Missing item

I have had my first sale go missing in the post. It was only a small make up bag at £6.50 so went normal large letter post…it has been 10 days since I posted it and the customer says she has not received it…
I have offered to make her another one or refund…not sure what else I can do really.
Now thinking I should send everything signed for…I was just sending items Over £10 signed for but I cannot afford this if it happens too often…

That’s a shame, really bad luck on your first sale, but it is - believe it or not - quite rare for packages to go missing completely. Did you get a certificate of posting? If so, you can claim for it after about 3 weeks have elapsed, if it hasn’t turned up by then. I don’t usually bother with signed for unless the item is worth more than the £20 compensation limit and is impossible to replace - it really isn’t worth it otherwise.

Fingers crossed it will still get there.

Edited - by the way, did you confirm the address was correct? It does happen…

That is really bad luck.
I send the majority of my sales first class and have only had to replace one in 5 years. Generally I have found Royal Mail to be really reliable.

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Sorry…it wasn’t my first sale, …just the first one to go missing.
No, I didn’t get a receipt, I just put it in my local post box, as I have many others with no problem.
I used the address on the Folksy sale slip, and it was the same as on the Paypal receipt…

Oh, sorry Kim, I misunderstood…but it’s still a shame anyway! Without a receipt there’s not much you can do except take the loss. If it’s the only time out of all your sales, I suppose that’s not bad. Maybe add a bit to each sale in future to cover any losses?

That is a shame. Must admit I send everything sign for as iv had things go missing and iv had people try it on that they haven’t received items.(different site)

Definitely if you have the receipt take it up with the post office.
They do try and find out what has happened and you will get compensation too. They are very good.
Hope you get it sorted

And I think you have been very good to the buyer offering to replace it.

Thanks everyone…I feel I have to give the customer the benefit of the doubt as I want to give a good service. She hasn’t replied yet so I don’t know if she wants a replacement or a refund.
In future I think I will send all items over £5 signed for.

Kim
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I think I’d be inclined to carry on as you were with the lower priced items, unless you are upping the postage that the customer pays, otherwise you’ll be losing out and there may not be a cause for you to even use signed for. If you started getting a lot of people saying things weren’t turning up then it might be worth your while changing, but if you’ve sent loads in the past without any problems, you’ll probably find this was a one off. I agree with Deborah, Royal Mail are generally very good, and I’ve been sending my items with them for nearly 4 years now and can still count ‘problems’ (all breakages) easily on one hand, without using my thumb, little or index fingers :wink:

Jo

Thank you…yes, I was going to up the postage price to cover the extra, but items under £5 I would still send ordinary post unless I get more problems as it would seems silly to charge £2 postage on a £2-£3 item.
Luckily I have still got some of the fabric to make another make up bag if that’s what she wants, but that isn’t always the case. I often use small amounts of fabric left from a bigger project for this type of item.

I’ve gone back to 2rd class signed for after one package going missing in December.

I’ve got the claim form I need to fill in so I might just get the monies returned as I’ve refunded my customer.

You do need to make sure you keep your proof of posting etc to make a claim with royal mail. You should be covered up to the £20 mark for normal post.

The item has to be undelivered for over 14 days before Royal Mail class it as lost in transit. So no point asking for the claim form before that time.

All the best.

Sorry to hear you’ve had a parcel go missing. It’s something I always dread. As soon as the post office take the parcel from me I feel a tad uneasy as I know it’s now out of my control to get that item delivered safely.
I’m touching wood now literally as I type this but, everything’s arrived safely and in good time so far. I always send first class unsigned unless over £20, and I always ask for the proof of postage.

Your parcel may find its way eventually, buts it’s good customer service your offering with a replacement or refund :smile:

Karen

Thanks Eileen…unfortunately I just popped mine in the post box so no receipt. I was working extra hours and couldn’t get to the post office for a few days so took a risk…won’t do that again!

My customer has just emailed me and would like a replacement make up bag, not a refund, so I know what I am doing tomorrow!

I hope you get yours sorted out ok.

Kim
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I think for lower priced items, just do as you’ve been doing. I send out all mine as Signed For but I know I’m often paying for a service I don’t receive. I know from my personal experience when I’m receiving packages, if my postman can put it directly through the letterbox he does so, without knocking. I called him back one day and asked him - he said he didn’t have time to wait for a signature! The postmen are pushed for time as they also have to deliver “junk” mail that the Royal Mail is paid to deliver too, consequently, they don’t always do what you’ve paid them to do - depends on the postman who delivers. Total pot luck. And yes, I’ve had a few items go missing over the last few years.

Silvana

I have lost 3 cards over the past year which were sent by Royal Mail first class. On an item costing £2.50 I can’t justify sending them signed for so I just had to take the hit and supply them again. However, because of this as I was sending my niece a very nice handbag for her birthday recently I paid the extra and sent it signed for. She told me that the postman had left it on her doorstep all day as there was nobody at home. You can’t win!!!

Jeanie

i send everything normal first class, and crossing fingers i’ve only had 1 item go missing since i started selling.
like you @KBCreations it was one of those times i was busy and just put it in the local box. lesson learned - it’s a pain sometimes, but i make the trip to the actual post office every time now (ours is open until 7 most nights so i go in the evenings now and there’s rarely a queue :slight_smile: )

in that case, i remade and replaced the item - sending it signed for - and told the customer to keep the original one if it ever showed up.

It’s such a shame when things go missing. But the weather has been awful lately and could be the cause of delays. I had one item go missing a few years ago, it was such a shame as it was antique embroidery but it didn’t turn up. As the item was low value it didn’t bother me and I refunded the buyer, but it’s the fact that an old item has gone missing that bothered me.

Just as an example of how long things take. My sister posted me a card first class on Monday from Sheffield to me in Leicestershire, I got it on the following Saturday. I posted an item on a Monday to an address in Scotland, where the post had to go by boat for the final journey across to the final destination and it was received on the Wednesday. Marg. x

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My first missing parcel was a high value item just after the post office changed the compensation threshold for 1st class down to £20. I’ll never forget how sick I felt, and that I would have to give the customer a replacement for free and take the loss myself. Since then I get proof of posting for everything, and use “signed for” on everything over £20, because I am not going to be held responsible for the vagaries of the postal service.

As it happens, the parcel had been taken in by a neighbour, and wasn’t lost at all :slight_smile:

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I have made the replacement and will send it tomorrow…signed for this time.

Thank you everyone for your input, it has been useful to hear the experiences of others…
From now on I will send everything over £5 signed for and under £5 normal post, but at the post office with proof of posting. I will have to put up with the long queues! No more just popping it in the nearby post box…

Definitely agree that delays can be caused by bad weather and not even just for the obvious reasons.

I’ve been covering some shifts the past couple of weeks that mean walking past my local post box at the same time that the postie should be emptying the box but because the weather was bad he was just jumping out of the van, quickly scanning the code inside the box door and diving back into the van. He doesn’t even bother to graba bag or aanything out of the van so he obviously has no intention of emptying it, he just wants to tick it off his list and be on his way again:(

I never send anything signed for and I never go to the PO, just use PayPal and pop the parcel in the post box. I have sold 2640 items here on Folksy and have not lost a single one, so am quite pleased with the Royal Mail. I’m with you, Silvana, though - I get so annoyed when my postie just puts a signed for parcel through the door, and as I work evenings, I’m usually around during the day. I could so easily say I had not received the item and the poor person who sold it to me would have no redress - GGGRRRRR!!

Liz
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