Parcel didn't arrive even though clearly signed for
Prior to sending out an order, the buyer asked for the tracking information. I sent that to him so he knew when the item would be arriving, to be signed for Royal Mail. He claimed it had not arrived and when I tracked the item, it had clearly been delivered and signed for by the named person on the order. He continued to claim he hadn’t received it but in view of the overwhelming evidence to the contrary, I stuck to my guns and said we could take it no further and the next best course of action was for him to establish what had happened at his end (i.e. ask the postman who had signed for it as a starter). It didn’t seem to occur to him to try and establish what had happened which I took to mean, rightly or wrongly, that he knew exactly what had happened. The item was something in great demand and currently in short (or zero) supply. What would be the point of recording parcels if you then ignore the clear evidence of delivery?
15 replies
Seller_UEGRNAJRxqvx3
You can ask Royal Mail for form which should be called Denial of Receipt or somewhat similar. Your buyer must fill it and send you photo of it back, which will mean that they understand there might be an investigation going regarding this particular order and police might be involved (in most cases it won’t, do not worry). So, when you will send it back to Royal Mail, they will refund you money and you can send replacement item to your customer.
But you should do it straight away. We had to do this few times with Hermes, and if I remember right, then you should claim this in next 8 days after delivery date. So, check with Royal Mail this and let your customer know what are your next steps. Also say to them, that if RM will confirm that there was mistake from their side and order was not delivered, then you will send a replacement.
Also you can just stick to what you have done before - “tracking number confirms delivery, can’t help it”. Maybe try to ask Amazon for help, some buyers are trying to scam in this way to get one more item for free.
Hope it helps.
Seller_xUKHc5xSYJmI4
If you let Royal Mail know they will be able to establish whether the order was delivered at the address.
- The GPS on the handheld terminal will detect the time and location the order was delivered.
- Royal Mail may also see if there has been any previous deliveries at the address where a signature had been obtained and compare signatures.
- The delivery office will know which postal worker was delivering in the area at the time if the signature was forged.
- If the order was delivered to the wrong address this will be also picked up.
- Usually the postal worker always ask the name of the recipient before typing the name on the handheld terminal.
- Raise the claim online let the Royal Mail investigate. They have security teams around the UK who look at these sorts of issues.
The only people who can give you definite answers is Royal Mail.
Make sure the claim is recorded before the A-Z claim is raised, this way you cannot be accused of breaching the A-Z policy for taking the matter up with the customer.
Seller_TyVE1SPEF5vHF
These type of issues are a pain, as sellers we often get them and to be fair a couple of years ago a complaint revealed that two complaints were where the delivery drivers had signed for the parcels!
Another delivery issue I was supplied two completely different signatures for the same address!
I feel the hand held units should have a photo option so when a delivery is made you will have a signature and a photo of who signed for the delivery.
Seller_hb4AG4jVAz5CP
And get the buyer to open a dispute. I find most people disappear never to be heard of again as soon as I ask them to open a dispute. 
Seller_IIN3x1w8KT2PI
I think full 'recorded/ insured delivery is the only format that has legal force, If it’s Royal Mail internal tracking as with PPI 24/48 service it’s just an error/ malpractice indicator to Royal Mail and their customers that something is amiss.
