If item is lost in the post what is legal responsibility for the seller?

[moorland72]

If item is lost in the post what is legal responsibility for the seller?

I run an online store and we send out packages via standard 2nd class mail no tracking.

Wondering what the law is about offering replacement products and what can we claim back from Royal Mail? Can you claim the postage and cost of the item back?

All items are under £20

 

[Paul_Rosser]

Did you take them into a post office to send so you get proof of sending?

There is some info on the CAB website - https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/c...-mail/your-mail-was-lost-or-hasn-t-turned-up/

 

[Pish_Pash]

I think if you are sitting there wondering what the "law" is vs. what's right, then you are in the wrong frame of mind as an online seller. When someone buys a product online, they expect to get the product delivered....it's your responsibility (after all you chose to send it via the Royal Mail).

The customer should receive either a refund or a replacement sent.

Did you get a proof of posting, did you pay retail over the counter prices at the Post office? If so, submit a claim...you can get reimbursed what the product cost you (up to a max of £20)

 

[BartJr]

As Pish_Pash has said, its your responsibility to ensure item arrives to the client. Regarding the claim, I doubt you can claim since it wasn't a tracked delivery therefore is no way to tell if item has actually arrived or not.

 

[OldWelshGuy]

£20 is ok for a claim, but unless it is signed for I think it is quite a hard process..

as mentioned the customer contract is for the item delivered to them, that pretty much explains what you have to do

 

[Jeff FV]

You are responsible to your customer.

Royal Mail is responsible to you.

You are obliged to either refund the total amount (goods + p&p) to the customer or send them out a replacement - I would offer the customer the choice.

You may be able to claim something back from Royal Mail. You are more likely to get the cost of the postage than the cost of the item sent. I presume you have proof of posting? Pop into a Post Office and ask, however, RM will not class anything lost until after 15 (business?) days from posting.

Quick one - you do include a return address on your packages, don't you? I ask because, back in the day, when we started, we didn't. We don't have much go missing, but when they do we get I high percentage of them sent back to us (eventually) to our return address. (Usually because the customer hasn't been to the post office to collect their package that was too big to fit through the letter box.)

 

[moorland72]

Thanks for he responses.

We send all parcels via Royal Mail dispatch manger so we have proof of postage that way.

We of course do send anyone who has had their items new ones , I just wanted to check to see if we are legal obligibed to do this or not.

We have had a few people from Europe saying they have not had their products also.

 

[Abe Choi]

@moorland72 you are definitely accountable to your customers. It may also be in your best interest if you are selling on the platforms to refund/replace as soon as possible to mitigate any bad feedback.

Given you are on DMO already, you may want to look into switching to 24/48 hour postage away from the 1st/2nd class. In your case, you would move to 48 hours (equivalent to 2nd class). It is cheaper than 2nd class and when RM release their 2D Barcode, you will effectively have "tracked" untracked mail as the postman will scan the 2D Barcode on delivery.

 

[Pish_Pash]

Thanks for he responses.

We send all parcels via Royal Mail dispatch manger so we have proof of postage that way.

In that case, since you are using Royal Mail business post I don't think you can claim. It's one of the reasons I'm a little entrenched at continuing to pay 'over the counter prices' Post office (retail) price, contrary to what Jeff FV said, you can/do get reimbursed for what the item cost you (up to £20 max - proof of the cost required - supplier invoice) + the cost of postage. You do have to jump through some hoops to get the money back...but I use my wife to do that - her time costs me nothing!

 

[moo-tique]

You are responsible to your customer.

Royal Mail is responsible to you.

You are obliged to either refund the total amount (goods + p&p) to the customer or send them out a replacement - I would offer the customer the choice.

Second that. As you don't track your items, you will have no option but to either replace the item or offer your customer a full refund. There's no point in trying to make a claim, as Royal Mail will only throw this back.

 

[bharris]

when RM release their 2D Barcode, you will effectively have "tracked" untracked mail as the postman will scan the 2D Barcode on delivery.

I don't think you will be able to claim even when the 2D barcode is used, unless you pay for the full tracked service, then i think it has a £50 limit.

 

[John Cameron]

I use RM packet post 24/48. Its good value but cannot claim. I would say that you need to factor in a small number of items getting lost by royal mail and soak it up. The tracked service or signed for maybe adds £1 to each delivery. The maths is straightforward over a year based on 1000 items sent, will you lose £1000 worth of products? Having to resend maybe 1 % of products or less as a result of royal mail mishap is part of the deal. if your items have a retail cost of £20 or less then the trade price is a lot less , plus factor in VAT, Fees etc . I would suggest you go for the speediest solution by resending. How much is your time costing with exchanging messages, claiming from royal mail etc. In my experience go for the 1 minute solution by taking the loss on the chin and resending the missing item. As a bonus your customers do appreciate the decisive resolution and a potential negative feedback and hassle can be turned into a positive ( how much is that worth ? ) By all means if you think the customer is trying it on, go for a signed for option or tracked.

 

[Aileen B]

The claim forms are out in the open in my small local post office so it should be easy to pick one up.

it's a debate I have with myself: should I send tracked and run the risk of people not being in to receive parcels/not picking it up from sorting office, or do I send untracked and take my chances.

If I were selling bulky, expensive items I would probably choose a tracked method. But as I normally sell low cost, small items that'll fit through a post box,I send first class standard and eat the cost of lost parcels. I've never claimed as it's too much time out of my day that could be spent working on something productive rather than chasing cost price of a missing item.

The question of buyer honesty often crops up in such debates, but in the last 6 months of trading sending 1st class unsigned, I have only felt like a customer was "trying it on" once...

I still apologised and refunded as it was on good old eBay where the buyer is always right, even if you don't go along with the refund process it'll still happen and you'll get a great big account damaging defect!

 

[John Cameron]

I would still say, time is money. if something I sell for a fiver goes missing . Spending at least an hour or maybe more claiming, resending, waiting and so on is simply not worth it.