Ebay Selling - Royal Mail Issues

[SummitUK]

I have only quite recently started selling on ebay, and soon hit a problem;

 

An item was delivered,

buyer was happy and left feedback,

Paypal would not release money

 

....because Royal Mail had not bothered to obtain a signature for the delivery (2 months later the RM web site was still showing "the package is currently being processed through our system").

 

I guess for many sellers whether a signature is obtained is not an issue.... so long as the recipient gives feedback as having received the package and no 'item not received' case is opened "who cares".

 

However, this is an additional service that adds to my postal costs (£6 overseas, £1 in the UK). I therefore did a survey of all packages sent out over the last three months by myself, and by my wife and son on their ebay sales ( this cover anything from antiques and crafts to music). It appears that somewhere close to 13% of our mail is not delivered in the manner we pay for (i.e it is not signed for), although only about 1% has gone missing.

 

I am now claiming a refund from Royal Mail for all those £6 & £1 payments for which the service paid for was not provided. They seem to have accepted the argument for UK mail, but are blaming the Italian, Spanish, outer Mongolian postal services (*delete as appropriate) for the failure with international mail. I see that my contract is with Royal Mail, so the complaint progresses.

 

My reason for posting this is that I suspect more claims will lead to an improvement in the amount of mail for which a receipt is obtained..... also all those £1 & £6 quickly add up to a decent refund on costs

[Beechwood]

I havent heard of this issue with Royal Mail and Paypal not releasing funds, not sure how Paypal might be aware that a signature is not given. My postie regularly leaves mail requiring a signature, and doesnt obtain one.

 

I had the next level of a problem where a parcel was pushed through the buyers door, and then claimed she had not received it, two months later she resold the set and eBay didnt give a fig that they were selling stolen property.

 

Llost count of the battles I have had and lost with Royal Mail, parcels that were opened in the sorting office and then delivered empty or delivered to the wrong address, I and others regularly receive others mail and we do the posties job, less honest people may not.

 

Royal Mail are an intransigent bunch, I wish you every success.

[Chrissy]

I think there are really two separate complaints here. One is about PayPal and one is about Royal Mail.

 

I was under the impression that if a relatively new ebay seller sells an item, PayPal hold the funds until after the item is delivered. It was also my understanding that their 'proof of delivery' included the leaving of feedback by the buyer confirming that the item had been delivered. Otherwise their terms and conditions would say that funds will only be released upon them seeing a delivery signature.

 

If PayPal have not released your payment funds to you just because they cannot see a signature attached to a tracking number, but the buyer confirms delivery, then I think you should be making your complaint about that to them.

 

I agree with you that if you are paying an additional charge to Royal Mail for a service that includes a signature on delivery, then you should get a refund if they don't provide one. It doesn't make any difference whether it's within the UK or International. If they provide a service that includes an additional charge for a signature on delivery, then they should get a signature on delivery or refund the additional fee.

[harry015]

Logic vs. Government agency Not a winner most times. If you do win, it is a protracted battle, involving usually people who don't understand their own systems, and don't understand simple logic. They talk around the issue, never answering a question. Very frustrating, and most times not worth the emotional strain. I've pursued several of these kinds of battles, with no success, and a pile of useless, almost undecipherable correspondence.

 

Good luck, but don't be surprised if all comes to naught. PayPal is almost as bad, but now it is usually possible to speak to an actual human. His/her saying they will pass the comments "upstairs" means you'll never hear any more about it from them.

 

I never heard of them doing this holding of funds. I haven't been active as a seller, and this is more reason to not get back into the game. And, yes, the USPOD is also a huge Government organization....

 

Harry

[zenephi001]

Interesting re Royal Mail .... one question though .. How far is Royal Mail a 'Government agency'?

 

... I thought it had been privatised and was now part of the supposedly 'more efficient' capitalist economy :-) .... quote from Wikipedia entry [ "For most of its history, Royal Mail has been a public service, operating as a government department or public corporation. However, following the Postal Services Act 2011,^[3][4] a majority of the shares in Royal Mail were floated on the London Stock Exchange on 15 October 2013 and the company became a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index on 23 December 2013. The UK Government initially retained a 30% stake in Royal Mail^[5] through Postal Services Holding Company Limited, however on 4 June 2015, Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne announced the sale of the governments remaining stake.^[6] The same holding company is also the parent of Post Office Ltd, which was separated from Royal Mail on 1 April 2012 and remains state-owned. " ]

 

Looks like Royal Mail, in spite of it's 500 year or so history in 'public' ownership, is now a private enterprise - no longer a Government agency. I think the appropriate body for complaints, assuming no satisfaction from the privately owned company now called "Royal Mail" is forthcoming, is now the 'Quango' (I thinks that's the correct term) Ofcom. Though it would be interesting to see a use of the Small Claims procedures for such a claim against such a company now bereft of Government / Royal 'cover',

 

Just a thought or two :-) ....

[Tancred]

I have only quite recently started selling on ebay, and soon hit a problem;

 

An item was delivered,

buyer was happy and left feedback,

Paypal would not release money

 

....because Royal Mail had not bothered to obtain a signature for the delivery (2 months later the RM web site was still showing "the package is currently being processed through our system").

 

I guess for many sellers whether a signature is obtained is not an issue.... so long as the recipient gives feedback as having received the package and no 'item not received' case is opened "who cares".

 

However, this is an additional service that adds to my postal costs (£6 overseas, £1 in the UK). I therefore did a survey of all packages sent out over the last three months by myself, and by my wife and son on their ebay sales ( this cover anything from antiques and crafts to music). It appears that somewhere close to 13% of our mail is not delivered in the manner we pay for (i.e it is not signed for), although only about 1% has gone missing.

 

I am now claiming a refund from Royal Mail for all those £6 & £1 payments for which the service paid for was not provided. They seem to have accepted the argument for UK mail, but are blaming the Italian, Spanish, outer Mongolian postal services (*delete as appropriate) for the failure with international mail. I see that my contract is with Royal Mail, so the complaint progresses.

 

My reason for posting this is that I suspect more claims will lead to an improvement in the amount of mail for which a receipt is obtained..... also all those £1 & £6 quickly add up to a decent refund on costs

 

What do you mean by Paypal not 'releasing' the money? Once I'm paid the money appears in my Paypal account and I withdraw it.

 

Is this some new procedure for those with new accounts? God help us!! I first opened a Paypal account in 2000 and an eBay one in 2001 - never had my account frozen or anything like that. I have been conned a few times on eBay, but 3 cheats out of 300 sales isn't bad. 1% is well within expectations.

 

For internal UK parcel delivery I would use Hermes - they are cheaper than Royal Mail as well. For overseas I suggest Myparceldelivery or Parcel2go.

Edited June 19, 2015 by Tancred