Recorded Signed for, or not?!
Royal Mail's Recorded Signed for items travel with its ordinary 1st and 2nd Class mail but should offer a signature at the point of delivery, hence the additional 70p postage fee required by Royal Mail. Customers should also be able to confirm that the item has been delivered on Royal Mail's website or through its Customer Services Centre.
Royal Mail has been undertaking some work to improve this service but Postwatch still has a number of concerns not the least to do with the fact that Posties do not always obtain signatures at the point of delivery.
Would you say you've received a satisfactory Recorded Signed for service or is there more to be done? Postwatch would like to hear your views.
Royal Mail has been undertaking some work to improve this service but Postwatch still has a number of concerns not the least to do with the fact that Posties do not always obtain signatures at the point of delivery.
Would you say you've received a satisfactory Recorded Signed for service or is there more to be done? Postwatch would like to hear your views.
posted by Postwatch at 10:05 am
24 Comments:
The recorded service is in decline due to liberalisation and cost cutting. Posties are carrying around more undelivered items due to later starts, this is now a health and saftey issue due to weight on delivery. The old early morning deliveries which used to catch people before they went to work have GONE! and this is the root cause of the problem.
The simple answer is, don't use RECORDED or SPECIAL DELIVERY if you know the person won't be home to receive it. Use FIRST CLASS.
I have posted two letters in the past two weeks via the 'Recorded Signed For' "service". The first item was sent by first class post on 2 February, the second by first class post on 12 February. Both were to business addresses where someone would be able to sign for delivery between 8am - 5pm. To date, the 'track and trace' service shows that neither letters have been delivered. Not impressed! Afer 14 days and 3 days respectively, the letters have not yet reached their destination (within the same city - Bristol).
This week I received a recorded delivery item, pushed through my door whilst I was at work- i.e not signed for by anyone, it had also been opened! What is the point of this service if it is continually disregarded. Don't even get me started on the parcel, my local sorting office, (Mandela Way, London SE1) have lost...
In the past six months I have posted 4 Recorded Signed For letters. I believe the items were delivered but not one of them could be tracked either on the web or by Royal Mail themselves. The items had no value but proof of delivery was needed. The postage was refunded to me in the form of books of 1st class stamps. By contrast private services like TNT can be completely tracked and even the signature obtained can be viewed or printed off.
I recently received a parcel that was supposedly delivered as part of the 'recorded signed for service' to my home in Harpenden. No signature was asked for as no one was home, yet still the parcel was delivered! I'm not going to die in a ditch over it, but it's a tricky tree knowing whether it's worth using this service or just sending parcels standards class. Royal Mail need to come up with some Blue Sky thinking and work with Postwatch to create either a better service or better guidance on what each service means to customers!
I am self employed and run a small mail order business sending out around 500 packages a week. Last year I started to actively monitor items that I was sending by recorded delivery as I had doubts about Royal Mail obtaining signatures on delivery. In the last 12 months I have sent just over 1400 items by recorded delivery and Royal Mail have failed to get signatures for 43% of these packages despite charging the extra 70p that requires them to do so. I have submitted a series of claims to Royal Mail and jumped through a selection of obstructive compensation claim hoops, which are protracted and unnecessary. The end result being that on each item where a signature was not obtained I am refunded only the 70p extra I paid in the first place, no compensation and no goodwill. The only reason the 70p is forthcoming is that I have caught Royal Mail out, charging for a service they repeatedly failed to deliver. I noted that 'Postwatch' had placed a comment on this forum on 28th January which read
Would you say you've received a satisfactory Recorded Signed for service or is there more to be done? Postwatch would like to hear your views.
I duly rang them to express my dissatisfaction with Royal Mail's less than caring attitude and highlight the huge failure of its recorded delivery service. Unfortunately Postwatch were not in the slightest bit interested. The lady I spoke with said that as I was receiving the 70p refund then Postwatch could do nothing further and that Postwatch would not be interested in my feedback re the failure of the recorded delivery service on the scale I had uncovered.
In summary, Royal Mail is charging 70p per time for a service it is fully aware it is not providing on approximately 1 in 2 items sent by recorded delivery. If you catch them out and spend time and effort proving the service failure you will be given your 70p back and nothing more. If the customer does not check then Royal Mail will keep your money despite knowing they have invariably failed to deliver the service. This is basically obtaining money by deception. I would hope this post makes it to the board but as it is critical of Postwatch as well as Royal Mail I have some doubts.
A similar story here.
I run a small mail order business that Royal Mail is slowly trying to destroy.
I have found 65 instances of "no signature obtained" or approx 1 in 3. I am pursueing a claim on these now and the paperwork is hurrendous. No wonder most people give up. This is money for old rope for the post office and taking money for a service that you know you are not providing MUST BE ILLEGAL!
In addition to this, only this week I have received 4 parcels sent recorded that have been left by the door! No signature not even a knock on the door. We are here all day.
The post office should be ashamed but no doubt the execs will get their fat bonuses for improving service. WHO THE HELL DECIDES THIS!
I agree with everyone here. I use Signed For about once a month. I always check on Track and Trace whether it has been signed for, but I find about a third are simply delivered without any signature being taken. I always make a complaint on Royal Mail customer services, but they just apologise and sometimes send me a book of stamps. I first noticed this problem about seven years ago, and there has never been any improvement.
The Recorded Signed for service has generated a large number of complaints at Postwatch. The more serious problems identified are postmen not obtaining a signature on delivery, and the lack of proof of delivery (copy of signatures) when requested by the sender, particularly where items have been sent in bulk to a company address.
In response to pressure from Postwatch for an improved standard of service, Royal Mail has taken a number of initiatives, including a national review of the service, which is to gain an understanding of the overall customer experience and to establish if the product is still meeting current and developing customer needs. This review is currently ongoing, and judging by your comments is well overdue. Postwatch will continue to work with Royal Mail in order to see improvments in the service of this product.
We as a small business use the 'Signed For' service as we require a signature to protect us and our customer.
We had an instance though where just prior to Christmas 2007 the local Postie didn't get a signature. This meant that as we had no confirmation of the parcel being delivered we had to send a replacement.
The customer was extremely happy with how we dealt with it but we were unhappy because of the extra expense.
We send 'Signed For' for a reason. If no one is at home take it back to the depot. Alternatively the customer - as we advise our own - can have it delivered to their place of work.
Absolutely agree with above, you are paying for a service and when it goes wrong there are consequences. However, you should not be 'out of pocket'. If the customer says it was not delivered and there is no signature to prove it was delivered, then it’s lost! As such you should have been able to claim for the loss and gain a refund of postage for having to send a replacement. Did you complaint to Royal Mail and make a claim?
If you have done this and Royal Mail failed to compensate you then please contact us on 08456 013265 and we may be able to help you.
Re: Postwatch said...
Absolutely agree with above, you are paying for a service and when it goes wrong there are consequences. However, you should not be 'out of pocket'. If the customer says it was not delivered and there is no signature to prove it was delivered, then it’s lost! As such you should have been able to claim for the loss and gain a refund of postage for having to send a replacement. Did you complaint to Royal Mail and make a claim?
If you have done this and Royal Mail failed to compensate you then please contact us on 08456 013265 and we may be able to help you.
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Yes all ended happily as Royal Mail explained the procedure we needed to follow to make a claim.
It turned out also where the original order arrived in time for Christmas but, as we were upon 'the last posting date for Christmas' we had to send another so the customer had their order.
The customer returned the replacement order.
Why though do we have to wait so long for online confirmation of delivery? If we send by 'Special Delivery' we get confirmation the following business day.
i too have suffered exactly the same poor serivce. I was sent some important documents from my new employer, who actuaally sent them recorded delivery. However, the postman just posted it through the door without me signing for it - so the additional postage paid for this serivce was totally wasted. This is just an example of the increasingly poor serivce RM are providing - I've lost count of the items that have gone missing, 'you were out' cards poated through my door when I was in.....I could go on! If there was an alternative, I'd be using it!
My main concern as a member of the working public, is the form left, p319?, you get it on a monday or tuesday, you ask for it to be redilivered on your day off Saturday and it doesnt turn up, so you go to the delivery office wait ages, then they tell you either it has gone out with the postman for redelivery, or they can not find it??, in the mean time the 7 days return to sender has now happened, and you never see the item again, , HIS THIS A SERVICE??
In the last 12 months I have never signed for an item - they have always been posted through the door.
I have also posted a number of recorded (and indeed special delivery) items that have never been signed for.
What is the point.
One of the main problems with recorded items is that the delivery cards (the paper you sign) are sent to a central point for scanning. If a delivery office sends these incorrectly or the cards are incorrectly completed there is absolutely no follow up therefore the postmen can get away with not following procedure. Often recorded items are not confirmed as delivered or undelivered in the local delivery office. Royal Mail needs to tighten up procedures and either improve or remove the recorded option. The only reason they bother about Special Deliveries is the compensation that is paid to the customer as a result of a mistake being made.
My parents were recommended to post their 'original' house deeds to HIBS using recorded delivery. HIBS have never received the deeds and the online system shows the items has not been delivered yet. When my Father went through the long winded claim through Royal Mail he was sent a book of stamps. These deeds are now lost and my parents are having to pay hundreds of pounds through their Solicitor to register the house and land, as the land had not been registered and the deeds that have been lost were the only proof that tbey owned the land. Yes, my Father did take copies of most of the documents, but assumed he was using a secure postage service where the item would be tracked and proof of delivery obtained. They have now referred their case of Postwatch.
Yes we all know recorded delivery means nothing, and despite this RM have raised the price to a ridiculous 70p.
RM know the service isn't worth the paper it's written on, as if one tries to claim compensation for item missing or not delivered, they will not pay up unless the customer replies to their query to check it was not delivered. And they have to do so within a short time frame. Many customers cannot be bothered to do this, and so businesses loose out. They have to refund the customer, but RM does not refund its customer. It demonstrates the disdain they treat their customers with.
Surely not being able to track the item as not delivered proves it is missing. Not in RMs case.
Why can Postwatch not reprimand them on a not carrying out services as advertised. I am sure this is illegal.
RM complain they are loosing out on big businesses to the big courier companies now springing up everywhere, and they wonder why. Unfortunately, the small fish still have to rely on this very substandard service.
Yes we all know recorded delivery means nothing, and despite this RM have raised the price to a ridiculous 70p.
RM know the service isn't worth the paper it's written on, as if one tries to claim compensation for item missing or not delivered, they will not pay up unless the customer replies to their query to check it was not delivered. And they have to do so within a short time frame. Many customers cannot be bothered to do this, and so businesses loose out. They have to refund the customer, but RM does not refund its customer. It demonstrates the disdain they treat their customers with. Surely not being able to track the item as not delivered proves it is missing. Not in RMs case.
Why can Postwatch not reprimand them on a not carrying out services as advertised. I am sure this is illegal.
RM complain they are loosing out on big businesses to the big courier companies now springing up everywhere, and they wonder why. Unfortunately, the small fisth still have to rely on this very substandard service.
I posted an item by ‘signed for’ when I later contacted the recipient they said they had not received the item, but Royal Mail advised it had been signed for, even though they could not prove that to me, anyway, eventually, the recipient then began enquiries, there are two business parks in their area, and yes it had been delivered to the wrong one, result my correctly addressed item was located! I complained to RM, they said
It is therefore likely that your item was not delivered due to having incomplete address details. This is incorrect, when I entered the tracking number on their website, it states – after two months - Recorded Signed For™ items are only tracked after the item has been delivered. Depending on whether the item was sent first or second class, this may be a few days after posting. Please try again later. I never thought that this could possibly happen!!
I sent some returned goods back to the supplier who was a bit ackward. Luckily he confirmed receipt and paid up (but didn't cover the return postage despite being against the Distance Selling regs). The item has still not been signed for and I assume never will.
Coincidently around the same time my partner had a recorded delivery shoved through the post box without any request to sign. Seems pretty endemic to me.
Seems like I have lost £60 as the postman delivered the recorded delivery due to me to another address. Either that or it's an internal theft. This happended a few years ago and Royal Mail would not compensate me insisting that the postman delivered to my address. Any help would really be appreciated.
We received a 'Recorded - Signed for' item through the mail sometime last week. The problem was we were out of the country for the entire week in question, and couldn't possibly have signed for it! It was also a letter relating to an ongoing legal issue which - had the opportunity to accept/refuse it been given at time of delivery - we would have refused. As a result I now have to spend time generating more paperwork. I will be writing to Postwatch on this matter
Same problems here too. Postie never gets a signature for Recorded Delivery. Many times I order goods I specifically ask for a signed for service to protect me as a buyer and the seller so that there is some form of taceability or proof of a package. The idea of the Recorded Delivery is so that there is proof of delivery and compensation for loss or damage and if the recipient is not in to sign for it the item should be returned to the PO and a card left so that someone can go and collect the item and sign for it. On occasions I have caught the postie not obtaining a signature even when I was at home !! I pulled him up and asked why he did not ring the bell and obtain a signature, his words "I don't have any cards today". It still carries on. Pathetic. Royal Mail is obtaining money from customers by fraud, they are offering a service but not delivering it and keep taking money for it. I'm fed up with the service I'm getting but most of the time I have no choice or control to what service a sender may use to send me parcels/mail, when I have a choice I choose another courier.
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