RoyalMail - Not honoring guarantee!

[TheBlueRaja]

Hi All,
I sent a parcel by Royal Mail special delivery two days ago, i had a tracking number and it says on the receipt that it was guaranteed by 1pm the following day, it also states "Moneyback Guarantee for delay".

Well, come 1pm yesterday it still had not arrived, in fact its going out today apparently according to Royal Mail.

The thing is they wont pay compensation, they say there was a fire in a warehouse accross the road from their delivery centre and they couldnt get access to the delivery centre as the police would not let them in.

They also say that as this was out of the control of the Royal Mail they are not responsible and therefore they wont pay up.

Am i being fleeced here?

EDIT: According to the Royal Mail Website

Special Delivery Next Day™

99% of all Special Delivery Next Day packages arrive by 1pm or earlier, but if yours doesn’t, the information below will tell you how we can help.

Has the 1pm deadline been reached?
If not, hold tight, it’s almost certainly on its way.

Was your Special Delivery Next Day item delivered after the 1pm deadline had passed?
If so, we’re very sorry and we’ll refund whatever you paid for Special Delivery. An additional payment of £5 will be payable if the item was delivered more than 24 hours (one working day) after the guaranteed time of delivery or, £10 will be payable and your fee refunded if the item was delivered seven or more working days after the guaranteed time.

What happens if your mail gets lost?
In the unlikely event that your mail gets lost, we'll refund the actual loss, up to a maximum value of the service used (£500, £1,000 or £2,500) or up to the market value whichever is the smaller amount. Please apply for this within 12 months.

If you’d like to claim for late or lost Special Delivery mail, you can do so here

Please note that Special Delivery items are not guaranteed for delivery on Saturdays or Sundays.

[Paul]

No, unfortunately act of god is the golden ticket for many companies to get out of compensation payments Ask for proof of the fire and the impact on them accessing the property

[danielf]

It depends. Read the fine print of the 'money back guarantee'. If it says it doesn't apply for circumstances beyond their control (which does appear to be the case here), they would be within their rights.

[TheBlueRaja]

This really gets on my goat as this is the second time something like this has happened, the first time i had goods damaged and they claimed they were inproperly packed which was rubbish.

Their guarantees are worthless.

EDIT: Just noticed on that page i posted it states this:-

where the event giving rise to the claim was caused by circumstances outside Royal Mail’s control, including exceptionally severe weather conditions, acts of terrorism and vandalism and acts of third parties with whom Royal Mail has no contractual relationship

Im going to ask for proof just to **** them off.

[foreverwar]

There is nothing on their web-site about "acts of god"


We guarantee we’ll deliver your Special Delivery Next Day item to the given address before 1.00pm the next working day and we’ll refund your money if we don’t deliver it in time.
http://www.royalmail.com/portal/rm/c...00557#13300254
It says
"This guarantee does not apply if:

• we were unable to deliver the item because we could not find someone to sign for your item and have to leave a “sorry, you were outâ€Â� card at the address
• the delivery address is in part of the small area of the UK we do guarantee next day delivery – learn more about where we deliver

Our working days are Monday to Friday and do not include Saturdays, Sundays, bank holidays or public holidays."

Here is the link for applying for compensation (in case you don't already have it) - it must be done within 14 days.
http://www.royalmail.com/portal/rm/c...authentication

[TheBlueRaja]

Just been on the phone again, got somebody else, who said "Yes, it has been delayed, this was because it didnt leave the Glasgow office until late last night - if you wait until its been delivered we can give you compensation on that" then appologised.

So the first guy was a lying swine!

[bopdude]

Make another 5 calls and you'll probably get another 5 different answers, keep on at them, they have to be held accountable somewhere along the line, you could also ring the police station in question to see if a) there was a fire and b) if they were stopping access to the mail office.
HTH

[etccarmageddon]

complain to the post office ombudsman.

[Skatoony]

Originally Posted by TheBlueRaja

So the first guy was a lying swine!

I knew Royal Mail was low, but not THAT low

[NitroNutter]

Check the exclusions for claims, bound to be some, allways is.

[nffc]

Originally Posted by Paul

No, unfortunately act of god is the golden ticket for many companies to get out of compensation payments Ask for proof of the fire and the impact on them accessing the property

Ah but then they have to prove God caused the fire, which then goes into the bounds of PC because then they'd need to prove God existed before they prove it was God that caused the fire.

And after all the hours of research they may as well reimburse TBR his few quid cos it will be a lot cheaper.

[Angua]

As we have a strike locally it is pot luck when we get any post at all!

[NitroNutter]

Originally Posted by nffc

Ah but then they have to prove God caused the fire, which then goes into the bounds of PC because then they'd need to prove God existed before they prove it was God that caused the fire. And after all the hours of research they may as well reimburse TBR his few quid cos it will be a lot cheaper.

That really depends on where the burden of proof was to lay, they can easily say the fire was beyond our control, and so are the police, and add to it if they really felt like it that the fire was an act of god just to top off the covering of their backs.

Now its to the claimee surely to prove otherwise in all counts. G/L and no I dont support the PO. I know first hand they will do and say anything to get out of paying a claim, but then thats life and most would do the same. One of the last vehicles you ever wish to hit yours would be a PO vehicle, they self insure and will take advantage of anything to avoid a payout.