Royal Mail lost or damaged parcel Claims

[comundo]

Hi everyone,

As many of you know, submitting RM claims for lost parcels or damaged items can be time-consuming.

I’ve submitted several claims in the same way, selecting ‘business’ when answering the ‘Are you a business or personal customer?’ question on the RM claim form. However, only my most recent claim was resolved, and instead of compensation via a cheque as usual, I was given 1st class stamps—which was unexpected! Since stamped mail doesn’t receive a reference number, it cannot be tracked, which makes this an odd resolution.

I called RM today to ask why this claim was processed while my previous ones weren’t, and I was given several conflicting reasons:
The parcel wasn’t scanned or submitted via the post office—which isn’t true, as I did send them correctly.
I should have selected ‘Personal Customer’ instead of ‘Business Customer,’ because RM considers a business only if it has a business account, which I do not.

I was then told that my claim was sent to the wrong department and pushed to the end of the queue due to incorrect details provided. Despite this, I still haven’t received any updates on my previous claims, and the only way to check them is by calling RM directly.

To add to the confusion, I believe the RM representative I spoke to was incorrect—the selection of 'Business' or 'Personal' should only indicate who is making the claim, not whether I have a business account. There is a separate form specifically for claims made via a business account.

Now, I’ve been advised to resubmit my claims, this time stating that I am a private customer, not a business.

Honestly, I am frustrated and unsure whether I should go through the process again, as I don’t want to waste more time.

Has anyone else faced this issue? Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

 

[Porky]

I'm a business customer with a business account so can't comment on this specific issue but do want to comment on sending parcels RM and issues.

1. A parcel was returned damaged and we repackaged and sent out again. What annoyed me was it was clear it was damaged because someone had tried to look inside probably to steel the contents, as they were limited value they chucked it back in the post.

2. They lost an item tracked and signed on its way to the US. I believe this was down to the customs label stating what the item was on the reverse of the package. Any thief would know its value and ease to sell on. The RM need to go the way of UPS IMO and hide the customs label in the QR Code - feels like a big advert "come and steel me"

At the end if the day its one big hassle and inconvenience when items go missing but guess its reflective of the society we now live in. Good luck anyhow getting your money back

 

[DontAsk]

I run a business but do not have an RM business account.

I have had no issues in claiming on the very rare occasion when I have had need. VERY rare occasions.

You can get proof of posting for stamped mail. I think this will have a reference number of some kind.

You could at one time, not too long ago, use stamps for tracked services since these had a separate label for the tracking info. Not sure if they are still in use.

 

[Paul Kelly ICHYB]

Since stamped mail doesn’t receive a reference number, it cannot be tracked

Are you sure?

 

[comundo]

I run a business but do not have an RM business account.

I have had no issues in claiming on the very rare occasion when I have had need. VERY rare occasions.

You can get proof of posting for stamped mail. I think this will have a reference number of some kind.

You could at one time, not too long ago, use stamps for tracked services since these had a separate label for the tracking info. Not sure if they are still in use.

All new stamps now have a QR code attached to them but it is only to prove they have not been used yet and this is nothing to do with tracking. Post Office produce postage confirmation but according to regulations and eBay roles this means nothing. The real problem is no Postie across the whole country scans the letters barcodes. Even added extra label to the mail asking 'Please Scan The Barcode' does nothing. They just do not scan them. This is the extra work for them I understand it but we pay for it, business suffer damage and all goes sh..t because of it.

 

[comundo]

Are you sure?

Yes I am positive about it. Unless you attach enough letters to pay for Sign For delivery then it is a different story. But even if Post Office produce a label with reference number kind of the same you get through RM Click&Collect online service, these never get scanned by the posties so it does not matter. People should gather together and make a combined complain to RM about it. Maybe this would help.