

[Azimuth Print LTD]

Forget the Royal Mail and try TNT.

They are excellent

 

[MH1]

I think the OP has guessed correctly, doubtless RM are damaging the parcels as they pass through the system. I would ask to see someone from RM for an explanation.

 

Royal Mail are a Royal Pain in the arse!

I know from experience on eBay they have a really cruddy Compensation policy. You can find it here: http://www.royalmail.com/portal/rm/customerservice2?catId=69800733&mediaId=77300736

Also if you call them I know they have like some sort of list for different items and how they say you need to pack them. You must absolutely package them this way in order to get any compensation.

If all else fails use a reputable courier like TNT.

 

[owas]

I saw the other day a van park up outside our unit the driver getting in the back of the van and then the boxes flying out the back of the van on to the gravel ground, I said to the drive don't worry about the china teapots, all I got was grumble they are baby clothes it says so on the label
er you not heard off recycling mate????
Bloody private couriers, but of course if my tea pots were smashed it wouldnt have been him

 

[KidsBeeHappy]

Are all of those damaged parcels going on the same general location? As the RM is working on rolling out a network of Superhubs with the local depots and sorting hubs closing. I think that Daventry is the only one currently operational.

 

[deniser]

Are all of those damaged parcels going on the same general location? As the RM is working on rolling out a network of Superhubs with the local depots and sorting hubs closing. I think that Daventry is the only one currently operational.

No, I haven't managed to find a pattern but I have been told that parcels are machine sorted in very few depots, probably the superhubs you are talking about. I think, but could be wrong, that all our parcels go via London but no-one will confirm it to me for definite. I know that the international parcels do.

 

[SGPS]

Hi there,

I work for a family distribution company and we send 300-500 parcels a day through TNT who i must say have improved over the past couple of years we used to use Nightfreight who turned into a nightmare.Get your local TNT representitive in and get some good negotiations into place (one to remember always make yourself out to be slightly bigger than you are, they tend to pay that little more interest to your future needs, how much do you pay per consignment at the moment)

A few questions i would like you to answer if possible:

1.How many parcels do you send a day
2.What are the value of goods
3.Do you recieve POD's with consignments
4.How much do you par per consignment
5.Whats the max weight of your parcels


Anyway back to the problem at hand, i would suggest for all future orders, that you advise all your customers that they should check there parcels before the delivery driver leaves, and if they fear there could be any sign of damages they should mark "DAMAGED" near their signature and contact you imediatly. I would also add to this that all damages should be reported in 24hrs to YOU!! Check with your carrier to see what there terms are on this.

If parcels are signed damaged the carrier can be held responsible to a certain value. But you must inform them imediately!! And you must fill in claims forms too, i can appreciate you are busy but this is negligence on your side! The carrier companies will not refund you if you fail to fill claims forms in TIME!!

I will also add these holes you are finding are either 2 things! Possibly the parcels are being caught up in there machineary or during transit, but it could also be possible the drivers are piercing holes to see whats in side to steal them. I wouldnt be surprised at all i have had 42" tv's go missing from there boxes, laptops and ipod's vanish into thin air!

I would also add that maybe you start packing your goods into boxes and putting delivery notes inside of the packaging and NOT the outside.

 

[Cyberpac]

Hi
Have you tried any other alternatives, we provide mailing bags to a clothing company and have not had any issues with mailing at all. There are so many alternatives you can look at - with differing thickness or bubble protection. Can I suggest you take a look at our website at cyberpac co uk and take a look at the envelope section?
The other alternative we can provide black or silver bubble mailers which offer great protection.
If you want to chat with one of the production team about issues you are having then please give us a call on 01473 836225.
Good luck.

 

[Naughty Vend]

You'll find that many of these 'cheaper' companies are nothing more than consolidators using Royal Mail as the actual carrier behind the scenes, so in acceptance of that you need to think defence opposed to offence.

Insurance yes ok it covers a risk and replaces cost but at the end of the day your customer is pissed off, so instead of using plastic self-seal bags exclusively identify your target problem area and use a double wall cardboard box with plenty of room inside as (a) not to crush the garment (b) pack it attractively with tissue etc and (c) allow for intrusion into the product space but without the product being damaged.

Compare your rates with DPD or UK Mail etc., some of them do £4.00 next day up to 10kg or around that. You can pay with a Nigerian credit card, LOL...