No, I’m not done with Screw Yous!
It’s out old favourite up now, Royal Mail.
Royal Mail, generally, go a good job. In fact, until recently a lot parcel was rare but in the last few months, I’ve been getting more post, and the ratio of ‘lost stuff’ has gone soaring up the roof.
Press samples, inevitably, go walkies – sometimes I let it go, sometimes if it something I have been dying to test I have to send the “Did you send it? Can you resend it?” email which always sounds a bit dubious, especially if previous mail has also disappeared without a trace.
I wonder sometimes if someone can spot if there are some goodies in a parcel. When a parcel isn’t recorded, it’s not difficult to help yourself to it.
Anyway, here is my moan. International Parcels and the lack of accountability for these especially when they are untrackable.
I have a natural clock which knows when a parcel should arrive – roughly. I know what when it goes past a certain period that chances are it will never show.
In the last few months I have had several parcels, international, unrecorded items go missing. I think that’s a pretty high number for one person (even if I do get a lot of post!).
These were orders from eBay sellers who have great feedback, who I have bought from before and have no reason to not send the items. So where the hell do these things end up? Purgutory?!
I also apologise to my twitter followers who have had to listen to me moan about the loss of a parcel, which contains a Cle De Peau lipstick and Anna Sui eyeshadow – both expensive, both one offs (the seller has no more and trust me, both are hard to locate). I really agonised over spending so much over one lipstick before ordering it too…
Am particularly sore about that one because it’s recorded, has a tracking number and yet Royal Mail will not/can not trace it.
Their response to my parcel is, just ask the sender in Hong Kong to claim for it and they will give you the money back.
My response is, why can’t you even try to trace the whereabouts of this parcel if it arrived in the UK?
Their response is, but the system of claiming from the sender is internationally recognised and we will do the same for other countries.
My response is, you are missing my point. I understand that the seller is the one who should make the claim, the seller is the one who will eventually reimburse me but I am not talking about the money. I am saying that if a recorded parcel reaches the UK why is there no accountability of Royal Mail’s side?
I am not asking Royal Mail for money I am asking them to look into why a traceable piece of post has disappeared into thin air and yet no one will be investigated or held up about it.
What is there to stop someone constantly stealing post if they know they will never be investigated?
Because (as I have found) all that happens is the person who is expecting post claims from the sender, miles and miles away and the money is refunded and RM are never held up over it.
Ask Royal Mail about any missing parcel and it’s always, wait 14 days or longer for international parcels then you can fill in a claim form. Nothing irritates me more than this! Because most of the time it isn’t about the compensation, it’s just wanting to get the item safely in the post!
Because some things really don’t have a ‘value’ as such – old photographs, irreplaceable one offs; I feel sorry for people who never get what they were waiting for.
I am aware that Royal Mail deal with a lot of post every single day. I am not saying that I won’t occasionally have a lost parcel, but I think I have a unnaturally high number of missing mail but I am getting the brush off.
Anyhoo – I am now working with the seller to try and trace the whereabouts of the Cle De Peau parcel and I am monitoring all missing post with a beady eye. I will continue to complain to Royal Mail where I see fit – jesus, people like me keep them busy!
If you are out there right now, smearing your face in a pretty pink lipstick you’ve nicked from someone else’s post than I curse you, I curse you with a life time of Collection 2000 frosty pink lipsticks and premature crows feet.
{ 9 comments… read them below or add one }
I just had a recorded international parcel gotten lost on its way to London. And I am still waiting for two unregistered parcels from GB to EU (over a week now). Unless the weak link in the chain is female, your rare Japanese items might show up on eBay UK sooner or later. If Royal Mail don’t investigate, maybe filing a report for theft against Unknown to the police could send things in motion. Anyhow, good luck for your investigations!
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OMG that´s pure horror! I don´t know what´s up with the Royal Mail but I sent quite a few packages there and there is always something getting lost from time to time! Also the delivery times from the UK to Austria are dreadfully slow, like 2 weeks is normal for Airmail! I swear even the Egyptian Post is more reliable (have quite good experience with them even though they are generally feared to be a sucky mail service) =P
I sent something to the Uk once and it was registered and it didn´t turn up so I went to our PO here in Austria to trace it and they found it got lost somewhere around London and they fully reimbursed me. The buyer in the Uk surely couldn´t track it in her own place!
The thing is that in my opinion the HK Post, Japan Post, Singapore Post etc. and also our Austrian Post are toally reliable. In the past 6 years of ordering from Asia (and i bet I received well over 700 packages) I haven´t lost a single package and only one came with a broken item because the seller didn´t wrap it well. Whenever I am waiting for a package longer than usual I tell myself that at some point something MUST get lost but so far I am really lucky *knocks on wood*.
I hope your stuff will eventually turn up though! I once thought an Adambeauty order got lost as it didn´t show up for over 4 weeks but then it came finally and a big airmail parcel from the USA was stuck in customs for over 3 months and I didn´t have any idea where it went but it was eventually delivered =)
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I have had a couple of parcels go missing this year. In both cases the sellers kindly sent me replacements. However the sellers contacted me later to say the original parcels had been returned to them. One after about 6 weeks and the other after 3 months. Both were marked “returned to sender – incomplete address” when they were both addressed clearly and the same as the parcels I received!
My theory is that they have started returning a ton of parcels at the point of entry to the UK because they can’t be arsed/don’t have enough staff to deal with the volume to meet their targets/quotas.
I have never had a problem until this year. Never had a parcel go missing before this.
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Well, now I feel like a prat; I’ve NEVER lost a single item in the post. Whether it be from HK, the UK, Korea etc I’ve not lost a single one. And I always go with the cheapest untrackable postage and always have a high influx of mail. Maybe Australian post isn’t too bad idk. That does suck about the Jill Stuart though, so hopefully it’ll turn up!
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I did a swap with a friend from the states months agao. And never received the parcel. Unfortunatly she had lost the receipt so couldnt chase it up
I got the first one she sent fine,only thing was i had to pay custom charges first.
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Well…the other half works at our local airport where all the royal mail, TNT all parcels coming into Northern Ireland, not him as his conscience couldn’t deal with it (maybe it’s a Chinese thing ;P lol) but ones he works with regularly steal things from the post – I mean money, our and foreign currency, iPhones, role watches…anything that comes through the post! Maybe an airport worker is walking around with that bootiful anna sui eyeshadow on
cus your lipstick came didn’t it? Hope it comes 
xx
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Hi Kassandra
Yeah the Chinese conscience!!!! LOL. OMG there’s so many high value things sent these days – it doesn’t take a genius to work out an envelope from say, Vodafone may contain an iphone with £780 resale value – nightmare. People can’t be trusted!!!!!
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Like you all im just so SICK and piddled off with missing items in the post- latest is now, son not received his parcel of chrissie pressies, he couldnt get down to Cornwall for Christmas i sent his pressies up there- nothing arrived, but we got his o.k. Last year middle son didnt get his 30th card or pressie from us down here.Son in highlands again-never received a birthday pressie last year either-Some Ba….. of a postie needs to be caught ,and like some of the above writers, the post office say it has to be three weeks before i can claim I DONT WANT TO CLAIM, I WANT PEOPLE TO RECEIVE THEIR MAIL,when i send it. Never used to happen so who are they employing in the sorting offices now? THIEVES thats who.Got that off my chest!!
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Ahhh shame! I have such mixed fortunes with post!
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