Package arrived late due to Royal Mail strike
Hi, the customer ordered an item on the afternoon of Monday 26th September and I mailed it 1st class on Tuesday 27th. The customer had an estimated delivery date of 29th/30th September. Unfortunately Royal Mail had strikes on the 30th September and 1st October so the item has not yet been received. Do I have to issue a full refund although it is the strike action which has caused the delay? Thank you.
0 replies
Seller_SITNVuZK87zGK
You could ask if they can kindly wait a few days. However the risk is they can open an A to Z claim which would be granted. So if you feel that your metrics can’t take that, I’d refund.
If you haven’t yet, you should extend your handling and shipping times for the next strikes.
Seller_7VbclcPFFRTnc
With all the other looming strikes I’d extend handling and shipping times too
Seller_DROodOAYHftnc
I would not refund straight away - most customers will be reasonable and understanding.
I would message them, apologise for the delay, but explain that due to the RM strikes the delay is totally outwith your control, and due to the backlog that will have built up there is a delay in ALL mail.
Ask that they wait for a few more days, to let you know when it does arrive, and if not, say, within a week, then you will issue a refund.
Oops, I’ve just seen your comment about it being personalised and required for a specific date - I was typing when you posted that - so yes, you will need to refund !
Why do people leave it so late to buy personalised items ! - and there has been a lot of prior warning of the strikes - some folks don’t think to put 2 and 2 together !
Seller_3di7P6gi1JyqG
Yes or they will go A-Z which you will lose if it has no tracking on it, best to refund continue and forget about it
Seller_r60kUo54bXBvb
Happy (and amazed) to say - I had a negative feedback for a 1 day late RM parcel due to the strike - i opened a case to SC, and within 20 minutes, they REMOVED THE FEEDBACK!!!
Going to buy a lottery ticket!
Seller_O6hhTbnfUhEjW
Just out of interest, what handling and shipping times are you working to given the upcoming strike action in October and the 3 days of gridlock each week planned for November?
Seller_zLn3YOkGOaTxU
Was the shipping printed on a label or stamps? If if so you should still get the 12 digit number that you can use to confirm delivery
Seller_bdSdLjti4IugQ
We had a few after the last strike dates. I simply advised people there were strikes and as a result their items might take longer then usual to arrive and if they haven’t arrived by the end of the week (i.e in like 3 to 5 more days) to get back in touch. Not much more you can do other then giving out quick refunds… Think what November’s going to be like with a strike pretty much every other day.
Seller_yE7wQLht2Ut2g
Same happened to me customer sent an e-mail after it was dispatched saying it had be be here for a birthday I told them straight up that due to the strikes it would be very unlikely to arrive in time and if it was late to simply refuse delivery and I would refund in full which of course they ignored and put in a a-z claim which was granted the next day the goods arrived appeal denied saying the item arrived after delivery estimate. So now the customer has free goods and I get punished with the theft of my goods and the defect on my account which costs us sales.
I cannot wait to walk away from this site for good one foot is already out the door.
Seller_3sA3mMDSBeAxr
We’ve had a couple of cases recently in which customers have informed us that their parcel is late, we politely explain (depending on the delay/circumstances) that it could well be down to the recent Strikes and Bank Holidays, the majority of our customers seem happy to wait a few more days which is great, as sometimes that’s all we need for the parcel to then turn up.
What frustrates me is that when we contact the customers on this basis, we ask for them to contact us back on a certain date if the parcel HASN’T been delivered, but from time to time we get a few that respond saying that they’re happy to wait a few more days and will come back to us, never do and then put through an A-Z without any further contact.
We then lose this as it hasn’t been delivered (quite understandable) but you then think to yourself why bother with the hassle and just refund straight up if it’s late, a very difficult situation and of-course different for everyone depending on the value of goods supplied.
I did however have an A-Z recently that was filed, originally given in the customers favour, refunded and a defect given to us, we claimed that it was late/not delivered due to the strike days, Amazon looked at the appeal and whilst the refund was still funded by us which again is understandable they did remove the defect which was good to know. 
