Sending Ebay Parcels with Royal Mail

[Hal Nail]

38 minutes ago, John M Upton said:

The general attitude of Evri et al seems to be that they have a photo of your parcel on a doorstep (not necessarily yours of course) and as far as they are concerned that is job done and they do not give a monkeys otherwise.

 

As long as the cash is there, they do not care!

yes of course. but my point is as the recipient, who has no contract with them whatsoever, where do you stand if you never actually receive it?

[John M Upton]

Up the proverbial watercourse sans the correct propulsion equipment....

[D9020 Nimbus]

18 hours ago, Hal Nail said:

yes of course. but my point is as the recipient, who has no contract with them whatsoever, where do you stand if you never actually receive it?

Depends. If you have nominated a “safe place" or a neighbour to receive the item, you're out of luck. But if you haven't, then it is the retailer's responsibility to refund or replace the item concerned.

 

In my personal experience, Evri/Hermes have done this only once, when I was out. UPS did this once when I was in—I heard the flap of the letterbox and the UPS man was running back to his van, having put a model loco in the recycling bin. Fortunately, not on collection day. More recently, Royal Mail also did this also when I was in; not a model and I might have missed hearing them. Same place, also not collection day…

[DCB]

You have to feel for DPD drivers, working in a foreign country, unable to speak the language , slithering around on the ice at 7pm to deliver 4 old coaches I paid £5 for, and making less than the money the Postmen currently  get let alone what they want.

Not too surprising Evri seem to have dumped all the parcels for our village earlier this week claiming the had been delivered...

 

[Bernard Lamb]

Pre Brexit we used to send Christmas presents to several people in Germany.

The cost of postage is now so high and delivery so unreliable that SWMBO has tried using Amazon de.

Free delivery and orders put in by 4pm have been delivered by noon the next day.

A debit card in Euros and a German bank account do help.

The postal service has lost a customer.

Bernard

 

[pharrc20]

On 14/12/2022 at 22:05, RFS said:

 

Had just this experience with Evri 3 times this year. On each occasion the email had a photo showing where they'd left it which clearly was not my house. One I recognized but two I didn't so had the palaver of chasing Evri to retrieve it from wherever they'd dumped it. 

 

BTW you've got a large number of blank lines at the end of your post. Might be worth editing the post and deleting them....

It seems to be an error in the way RMweb displays on Samsung Internet on my phone... no idea why it has started doing this but most annoying. I've switched to using Google Chrome on phone for this reply.

Cheers Paul

[John M Upton]

Spoke to my postie this morning, my local sorting office (Bognor Regis) is completely log jammed.  However no strikes now until the 23rd so it is cork out of a bottle time and probably a lot of overtime in a concerted effort to get it all shifted before the next lot rolls in from elsewhere in the country.

 

Got my SDEG Scotrail Express book this morning so I am happy!!

[D9020 Nimbus]

21 hours ago, DCB said:

You have to feel for DPD drivers, working in a foreign country, unable to speak the language , slithering around on the ice at 7pm to deliver 4 old coaches I paid £5 for, and making less than the money the Postmen currently  get let alone what they want.

Not too surprising Evri seem to have dumped all the parcels for our village earlier this week claiming the had been delivered...

 

My DPD Local deliveries have been delivered by the same driver each time. He has a local accent too and no problems speaking the language. So you shouldn't generalise from your specific circumstances — that's quite unfair.

 

As for Evri, two weeks ago I ordered similar items from two different sellers. One was dispatched RM Tracked 48, the other by Evri. The Evri one arrived two days earlier than RM. Since moving to my current address 5 years ago I've only had one parcel go missing — sent by Royal Mail.

 

Perhaps there are particular problems in your area, but they aren't country wide. Remember that.

[TheSignalEngineer]

Our current EVRI driver is local and has been doing it for 4 years. He is usually spot on but last week was unable to deliver when promised because of the sheer volume. He was round at 8.30 the following morning.

DPD are usually quite good at finding us at the promised time depending on which driver arrives. The regular one is OK but we occasionally get one who can't speak English and can't find the addresses. 

[Michael Hodgson]

4 hours ago, John M Upton said:

However no strikes now until the 23rd so it is cork out of a bottle time and probably a lot of overtime in a concerted effort to get it all shifted before the next lot rolls in from elsewhere in the country.

 

They need lots of overtime to make up for having their pay stopped while they were on strike.

[APOLLO]

The good old days when trains ran and postmen delivered. And nurses nursed etc.

 

 

This is the night mail crossing the Border,
Bringing the cheque and the postal order,

Letters for the rich, letters for the poor,
The shop at the corner, the girl next door.

Pulling up Beattock, a steady climb:
The gradient's against her, but she's on time.

Past cotton-grass and moorland boulder
Shovelling white steam over her shoulder,

Snorting noisily as she passes
Silent miles of wind-bent grasses.

Birds turn their heads as she approaches,
Stare from bushes at her blank-faced coaches.

Sheep-dogs cannot turn her course;
They slumber on with paws across.

In the farm she passes no one wakes,
But a jug in a bedroom gently shakes.


Dawn freshens, Her climb is done.
Down towards Glasgow she descends,
Towards the steam tugs yelping down a glade of cranes
Towards the fields of apparatus, the furnaces
Set on the dark plain like gigantic chessmen.
All Scotland waits for her:
In dark glens, beside pale-green lochs
Men long for news.


Letters of thanks, letters from banks,
Letters of joy from girl and boy,
Receipted bills and invitations
To inspect new stock or to visit relations,
And applications for situations,
And timid lovers' declarations,
And gossip, gossip from all the nations,
News circumstantial, news financial,
Letters with holiday snaps to enlarge in,
Letters with faces scrawled on the margin,
Letters from uncles, cousins, and aunts,
Letters to Scotland from the South of France,
Letters of condolence to Highlands and Lowlands
Written on paper of every hue,
The pink, the violet, the white and the blue,
The chatty, the catty, the boring, the adoring,
The cold and official and the heart's outpouring,
Clever, stupid, short and long,
The typed and the printed and the spelt all wrong.

 

Brit15

Edited December 16, 2022 by APOLLO

[DCB]

We use to have two postmen, they fell out. one shot the other in the face and jumped under a train.  yep them was the good old days.

[hayfield]

On 13/12/2022 at 15:20, cessna152towser said:

Me too.   1)  Sold an item on eBay at the end of October, buyer wrote back after three weeks saying no sign of item.  Tracking confirmed that post office had accepted it but no record of delivery.   I refunded him and claimed from Royal Mail.  I thought the 4.45 second class recorded delivery would provide adequate coverage.    Initially Royal Mail asked me for proof of value and I sent them a screenshot of the eBay page showing the sale price.  Then they came back and said they needed proof of what I originally paid for the item, which being a fairly rare Hornby Dublo coach I had bought years ago and no longer had the receipt.   So the only compensation they gave me was 8 x first class stamps.   I wrote to the buyer and said that I would trust his honesty to let me know if the coach ever turned up.  Heard nothing further.

2)   I had another buyer complain yesterday of non-delivery of a Hornby Mk3 which I posted two weeks ago, but he has agreed to wait another week.

3)   On the other hand as a buyer, last month I had cause to contact a seller re 2 x Hornby wagons which I had bought for 13 pounds and which never arrived.   When I had no response from him I got eBay involved and they refunded me in full.   Two days after I received the refund, the wagons arrived.  I messaged the seller to say I wanted to remove the negative feedback I had given and to re-send him the 13 pounds.   He apologised that he had not responded previously as he had been in hospital since he posted the items.  I arranged to send the money direct to his Paypal address, he thanked me for my honesty and eBay removed the feedback.

 

The Royal Mail must have changed their policy and I guess if you challenged them they might well consider. Thankfully I have not had the misfortune to have anything recently but when I have had to claim in the past (2 or 3 times) I gave them the eBay reference and they refunded me fully for the sale price and the cost of postage (not P&P), with eBay refunding all fees I was a few pence better off  

[hayfield]

On 13/12/2022 at 15:33, Tofufi said:

Several hundred pounds is sadly, across many items - most of which are under £30.

I don't mind losing the occasional £5 and have never previously had an item go missing - so have been happy to use second class to reduce costs to buyers.

 

I don't use the collection service, sadly. It's slower than taking it to the post office.

 

 

Owing to two experiences early on in the strike period (two items sent 10 days apart took over 3 weeks to arrive) I started to consider using other carriers, however with the exception of one item those I sent 1 class recorded arrived within 3 days , one the next day. I do have one item still not showing being delivered after being posted on the 12th of December. So the bulk of items seem to be getting through

 

I do sometimes take a risk on items which sell just over the insurance level, but recently I sold something for £97 when I charged for recorded delivery, I was happy to pay the extra for special delivery.

 

If Royal Mail relied on letters then they would be bust by now. They do offer a superb and reliable small parcel delivery service, lets hope the two sides wake up and find a solution. 

[hayfield]

On 14/12/2022 at 23:05, John M Upton said:

The general attitude of Evri et al seems to be that they have a photo of your parcel on a doorstep (not necessarily yours of course) and as far as they are concerned that is job done and they do not give a monkeys otherwise.

 

As long as the cash is there, they do not care!

 

John

 

I have had that twice with them when they were Hermes, Hermes were totally unhelpful both times. As it happens one went next door the other 2 roads away !!!  In my opinion this company should have its licence to operate suspended until it has a working customer service up and running and pays appropriate compensation quickly for lost items.

[hayfield]

On 14/12/2022 at 23:44, Hal Nail said:

yes of course. but my point is as the recipient, who has no contract with them whatsoever, where do you stand if you never actually receive it?

 

Distance selling rules state the onus is on the retailer (eBay operate the same method as its the sellers responsibility) to ensure the buyer gets it, the buyer gets a full refund. The eBay seller has the contract with the courier and claims from them.

 

As a buyer know your rights

 

As a seller make sure you charge the correct postage and use the service appropriate to the value of the item

 

Where it falls down is quite often one gets a bargain and buys it at far less than its worth, you can only claim what you paid, not what's its worth

[cessna152towser]

On 13/12/2022 at 15:20, cessna152towser said:

2)   I had another buyer complain yesterday of non-delivery of a Hornby Mk3 which I posted two weeks ago, but he has agreed to wait another week.

Happy ending.  Buyer has now received the Hornby coach at lunchtime today.

[micklner]

Hermes dropped something off in my Porch for a road a 1/4 mile away, the only similarity was the House number. I went to the correct address with the parcel, a lady opened the door in a total panic, she was on the phone and Hermes were telling her they had delievered the what turned out to be a high value item in the parcel to her address, and were refusing to do anything about the missing parcel . The lady was quite pleased on seeing me !! A nice bottle of wine form the lady arrived at my address by hand the next day!!

 

I would'nt trust Hermes etc ,with anything of value.

 

Royal Mail are not perfect, but I have always recieved a Signed For item. Using Proof of Posting is useless , no tracking and Royal Mail have'nt a clue where the item will ever be at any time.

 

One item out of six outstanding sent to me by normal post recieved today, posted two weeks ago !!.

[TheQ]

An eBay parcel arrived today via RM, only a day later than originally expected.

Herpies, have only failed to deliver once, they claimed it had been delivered to us.. But the Photo, showed my neighbours medieval style doorway and porch.

 

The only British delivery driver we get is from RM, and he's a true local, living just a couple of miles away..

[2E Sub Shed]

21 hours ago, Michael Hodgson said:

They need lots of overtime to make up for having their pay stopped while they were on strike.

 

Royal Mail management have a cunning plan to clear the backlog

 

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2022/12/16/bring-mum-work-save-christmas-royal-mail-urges-staff/

[melmerby]

Talking of wrong destinations.

A while back on a Sunday (during Covid) someone left a very large heavy parcel in my porch . It was fresh food for a Sunday Lunch for several people.

Puzzled I checked the label. Wrong name, wrong number, wrong road. The address was a property in the next road.

Helpfully the label had a sender and their telephone number, so I rang them. Their reply? Can't you take it round there?

I politely told them that it was their responsibility and I wasn't taking it anywhere.

A little while later the delivery driver turned up, having been contacted by the sender, sheepishly saying "I wondered where that had gone"🙄

 

He wasn't foreign but I wonder what planet he was on.😆

 

 

[melmerby]

22 hours ago, Michael Hodgson said:

They need lots of overtime to make up for having their pay stopped while they were on strike.

They were delivering last Sunday. Is that double time?

[John Besley]

I sent a Wilesco traction engine back to a customer via Evri last Friday , delivered without a problem on Monday 

 

We ordered a small fan heater from Amazon on Wednesday this week, notified it had got to our collection point on Friday. So went up the road today to collect it... no sign of it...

 

Contacted Amazon helpline ( all the staff sound like disembowelled robots) and told it was notified too soon try again on Monday...

[Butler Henderson]

Had another ebay package arrive today (rug grip material) , again sent 48hour, this  one on the 9th so ignoring the Sunday actually 168hr

Meanwhile no sign of a Evri parcel from Black Friday

[Gridiron]

I ordered one of the new Dapol Brake Tenders with ordinary postage on 27 Nov 2022 and it turned up on 13 Dec 2022. I have a couple of Ebay purchases still to arrive which the seller has confirmed have been despatched but are yet to arrive, but I will be patient. Our RM postie confirms they are concentrating on delivering parcels and even turned up at 0830hrs in the van with a parcel a couple of weeks ago, when we normally seem him about 1300hrs at the end of his round. 

 

As side issue I order some rolling stock for a relative from a German company shortly on a regular basis for some years. The first one after Brexit they despatched by UPS and it took three weeks and many emails, phone calls and social media posts to get it sorted, whilst UPS sorted out their systems. Nearly two years later, last Saturday I placed an order, and by 0715hrs on the Monday morning I had an email confirmation that the order would be processed the same day. By that evening I had email updates from UPS to confirm the booking, collection and late on to say it was on it's way and delivery was scheduled for the following day. The following morning, Tuesday I had an exception email from UPS to say delivery had been delay to PM and confirming the amount of VAT and clearance charges to pay. Unfortunately, the link failed to give me the option to pay on line, but thanks to the fact I had a direct phone number to the depot in Irlam I was able to pay the outstanding amount over the phone even though my local depot at Warrington had the package. Complete now with an authorisation code, my wife was able to inform the UPS driver when he arrived just before 1400hrs the same day. Now that's what I call service, with the only let down being UPS technology.