So, what problems have we all had with Royal mail this last year?

I have had a couple of items get lost. Funily enough, they were both due to be arriving at about the same time. Luckily though, the suppliers could easily send another one. One of those items was Tetris for the BBC, which while the supplier had several in stock, they were obviously not being made any more.

They also seem to have lost £11 which someone was sending me. I think that was all they lost.
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[rant on]

The biggest issues were definitely caused because of the strikes. Making the service very slow and delaying peoples post for long periods of time due to the backlogs caused. I don't think the strikes really achieved much, as those for the strikes were completely influenced by the union, making them focused just on their own gains, as though they all had tunnel vision. I argued with many I work with but could not make them see sense. All the were focused on was getting more money in their wages and their pensions. I could not make them see that things had to change in order for the company to remain in profit and for them to still have a job in a few years time. They just could not see that logic at all and it made me very mad.

[/rant off]

Anyway, now that is off my chest. I don't think anything I was expecting actually got lost last year, but many items were very slow to arrive. These all seemed to be things I posted for my girlfriend though. I sent some boots back to the maker for her and they took a long time to get there. And some important documents took over a month to arrive at their destination!

I must say that over Christmas everything I was expecting arrived perfectly. I bought quite a few things on ebay and they all arrived quickly.

I'm never sure why so many things go missing and never arrive though. I mean, where could they all be? Some do get stolen, and obviously if the address label falls off of something and it has no return address then that item is lost for good. Such items get sent to an incinerator in Northern Ireland after 6 months if not claimed, or get auctions off. But this can't account for the millions that go missing each year!
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I buy lots of things from UK from Ebay. Many came thru royal mail to Portugal, and after thru my local mail ("CTT"), i only had one problem since i start using ebay.
In October i bought one swatch that didnt arrive. I talked wit paypal and they force the seller to give me back the money.
But usually it works fine, 5-7 days and it's here in PT
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I don't like paypal's policy of forcing the seller to give back the money for items that don't arrive. Especially when the buyer has chosen not to pay for postal insurance. In this case it is their fault for not insuring the item.

This happened to my girlfriend a while back. She sold a Nokia phone on ebay for £50 and the buyer was very rude and pushy demanding the phone be posted to him within minutes of the auction ending. So she rushed to the post office on Saturday just before it closed and posted the item, without insurance. But the buyer then claimed the item never arrived and paypal forced her to give the £50 back to him. We are sure he got the item, as from his emails he was very rude and didn't sound trustworthy at all. For this reason I demand recorded delivery on all items I now sell on ebay to ensure they are tracked and I can prove they were posted.
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Whenever i sell anything i always use recorded delivery as for this someone has to sign for it and there is limited insurance as part of it. Most the times the postie adheres to the signing policy but not always. Besides it's always good to have the ability to tell when someone is trying to pull a fast one. Many have tried with me but all have failed. The extra 70p on postage is worth it when selling.
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I try and use recorded delivery whever possible, but sometimes the item isn't worth much, and it is easier to just stick a stamp on and put it in the post box.

As for PayPal, I would never get them to force the seller to give back the money, unless I was convinced that the seller never posted it. I tend to trust most sellers (and buyers).

On the good side of things, my Special delvery driving license application arrived before 1 o'clock today as it should have done, so I am very happy with that.
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Twice I've had a Paypal transaction 'bounce' after sending the item. Both without Paypal responding to my email I sent them. It's the one thing I don't like - I pay huge fees so I get zero protection when the other person is unreasonable. Luckily in both cases, the printout of the email claiming it hasn't been received by the buyer and the proof of posting have been enough for the RM to reimburse me without having used recorded delivery.
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Im still waiting for an item from last week, although not long, I asked the seller if he minded waiting till the sat for payment this was a thurs. he turned round and said "Sorry I need the money now, as I have things I need to pay for and the money needs to be in paypal. Sorry" So I borrowed the money and paid. I asked if he can send quickly as I needed the item by today (WED) I still haven't received the Item and I have had no reply to emails!

It dose look like ill be refunding Submegs purchase, as he has yet to receive the cards! I ll give it a few more days being xmas to get there, if not ill refund him.
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Items posted to Australia can take two or more weeks to arrive. RM recommend waiting at least 4 weeks before worrying if something has gone missing.
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The postal strike delayed me getting my BPPC.

(Must keep away from the rant thread, must resist, weakining, can't stay away...)
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