This is a FYI post really - just passing on what I have learned
For those of your selling your work - if your beads should not arrive with the customer, you CAN claim the full price from Royal Mail providing you were adequately insured.
However, RM make it as hard and as scary as they can in the hope that you will just not bother.
Well DO bother.
I have had two packages go missing (not bad in selling mail order for nearly 10 years!). In both cases I have claimed for the full value I sold the beads at and they have paid up. I have learned what info you need to state in order to cut through the red tape it seems, because the last claim went through very easily and quickly.
Anyway. I have a template covering letter you can send in with any claim, plus details of what you need to include to hopefully get you your full refund if it is necessary.
If anyone would like a copy of this, just PM me and I will send it along to you. Or if there is enough interest, I can copy and paste it here in this thread.
I just urge any of you that do have anything go missing - DO CLAIM. Don't let them intimidate you out of what is rightfully yours!
Emma
sounds great info emma. maybe a copy and paste would be helpful here. will save u sending out the same information all over the place too :)
I would love to have that information, however posted. Thanks for taking the trouble, Emma!
Yes please :)
i'd love it too please, you never know when you might need it
Okey dokey
Probably is easiest.
Ok - Step by Step
1. Fill out and print the claim form from Royal Mail website. This is HARD to find.
http://www.royalmail.com/portal/rm/content2?catId=69800733&mediaId=80300735
2. Collate the following to send with your claim form:
- Your certificate of posting / receipt (you may want to keep photocopy of this for your own records, but send RM the original)
- Copy of your invoice to the customer
- print out of product pages from your website, showing the items that went missing with their price. This isn't always possible, but it helps validate your claim
- Covering letter - see below - signed by you. It is important to sign it
Below is the template of the letter I have sucessfully used both times. If you have a certificate of posting or till receipt, you can claim up to a max of £36 on first class post. If you sent it Special Delivery you are insured much higher. If the value of your beads are higher than this, claim the maximum of £36, but include the sales invoice showing their true, higher value.
Do note one thing though - they made the cheque payable to my business name one time and me personally another time. So if you do not have a bank account set up with your business name make sure you add a note that any cheques payable must be to you personally.
Also remember you can only claim for the actual postage paid, not your full P&P price if it is different. But for your own handmade beads there is no reason to ask for anything less than the full amount.
Letter template (just change the details as appropriate):
Dear Sir / Madam
Please find enclosed a claim form for items lost whilst in the care of Royal Mail.
The items lost were handmade beads, sent to my customer together in one package via First Class post.
These beads are handmade by me. As such, the price I sell them for is their wholesale price – i.e. the lowest I can afford to sell at. This wholesale price breaks down into two components – the raw materials used and my labour costs in making them. Both of which are indeed true costs of their manufacture. (I do not feel it appropriate to disclose further how those costs break down, since that is personal information beyond the scope of your enquiry.)
So the price shown on the enclosed invoice is indeed the actual cost price for these items. I have signed this letter below as testimony to this statement.
I wish to claim back the full invoice amount against this loss, as is my entitlement under the terms and conditions of Royal Mail first class postage.
The amount I wish to claim is £**.** which covers my loss for the missing items plus actual postage paid. I enclose my certificate of posting, claim form, evidence of value for the individual items lost and commercial invoice for the sale. I trust this is all you will need to complete your enquiry promptly. However if you have any other queries relating to this matter, please contact me.
With Best Regards,
And this all needs to be sent to their customer services centre - the address can be found on the claim form I think.
Hope that helps should anyone end up with missing items.
Emma
Thanks for this info, Emma. Very useful ;D I have tended to use Recorded Delivery up to now, but doesn't mean to say it won't get lost !
That's great Emma - thank you :)
Abbey set my business account up as me trading as so either my personal name or my business name can be paid into the account. Apparently the inland revenue are good at making business cheques to personal names!
Thanks, Emma, I've made sure I copied and printed this immediately - knowing me I wouldn't be able to find the post again ;D
Quote from: June on September 15, 2008, 08:23:28 PM
Thanks for this info, Emma. Very useful ;D I have tended to use Recorded Delivery up to now, but doesn't mean to say it won't get lost !
Debate rages about the point of recorded delivery.
In theory, it should tell you if the customer has received it. So you can get peace of mind that the customer will not pretend it has got lost when in fact they have it.
However, this depends on two things - that you don't trust your customers and you DO trust the delivering postman.
In my experience, the reverse is true. My customers are nearly all darlings who wouldn't dream of making baby Jesus weep with porkie pies. Whereas I have lost count of the times I have heard of postmen faking the signatures on Recorded Delivery items.
So, if a postie fakes the signature but the item is in fact damaged or lost, you are not able to claim.
In one of my claims, the item was recorded delivery and the ladies cleaner signed for it, not seeing that the Jiffy had been ripped open and was empty. Luckily it arrived in one of the Royal Mail see-through baggies, proving the damage occured with them. But the point is the same.
Recorded delivery offers you no more protection or compensation than normal first class post. It is handled the same way, all it "prooves" is that the package has been signed for as delivered, although that is not always trustworthy if the postie is dodgy!
I have mixed feelings therefore about Recorded. I do use it sometimes. If I am sending to a persons work address for instance it can be useful. It also allows your shipment to qualify for seller protection through Paypal should the buyer make a claim. But all in all, I have come to discover that out of the customers, paypal and royal mail - it is the customers who are the most trustworthy!
Emma
This is very interesting information, which I have never thought through before. Thanks again!!
Hmm, I see what you mean ! I think my reasons for going with recorded were a few instances of missing items being reported on here, however, I do see what you are saying. So far, most of my purchases have been via eBay using PayPal, but it isn't easy to know which way to go ! Still, if you can claim back from the Post Office, may be worth taking the chance?
I don't even bother claiming anymore, because I am a business they will only give me 40% of the value, and no postage.
And this was after a lot of negotiation, they wanted copies off all my reciepts, I would have spent more hours rooting them out than the claim was worth !
Sometimes I stock them up and send them in in bulk, just so I can let them know just how many go missing. I would estimate around 10 parcels a month, and I send about 25 out a day ! that's just crap in my opinion.
Sooz, that is a hell of a lot of missing packages.
I send out pretty much the same amount of parcels a day - monday to saturday. In the last 8 years of doing that only had 3 or 4 things fail to arrive in total. Having worked in lots of mail order places before this I can also say I have never seen such a high loss rate.
Something is going really wrong with the post in your area. Sounds like someone at the post office is swiping your stuff. Can you not ask RM to investigate this because it seems way above the norm to me.
I agree though that it is hardly worth claiming for regular retail supplies. Just too much work.
But with people's handmade beads, I think it is worth claiming. The paperwork is less and being the actual manufacturer of the item, means we can claim back its full sale price, since that was essentially our trade price.
They just bank on people not bothering though, don't they.
Emma
Quote from: Soozintheshed on September 15, 2008, 09:33:43 PM
I don't even bother claiming anymore, because I am a business they will only give me 40% of the value, and no postage.
And this was after a lot of negotiation, they wanted copies off all my reciepts, I would have spent more hours rooting them out than the claim was worth !
Sometimes I stock them up and send them in in bulk, just so I can let them know just how many go missing. I would estimate around 10 parcels a month, and I send about 25 out a day ! that's just crap in my opinion.
This does seem a high amount to go missing as RM reckon they deliver 99.9% of stuff on time etc. I'm sure when I first came here (only a few months ago) someone was saying they were going to stop putting their business name on the outside of parcels as lots seemed to go missing. Try that for a month and see if it makes any difference. Keep records and if there is a difference get RM to investigate.
It really does seem suspciously high to me.
I think if it were me, I would go in large and tell Royal Mail I am calling in the police if they do not launch a full investigation. Sounds ludicrous, but we did this my old business. We had one whole sack of mail go missing - all computer software. SO obviously it was stolen by royal mail staff.
They really couldn't care less and just told us to fill out forms for each and every package. When we told them we considered that not good enough, that we suspected theft had occured whilst the items were in their charge and we intended to report it to the police - well suddenly things started to get looked into properly. They found the toerag in the end and gave him the boot I think.
I bet that someone either at the local post office or the local sorting office recognises the packages and is helping themselves to a couple each week.
I am sure that postwatch probably have the official figures of lost mail that you could quote at RM, but whatever those exact figures are I am sure they are a heck of a lot lower than the losses you are experiencing. Hope you get it sorted out. You shouldn't have to bear the burden of that.
Emma
My Mum's PO or sorting office has a bad apple too, greetings cards (that might have a fiver tucked in) regularly fail to turn up. Annoyingly ours still go awol even though there's never cash in them. It's not a nice situation for you Sooz, frustrating.
Quote from: ejralph on September 15, 2008, 10:03:55 PM
Sooz, that is a hell of a lot of missing packages.
Yup, they are supposidly investigating it, but are they? Nothing seems to change. We took our logo off our packages and it made a slight difference.
It HAS to be someone in Carlisle, as a test I sent a swarovski pendant to my sister two streets from the Post Office we drop the parcels off at, it never arrived. They would rather just give us a quid to keep up quiet than try and find out what going wrong !
Of course, your customers blame you, neg feedbacks and stuff, such is life.
We have it pinned down to large letters, 46p postage (franked) on certain days of the week.
And still it goes on......
So send a similar package or three wth a note in it saying 'we're on to you, this package has been specially treated with an invisible indelible dye''
Brilliant idea ! ;D
I think that is so awful Sooz, you must feel helpless.
Hi , I think I know a little about Post Office Counters/ Royal Mail as I worked for them for altogether about 18 years. I worked in Customer Care! gulp and The Business Unit, a few of the Depts I worked in including Counters for 12 years. I understand your frustration with them!! There is nothing worse than and ex employee moaning about the service to them. A few points Recorded Delivery, does not cover valuables, jewellery etc and I think Royal Mail will try and include loose beads as that as well!! also glass articles. Recorded Delivery items just go in with the rest of the mail, it does not get any special treatment, and you are really relying on the postman to get a signature for the item when it is delivered! I have received recordeds that I have not signed for and alarmingly Registered from overseas which says to be signed for in English! Also if you go onto Royal Mail track service to see if your Recorded has been delivered, I have found I can never track it! or get a copy showing the signature, even though it's been delivered! It is really bad! As for so many items going missing every month. The IB section, Investigation Branch, Policing Section of the Post Office should be looking into that one. You should take it further and complain to the Delivery Office Manager, and if no luck the Postmaster.I think trying to remember a legal body you can report about your mail service. The Post Office Users Council, I think! I must admit if I send anything of value over £20 I send it RMSD, on the whole I have found people are prepared to pay the extra to make sure that there purchases get there.It a sad fact that their are dishonest people everywhere who given the opportunity will steal. When I joined Royal Mail, the staff were usually ex-forces or had family working in Royal Mail. Please do not give up, you have to work at them!! If you make enough noise about it, something will be done!! :)
A package to Germany has gone astray :(
I have to wait 25 DAYS before I can claim!
What do I do?
Refund or ask her to wait - I thought it was 15 :(
Eek
That's a tricky one. All my experience thus far has been for inland missing items only. I rather suspect RM will try to wiggle out of overseas items. But, still claim and still go in hard on them is my best advice. I really think if they feel the person they are dealing with is not likely to just sit back and take no for an answer, they are more likely to take the claim seriously.
In regards to refunding really it depends on your terms of business although legally I think you will be bound by the distance selling regs as much as you would be for a UK customer. So as per DSR you need to supply the goods within 30 days unless you have agreed a different period with your customer.
So you could be within your rights to ask your customer to bear with you and await 30 days. That gives the package time to show up and allows you to put in a claim too. But you cannot make your refund dependant on getting your money back from RM. Really that is your loss and from a legal point of view you need to refund your customer. It is better also to work it out amicably with them rather than risk them doing a chargeback through Paypal needlessly.
You can find info on distance selling regs here, if you want to research it all further http://www.oft.gov.uk/advice_and_resources/small_businesses/distance-selling/
Emma
Thanks Emma :)
I think I will refund her anyway and fight it out with Royal Mail.
This is the first I have ever had go missing so I can't complain too much :)
I have just had a package to the USA go missing, 6 Beading mags to the total of nearly £20 but was "international signed for " too, you got to wonder where they might be :-\
Blinking eck Sooz.
I would try sending from a different PO if I were you.
I hope you get somewhere claiming. Really think you should try to push them to do an investigation too. I know it is hard to find the time for these sorts of wild goose chases when you are in business, but I really do feel someone is on the make somewhere at your expense and this is way above acceptable losses. You shouldn't have to be carrying the burden for all this thievery - which is undoubtedly what it is. >:(
Emma
This is the first one that has gone astray which is bigger than pocket size, so maybe this one genuinely is lost in post :)
I have to wonder though, I get a few things sent to me, which I am supposed to sign for but never do, I wonder if other people see it as a way of getting a refund if they have not signed. Maybe I am just being sceptical ;)
Quote from: Soozintheshed on October 06, 2008, 01:59:16 PM
This is the first one that has gone astray which is bigger than pocket size, so maybe this one genuinely is lost in post :)
I have to wonder though, I get a few things sent to me, which I am supposed to sign for but never do, I wonder if other people see it as a way of getting a refund if they have not signed. Maybe I am just being sceptical ;)
This is so true in general terms.
I think that was something we were discussing up-thread wasn't it? How pointless the Recorded Delivery service is and how it can cause more problems than it is worth. Other than covering your butt from a Seller Protection point of view with Paypal, it has precious little going for it really.
I hesitate to tempt fate, because there are obviously bad apples in every community and people who will take advantage of you - but really I do think beady people are very, very honest though.
My customers have at times come close to moving me to tears with their support, loyalty and honesty. No joke. Beady people really do rock. When I think back to the patience and loyalty they showed me a year ago when Royal Mail were on strike and secretly warehousing our post on random days. Well, I still get a lump in my throat thinking about how kind and gracious everyone was waiting for their packages. If they hadn't, I would have been even more stressed out and helpless than I was already. And so, that sort of trust cuts both ways I think. We simply cannot allow the few bad eggs to make us treat everyone else with too deep a suspicion.
On the whole, most people are good and honest and very, very supportive of small businesses. They often know the pressures we are under and how even little losses can have a big impact on the bottom line. So when it comes to a toss up about who I would suspect - a customer, or the royal mail staff, I know which one my money would go on usually! (Although my local post office are superb also. A genuine good village post office and I am sure they are part of the reason I have so few packages go astray. I even get free war stories from Roy "I'm 82 you know". Who incidently is more on the ball than the rest of them put together, especially when it comes to understanding the bizarre computer system of the Royal Mail Mothership)
Like most crimes though, it so often is the one or two individuals causing most of the problems. There is probably one postie somewhere along the line pocketting all these packages. If only that one could be found out and taken out of the equation, I expect your loss rate would suddenly change right back to where it should be.
As for the magazines - I guess much depends on where they went to. An international signed for sticker probably made them seem more interesting than just beady magazines. That is the most annoying thing. But chances are they are stuck in customs somewhere and will take a while longer to arrive or just make their way home to you when they get hungry.... ::)
I once took a package to be shipped to one of the South American countries, and Jill the postmistress said to me "oh, It will be interesting to see if this arrives there - are you not worried about sending stuff to South America then?"
"Well I am NOW!" says I with the blood draining from my face.
No indication to say it didn't get there though, so I guess all was well!
Emma
Royal Mail are a royal pain. Twice in the last week I've arrived home from work to find packages on my doorstep. One was a recorded delivery item, and the other was a special delivery package from Palmers containing almost £200 of silver wire. A few months ago my postman folded an envelope of wire in half to fit it through the letterbox, ruining it in the process. What planet are they on? My usual postman is brillliant but whenever we have a stand-in it all goes belly up. I complain to RM every time they do something stupid, but it doesn't seem to make any difference at all.
I refer to them as Royal Betrayal behind closed doors, for good reason!
I have to admit that all my posties are very good as our the staff at our local PO. But its the seasonal staff and cover staff that tend to not give a monkeys isn't it.
Emma
The problem is they are casuals a lot of them delivering the mail! >:( I have had photos bent in half when it says in big writing Please do not bend Photos!! I get a different postman every day ! They do a lot of rounds on overtime!
The mail going/coming missing abroad is dealt with the Foreign section in London, They deal with mail going out and into the country, that is where you P25 think it's called goes after it's been to Customer Care. They deal with it and will probably liase with the foreign post offices. They will send a form to confirm that the item has not been received by the customer , before they investigate.
I work for royal mail for 21 years now, most of the new people we get in are chimps.
I would not use recorded mail , waste of time.
cost more is special delivery which is better.
sorry to hear about all the probs people are having, royal mail is going down hill fast, i will be the last one there to turn out the lights.
Deeko.
p.s. delivery and people are nice, managers ect are all brain dead.
I've been lucky and haven't had much go missing. A few have been returned - customers haven't recieved a card to collect it though. A couple damaged. The one that really jerks me off, is that every time I send out tools they go walkabout! I must have 20%+ of my tools disappear. It doesn't seem to matter how I pack them either. This is so much of a problem taht I am considering stopping making them. Its so much hassle to claim for missing good too...but then they rely on that don't they? :-\
Quote from: deeko1968 on August 12, 2009, 04:51:37 PM
I work for royal mail for 21 years now, most of the new people we get in are chimps.
I would not use recorded mail , waste of time.
cost more is special delivery which is better.
sorry to hear about all the probs people are having, royal mail is going down hill fast, i will be the last one there to turn out the lights.
Deeko.
p.s. delivery and people are nice, managers ect are all brain dead.
I worked for them for 17 years! left in 1993! Royal Mail is going down fast, and i am a tad worried about my deferred pension!! When I last looked my pension hadn't changed in 15years!!
Recorded Delivery you are right is not worth using as it goes with the rest of the mail. Special Delivery is the only way to go if something urgent or valuable!. I worked on the delivery side when I first started in 1978! and went to counters after 10 months. in 87 went to Royal Mail , worked in the offices Business Unit, Postal codes Customer Care, Franking machine unit. Had enough, as my job was going to somewhere like Basildon and i live near Peterborough!!lol
Must say most of the postmen are ok on my delivery and if a recorded comes they sign for it! as otherwise i have to drive 2 miles and wait till 4pm to collect it, and there is no where to park, so they are being helpful. ;) Karin
My postman actually rang my door bell and asked if he should sign for all my parcels for me so I didn't have to go to the sorting office 2 miles away. I said not and each time it happens I make a complaint but so far no one heads my cries. I stopped using my logo when things started to go missing. I've found there is no difference in service if I use Registered and most of the time I can't get proof of signature, ewven when I paid extra for it a whiloe back, for Special Delivery. Both Airsure and International Signed for are a waste of time for me and Paypal claims. With PP it's always been a case of 'you should have used the other one' which ever one I use. With International Signed For it's only tracked in the UK so of course any lost parcel is lost outside of the UK, or so they always tell me. Airsure is tracked to the door but no signature so if the customer says 'well, I never got it' then you are stuffed once again.
I would like to think it is not the case now but I worked in the benefit service for 25 years until 2000; the number of giros that were fraudulently cashed by postmen was amazing. Thing is they aren't too difficult to spot in the post if you are looking and in Dorset there seemed to be an awful lot of them looking. Not sure what else they pinched but birthday cash and uncrossed postal orders often seemed to go missing from envelopes. I'm certainly not saying that the post office is full of crooks (although I reserve judgement for those who work out which claims gets paid on) but our local sorting office back then kept our fraud teams very busy.
No one has folded my silver sheet in half yet but I expect one day they'll stamp on a postal tube of glass to make it flat enough to go through the letter box - and we have a redundant waste bin with lid next to the door clearly marked 'deliveries in here please' with corresponding note on door. No excuses really.
Thanks so much for sharing this info. I was told by a post office employee that the maximum compensation is 10 x cost of first class stamp, so now I think it's £41.
Quote from: Pegasus on October 04, 2010, 01:02:59 AM
Thanks so much for sharing this info. I was told by a post office employee that the maximum compensation is 10 x cost of first class stamp, so now I think it's £41.
Only if you produce proof of postage, else they ignore you completely. I print my own postage on-line for small things and unless you go to the PO and get a cert of posting they won't believe you posted - apparently we wcould be spending £1 on line to claim back up to £41. If I go with pre-paid mail to my post office they make a real song and dance about Post Offices closing and I should buy direct from them. Fair point but we don'ty all have 40 minutes spare time to stand behind an ebayer with 3 sacks (I kid not) of parcels. Probably jealousy on my part because I don't have enough sales to fill one sack per day let alone 3.
I've just had two parcels go missing, and got a proof of posting for each.
A 'customer service advisor' ( how's that for an oxymoron) offered me 6 first class stamps.
He got them back with a flea in his ear, and I'm waiting to hear back with a decent level of compensation.
Kirsty
Your too polite I'd have told him where to stick them!! ::)
I haven't had to claim too often from the PO. And when you think of how many packages I send out in a week, the number of claims is actualy miniscule.
But each one they have paid up without a murmur. That includes both overseas and UK orders and claims for my own handmade beads (which I made them reinburse my full selling price for) as well as retail supplies.
I am convinced that so long as you go in hard, with all the facts and paperwork and a covering letter making clear you know you are entitled to full compensation, they pay up as they know you won't be fobbed off.
But.... I equally bet they get a free toaster or something for all the claims the DO manage to fob off.
Of course, I am really lucky too - because my local post office is fantastic. It is also quite quiet, parking out front and it's usually me causing the queue ;D
Emma
Emma this is hugely helpful Thank you ::)
I think it helps to itemise in your covering letter exactly the amount you are expecting back, including the postage you paid out (although show that figure separately)
Any time I have had my own handmade stuff go missing (thankfully only twice) - I have printed out the product page, showing the selling price, from my website.
I also make very clear in my letter that I am the manufacturer of these beads and therefore, their selling price is their true wholesale cost, as it is the cheapest I can as the maker sell them for.
I include that with the claim form, certificate of posting / postage receipt, copy of the sales invoice etc.
So far, I have never had to wait more than about 3 weeks for the cheque to arrive.
They will always make it out to your business name if you include one on your paperwork though. So bear that in mind anyone who cannot accept cheques to their business name and adapt your paperwork accordingly!
These claim forms really don't take that long to fill in - especially if its just one item and you are the maker of it. So if they lose your stuff - do bother to hold them to account for it!
Emma
On a slightly different note - one of my fused glass pieces arrived at the customer's house in a number of pieces. Unfortunatley she threw the original packaging out. Without this (or a photograph) the PO wouldn't reimburse. Wasn't a happy bunny!
Quote from: faith on January 24, 2012, 07:39:15 PM
Sandera the PO would just say that the item wasnt packed well enough for a glass item - I had a lot of trouble claiming when I was posting eggs out for hatching - some packages arrived with egg dripping out of the boxes - and these boxes were inches thick polystyrene purpose made for posting eggs - they looked like they had been jumped on from a great height. I got my money refunded eventually - but with very bad grace.
Not all postal staff are bad - its just the few that ruin it and give the rest a very bad name.
I remember having a sinking feeling when I handed it to the guy behind the counter at the PO. The box was covered in FRAGILE tape. He took it then dropped it from waist height into the sack behind him. It didn't stand a chance but it was a lesson well learned as I now wrap at least 4 inches of bubblewrap around everything I post. There's so much bubble wrap that you can virtually bounce the package off the floor and it'll survive!!
I'm just updating this with a current link for the claim forms, having just trawled RMs site to find it cause they have updated and its moved
http://www.royalmail.com/customer-service/personal-customers/refunds-and-compensation/claims-process
the forms are at the bottom of the page
now I just have to figure out whether its been long enough yet...one place says 25 working days for international, another says 30 days
my customer is being lovely about it and I have already made a suitable replacement, but I dont see why RM shouldnt cough up!
Thanks Madeline - I've just had another one go missing!
Funny - it's only when I post from my local PO.....
Kirsty
Thank you Madeline I have just had one go missing and yes their website isn't the best
so this has helped no end
cheers Margaret xx
I printed out the form specifically in order that I wouldn't need it...parcel turned up a few days later ;D
Thanks for this. I have just had an international signed for parcel to Germany go missing. The tracking number says it was delivered on the 20th. Do I have any hope?
Same here, but mine was delivered in France on the 23rd. The second one to the same person that's gone awol - luckily it's a friend or I'd be getting suspicious by now. The second time I sent it cost me nearly £8 to send tracked - I'm getting utterly fed up with it.
Just in case anyone else needs it, the RM forms have moved again and it is now all done online. I've had a good run of deliveries, and now another international parcel has gone awol :( Previously I lost a lot if I just used PiP postage boxes so now I put the box in a A4/A5 jiffy envelope which reduced loss considerably.
The new form and process is http://www.royalmail.com/personal/help-and-support/claims-process-for-international-items
It won't let you fill in the form until 25 working days after expected date of delivery, in my case that will be 25th April (I phoned them to check), can't see my customer waiting anywhere near that amount of time! You will need all your evidence scanned and ready to attach (it says). My parcel went to the US and they cannot understand why we have to pay £5 on top for tracked mail, they pay pennies apparently. Doesn't help that it was a big order from the Facebook groups and I only charge flat postage, but not big enough, I thought, to warrant IT&S. B*mmer!
Quote from: Blue Box Studio on March 16, 2015, 09:12:59 AM
My parcel went to the US and they cannot understand why we have to pay £5 on top for tracked mail, they pay pennies apparently.
In my experience, US postage to UK is always higher than the other way around - maybe they pay pennies for domestic tracked, not international.
By the way when did you send it? We've had a couple of things take 2+ months recently - if your customer isn't prepared to wait, you might have to bite the bullet and refund but hope that they're honest enough to pay up again if/when it arrives...