Parcel sent back to sender by Royal Mail, approaching 45 days, what to do now?

chicinthecity777

chicinthecity777

O.G.
Mar 26, 2009
19,147
25,489
#1
Hi dear fellow ebayers, as I posted in another thread, I paid for my eBay win on 29th Nov. The seller is in the US. He sent promptly and provided a tracking ref. Then it got held at UK customs, I paid the customs fee on 13 Dec. the parcel wasn't delivered still. I then received an email from RM on 3rd Jan telling me they couldn't locate the parcel therefore declared it to be lost. I called their customer service trying to search for it. Then yesterday, they said the parcel is being sent back to sender. No explanation why, no attempted delivery, no "you are not in" card in my mail box and nothing can stop it now. So I contacted the seller and said I wanted a refund. He said he would send the parcel again after he receives it back. He will claim his original postage back. The problem is this has been to long after the payment and I am not sure he can receive the parcel back by the 45 days from payment. If I don't file a non-receipt, I would be totally relying on his honesty to send it again. He does want me to file. Should I trust him? He has 100% feedback with 600+ transactions. Thank you all for your thoughts! So angry with RM right now.
 
#2
I would file INR just in case. Better safe than sorry.

RM doesn't always leave cards but I've never received a 'your parcel is lost' email from them before, I usually have to chase it up myself when they lose something. Very odd.
 
#4
I would work with the seller, it seems like they are willing to work with you as well. Maybe you can suggest that the seller refund your original payment for now. When they receive the package back, they can re-invoice you for it and resend. This will restart your 45 day time frame for protection. If the seller hesitates, I would explain the situation from your point of view and that you need to protect yourself. Seems like there has been nothing but problems with this delivery and until the seller gets the package back in his hands, who’s to say what could happen, meanwhile your 45 days are ticking down. If the seller refuses to refund, I would file the case with paypal. I would try to work with the seller first before you do this but if they are not going to cooperate, you need to protect yourself first.
 
#5
Hi Xiangxiang :wave:
This is interesting because i had a similar situation in December.

I bought an item from a seller in the US, they posted it, with tracking details and it arrived in the UK within 7 days - brilliant !

When i next checked the tracking info it told me the parcel had cleared customs, there was duty to pay and that they were "contacting addressee" - me !

However, no card arrived to inform me of this so i waited patiently - it being the Christmas month etc. I went into my local PO to enquire - they knew nothing !
I waited 3.5 weeks and still nothing (the seller and i were in constant contact throughout though).

She then checked tracking from her end just incase any additional info was available and ...... the item had been sent to a PO way out of this area and ...... given a second tracking number .... wtf ???????

She is a very experienced seller and had never heard of this happening before, once she gave me the phone number and the 2nd tracking number i was able to chase it again ..... all in all very poor service from Parcelforce.
To this day i've still not received that card informing me that the parcel is a) out of the area or b) waiting to be paid and then sent on.
This parcel could well have been returned if she hadn't found out the 2nd tracking number.

At the same time a 2nd parcel was coming from a different US seller, i tracked it all, had a card sent, paid the duty online, and it arrived 2 days later !
That was with Royal Mail.
 
#6
I think SADIESTHEGIRL is right, explain the situation to the seller and politely ask them to refund, stating you will repay when the item is returned to them. If they don't then I think I would file a claim.

The item may get lost on its way back to the seller given all the issues so far so I think it would be safer for you to be refunded for the time being. Make sure you apply for your customs charges refund too.
 
#7
fancypants7 said:
I would file INR just in case. Better safe than sorry.

RM doesn't always leave cards but I've never received a 'your parcel is lost' email from them before, I usually have to chase it up myself when they lose something. Very odd.
Click to expand...

I have always received "you are out" card in the past until this one. The whole thing is a total mess.
 
#8
sadiesthegirl said:
I would work with the seller, it seems like they are willing to work with you as well. Maybe you can suggest that the seller refund your original payment for now. When they receive the package back, they can re-invoice you for it and resend. This will restart your 45 day time frame for protection. If the seller hesitates, I would explain the situation from your point of view and that you need to protect yourself. Seems like there has been nothing but problems with this delivery and until the seller gets the package back in his hands, who’s to say what could happen, meanwhile your 45 days are ticking down. If the seller refuses to refund, I would file the case with paypal. I would try to work with the seller first before you do this but if they are not going to cooperate, you need to protect yourself first.
Click to expand...

Thank you sadiesthegirl! I think your suggestion is a very sensible one. Will suggest this to him first. And file as a last resort.
 
#9
Millicat said:
Hi Xiangxiang :wave:
This is interesting because i had a similar situation in December.

I bought an item from a seller in the US, they posted it, with tracking details and it arrived in the UK within 7 days - brilliant !

When i next checked the tracking info it told me the parcel had cleared customs, there was duty to pay and that they were "contacting addressee" - me !

However, no card arrived to inform me of this so i waited patiently - it being the Christmas month etc. I went into my local PO to enquire - they knew nothing !
I waited 3.5 weeks and still nothing (the seller and i were in constant contact throughout though).

She then checked tracking from her end just incase any additional info was available and ...... the item had been sent to a PO way out of this area and ...... given a second tracking number .... wtf ???????

She is a very experienced seller and had never heard of this happening before, once she gave me the phone number and the 2nd tracking number i was able to chase it again ..... all in all very poor service from Parcelforce.
To this day i've still not received that card informing me that the parcel is a) out of the area or b) waiting to be paid and then sent on.
This parcel could well have been returned if she hadn't found out the 2nd tracking number.

At the same time a 2nd parcel was coming from a different US seller, i tracked it all, had a card sent, paid the duty online, and it arrived 2 days later !
That was with Royal Mail.
Click to expand...

Hi Millicat :wave:! I am sorry to hear your story of delay too! The holiday season really has messed up with the deliveries. Yes they do this weird thing that they add their own tracking number when the item enters the UK. I had absolute nightmare in the past with Parcel Force to now I refuse to use them. But this one was handled by RM. Totally disorganised, miscommunicated and useless! I hope your parcel arrives too!
 
#10
vernis-lover said:
I think SADIESTHEGIRL is right, explain the situation to the seller and politely ask them to refund, stating you will repay when the item is returned to them. If they don't then I think I would file a claim.

The item may get lost on its way back to the seller given all the issues so far so I think it would be safer for you to be refunded for the time being. Make sure you apply for your customs charges refund too.
Click to expand...

Thank you vernis-lover! Everything you said is super sensible. I will definitely explain this all to him. And the nightmare having to get the customs charges back as well. I do actually feel like give up on this one because I am not sure I want to go through all those again when seller re-send the package. Let me think about it.
 
#12
fancypants7 said:
They sometimes 'forget' to leave the 'sorry you were out' card. It's happened to me a few times.

I hope this whole thing gets sorted soon and you're able to get the customs charges back.
Click to expand...

How convenient for them to "forget" things like that, isn't it? They are just bunch of incompetent morons! I bet they won’t forget a thing if it was their own parcel.
 
#13
xiangxiang0731 said:
How convenient for them to "forget" things like that, isn't it? They are just bunch of incompetent morons! I bet they won’t forget a thing if it was their own parcel.
Click to expand...

That seems a little harsh to me in all fairness. Our post-person is absolutely fantastic and I, personally, always receive the 'while you were out cards'.

Mistakes happen. We're all human.
 
#14
vernis-lover said:
That seems a little harsh to me in all fairness. Our post-person is absolutely fantastic and I, personally, always receive the 'while you were out cards'.

Mistakes happen. We're all human.
Click to expand...

No, I don't think it's harsh. In this case, it's not just some easy mistakes. It's complete failure of process and procedures. No proper communications have been in place. And the worst is their attitude, they just didn't care. One rep answered my call started to shout at me first without even allowing me to finish my sentence! You may be lucky with your mail persons but I am not. I had other people's mail sitting in my inbox during the entire holiday season only because their address starts with the same number as mine, but completely different street. And i was away so didn't see it until after the new year. I don't mean all of them are bad. But I am saying the persons who handled my parcel are imcompetent.
 
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#15
xiangxiang0731 said:
No, I don't think it's harsh. In this case, it's not just some easy mistakes. It's complete failure of process and procedures. No proper communications have been in place. And the worst is their attitude, they just didn't care. One rep answered my call started to shout at me first without even allowing me to finish my sentence! You may be lucky with your mail persons but I am not. I had other people's mail sitting in my inbox during the entire holiday season only because their address starts with the same number as mine, but completely different street. And i was away so didn't see it until after the new year. I don't mean all of them are bad. But I am saying the persons who handled my parcel are imcompetent.
Click to expand...

Rather a sweeping statement but never mind. Your opinion. You catch more flies with honey than with vinegar as the saying goes.

Anyway, hope you get sorted with the seller.
 
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