Royal Mail recorded delivery

[Taabish]

Hello,

I was wondering if anyone here sends a lot of packages via RM Recorded delivery? We are getting to the point where we are sending 30-40 a day and having to write them all into that book is getting very tiresome (we do have a collections account).

The order values are normally < £30 and each package probably weighs around 100g. I have considered sending them non-recorded but then i suppose there is no way to tell if the customer has received it or not (and therefore no way to prove they are lying if they say they havent, my biggest concern).

What is everyone elses experience? Perhaps there is another service or courier i could be using?

Thanks

 

[Rhyl Lightworks]

If your packages do not contain glass, ordinary mail gives compensation up to £34 for non-delivery, so is it worth paying for recorded delivery?
Barrie

 

[Aspect Investments]

I think she is more concerned with customers trying to rip her off, rather than compensation for lost orders.

 

[The Wholesale Forums]

Whilst there are no obvious benefits to going away from sending them Recorded Delivery its a question of valuing your own time. If you believe that you can save time and be more efficient sending each package Standard Delivery then maybe you should try it out and see how you get on.

The real question is are you prepared to be responsible if a buyer does try to do the dirty on you or in fact RM decide to lose the parcel altogether? - It's a dilemena but the way I see it you must go with the direction you and your business is more comfortable with.

Anthony

 

[quikshop]

It also depends on your market and the levels of online fraud you experience. Its not an exact science but if your shop is prone to a high level of attempted fraudulent orders, you are likely to have a higher percentage of customers 'trying it on' about whether their orders arrived or not.

We didn't bother with recorded delivery when selling aromatherapy (1 fraudulent case in 3 years) but selling fashion and the HUGE attempts at fraud meant every order had to be recorded.

Regards,
Dave

www.internetretailer.biz

 

[Taabish]

I think she is more concerned with customers trying to rip her off, rather than compensation for lost orders.

That would be a HE!

So there are no actual alternatives then other than physically writing in the book? It cant be computerised in any way?

With first class, how do royal mail actually figure out if the item has gotten lost or anything if it is not tracked in any way (in regards to how they decide if compensation should be awarded or not).

Taabish

 

[quikshop]

Yes, most couriers use automated systems these days and have hand held devices which capture the recipients signature... the Royal Mail is a baseline service but they do not do order tracking, just proof of posting and proof of receipt.

Note: even with Special Delivery if you loose your silver postage receipt they will not refund you for an order that has been signed for and the customer then claims they didn't get it...

Regards,
Dave

www.internetretailer.biz

 

[Arhiann]

Can you do electronic docketing online for recorded delivery. I'm not sure but you can for other forms of postage (Mailsort is one of those).

 

[Mint-PrintDotCom]

Taabish, RM don't track Recorded Delivery items at each depot that the package goes to, but simply make a note of it being received by them (from giving you the stamped confirmation slip at the Post Office), and when they deliver the package, they get the name and signature of the recipient. They don't even make note of who has signed for it, as in it could even be a neighbour, so this is still open to fraud. Mr X next door could sign for the post as "Mr Y", so you can never get a accurate trace of it.

The only way round getting the increasing "paperwork" is to give your customers the option whether or not they wish to receive the order Recorded Delivered, or standard delivery.... those opting for Recorded pay a higher price than those opting for standard delivery. To cover your back, just jot it down on the T&C's that customers selecting standard delivery are NOT covered for compensation against loss/damaged post, as it puts the onus on them. Hope that helps.

 

[SillyJokes]

Recorded delivery - you just don't need it if your parcels are so low cost and if your fraud level is already low.

We send out many more parcels than you and it would be a nightmare to have to fill in the books for every one, plus is the extra service of value to your customers?

If you send goods by first class mail you will loose a small proportion, fact, but this is a business cost you allow for as a distance seller, just be glad you have not shop lifters.

I bet you still loose a small proportion of recorded deliveries too. Plus what happens if no one is in to accept the delivery? Doesn't this also pose problems for your customers?

To an extent distance selling has to be based on trust that most, if not all, people are honest, that is until you find yourself with a range of products which attract fraud. Personally I would avoid even starting to sell such products.

 

[Taabish]

Recorded delivery - you just don't need it if your parcels are so low cost and if your fraud level is already low.

We send out many more parcels than you and it would be a nightmare to have to fill in the books for every one, plus is the extra service of value to your customers?

If you send goods by first class mail you will loose a small proportion, fact, but this is a business cost you allow for as a distance seller, just be glad you have not shop lifters.

I bet you still loose a small proportion of recorded deliveries too. Plus what happens if no one is in to accept the delivery? Doesn't this also pose problems for your customers?

To an extent distance selling has to be based on trust that most, if not all, people are honest, that is until you find yourself with a range of products which attract fraud. Personally I would avoid even starting to sell such products.

Actually we havent lost a single recorded yet which im pretty pleased about. With first class, what happens if the package is too big to fit in the post box and there is no one at home to take it in?

 

[Rhyl Lightworks]

The postman usually leaves a card in the door, saying the parcel is available for collection at the sorting office. I am not sure what happens if it is not collected.
Barrie

 

[SillyJokes]

If it's not collected it eventually comes back to us, provided there is a returns address on the outside of the parcel.

It is interesting that Taabish says he has never lost a recorded delivery. If you are sending 30 parcels a day I would have expected to have seen a few missing ones by now if they were coming.

The problem is you have to weigh up the difficulty and cost of recorded delivery in terms of writing in the details, versus the small number you loose through 1st class mail (which you can claim for any way because your order value is so low)

At some point, you simple won't have the time to pick and pack and write up the orders in the recorded book and first class mail will become more economical.

It's worth mentioning we also do an express delivery service which needs writing up but we can charge more for this as it is a next day service which recorded is not.

Recorded mail adds at least 60p plus the hassle during packing on every single parcel on what are low cost orders. You just need to do a spreadsheet to work out what makes sense for your business.

Or you could just test it for a while without recorded. see if profits go up.

 

[Oakesly]

We send out similar quantities of parcels by recorded delivery each day but we print the names and addresses in duplicate onto sticky labels, by copying them from the orders as we print the orders off and then stick one address label on the parcel and one in the book. This still takes time, but doesn't take as long, nor is as tedious, as having to handwrite them into the book.
I would always send parcels by recorded delivery rather than by ordinary mail as it does cut down the amount of fraud by customers. We still get some, as you will find that Royal Mail are not always vigilant about collecting signatures. As an example, we had a customer buy from eBay and left positive feedback for us complimenting us on fast delivery etc. Then we found the PayPal payment had been withdrawn. I tried to follow this up through PayPal but when I checked the Royal Mail track and trace service there was no record at all of the item. I suspect it had been left on the doorstep/round the back of the house by the postman, the customer's payment failed (maybe due to insufficient funds) and as there was no signature collected on delivery PayPal could not help us recover the money from the customer.
I also had a customer call last week to say he had received his 1st class recorded item 8 days after we had posted it and that, bizarrely, the postman had no card for him to sign! Thank God we have honest customers too.
By the way, be aware that if your parcel does go missing and you try to claim compensation from Royal Mail, as a business seller they will only compensate you for the cost price of the item plus the postage. They will expect you to furnish them with proof of the cost price you paid to your supplier, i.e. a supplier's invoice, so the £34 compensation you might think you are entitled to is a farce. They do not compensate you for consequential loss.

 

[Taabish]

We send out similar quantities of parcels by recorded delivery each day but we print the names and addresses in duplicate onto sticky labels, by copying them from the orders as we print the orders off and then stick one address label on the parcel and one in the book.

So your printing one for the parcel and then 2 extra sticky labels for both pages in the RM book?

They have no problem with that then?

 

[Oakesly]

No, they're fine with that.

 

I've recently experienced the same as Oaksley, Royal Mail lost a recorded delivery item, made me wait the 15 days before I could submit a claim, they sent me the forms to claim and having discussed with them what info they needed for my claim I sent everything back only to receive a letter 3 weeks later (they claimed they were experiencing a backlog) saying that it had been too long so they wouldn't be bothering to trace the item to discover where the issue was AND they would not be paying up as they were only willing to pay for the cost of the manufacture of the item, and I would have to prove that - and they gave me 2 days to send something back as proof!!

I was livid, my items are handmade, and I still have to compensate the customer with the full value of an item, and I've paid to insure it to the value of £34 under the recorded delivery service - which is a total sham and not once has the post office ever asked me if the items I'm sending are for business, or making the distinction in anyway - it certainly doesn't say anything on the back of the recorded delivery slip.

Special Delivery is just a bad, Royal Mail have just destroyed a tiara I had insured, which was packaged in a reinforced tiara box and posted just the same as the 100s of others I send out - after 2 months of paperwork going backwards and forwards from the customer to Royal Mail they have turned round and said they are not paying up because it was packaged incorrectly!

If I could find a courier that charged an affordable rate for my items I would switch in a heartbeat as Royal Mail are a waste of space!