Is it the postal service or 'dishonest' customers?

lecheile

In reading a recent thread about a new online business the feedback is fairly clear and consistent - if you are going to send items by post - use recorded delivery. I have been helping Mrs LeCheile set up a business that has an online store but like the other thread did not consider the overhead of recorded delivery as being something that customers will accept.

So the question is - is the An Post postal service so unreliable that stuff does not get delivered OR is it dishonest customers chancing their are and claiming non-delivery?

super_furry

I pretty much gave up on using play.com on account of the ammount of parcels to me that 'went missing'. Got so sick of games and DVDs being sent and never arriving and I've no doubt that it was down to the post office.

Gamesnash.ie: Pat

We use standard postal services for our deliveries and offer the option of registered pstage at an extra cost. Reason for this is simply that most customers will not pay a registered delivery charge and will instead opt to go to a competitor who ships free.

The problem is that when goods go missing or are "claimed" to have gone missing the retailer is liable so you have the option of alienating the majority of your potential customers by forcing registered postage on them or take a gamble with the postal service. We opted to build in an allowance for each package going out that pays for the ones that go missing. In our experience about 1% of all packages we ship in Ireland go missing - be that genuine or not. Overseas is higher - we stopped shipping to Italy at one point becaise of the amount of items reported missing.

Mr. Presentable

I run a small business and often find customers "haven't received" their invoice. Oddly, I always receive ones sent to me...............

I believe it is simply disingenuousness.

ScouseMouse

Defintately the post office.

The amount of wrong delivered post I have had is unbelieveable.

I even went to see the manager in the sorting office in tallaght and handed other peoples post directly to him.

He couldnt say anything.

I have recently lost three dvds in one parcel from Zavvi Uk that were a bargain on bargain alerts.

Its the fecking post office for sure.

Gamesnash.ie: Pat

But that could mean you're in a bad area versus the rest of the country.

Rebel021

I mostly buy and don't opt for recorded delivery but from time to time I sell a few items on ebay and never give the option of postal choice and will only offer recorded delivery.

If I had a online business I would still only offer recorded delivery.
There are too many dishonest people out there and if given the chance they will say the item never arrived claim back their money and consider it a freebie.
Ruins it for the honest people out there.

I learnt my lesson about 5 years ago when I lost 150 on an mp3 player..never again.
Used anpst recorded delivery but the tracking information was not shared with the destination country.

I find anpost an excellent service but again it will always be down to the individual be it the buyer or the delivery company.
Most sellers I see will give you the option but not on items over a certain value.

Fighting Irish

I've bouth over 150 items from ebay over the past couple of years only one item has never arrived and that wasn't An Posts fault

mickoneill30

I've recently ordered an item from abroad that was sent by registered post and required a signature.

The item didn't arrive and when I queried it with AnPost they sent me a scan of "my" signature. Myself and my wife are the only ones at our house and we didn't get it.

AnPost are "investigating" but they're slow and awkward, frequently asking for information we've sent before. I gave up and have left the sender to deal with it but from his point of view he's got proof it was delivered. I'm not anticipating a happy ending.

Rebel021

mickoneill30 wrote: »

I've recently ordered an item from abroad that was sent by registered post and required a signature.

The item didn't arrive and when I queried it with AnPost they sent me a scan of "my" signature. Myself and my wife are the only ones at our house and we didn't get it.

AnPost are "investigating" but they're slow and awkward, frequently asking for information we've sent before. I gave up and have left the sender to deal with it but from his point of view he's got proof it was delivered. I'm not anticipating a happy ending.

I can't envisage a happy one either but I would have them validate that it was my signature but then again it would probably be very costly.

R3al

Fighting Irish wrote: »

I've bouth over 150 items from ebay over the past couple of years only one item has never arrived and that wasn't An Posts fault

Ive found Ebay is the riskiest place to sell for items "going missing in the post" this is because the buyer has a guarantee that paypal will refund their money and all they have to do is claim non receipt, when selling on ebay I only ship to UK and Ireland nowadays and always use registered post

nipplenuts wrote: »

I run a small business and often find customers "haven't received" their invoice. Oddly, I always receive ones sent to me

Nipplenuts, this is the oldest excuse in the book and the reason that some businesses use this excuse is that the law says that they are only subject to interest on late payments for invoices 30 days after the invoice is received, if they say that they havent received the invoice then they buy themselves a further interest free 30 day period

Getting back to the original post - I would say use registered post for more expensive items and standard post for small value items

lecheile

Gamesnash.ie (Pat) wrote: »

We opted to build in an allowance for each package going out that pays for the ones that go missing. In our experience about 1% of all packages we ship in Ireland go missing - be that genuine or not.

Thanks Pat - I had something similar in mind regarding accepting it as a business risk and monitoring it over time.

lecheile

R3al wrote: »

Ive found Ebay is the riskiest place to sell for items "going missing in the post" this is because the buyer has a guarantee that paypal will refund their money and all they have to do is claim non receipt,

Unfortunately the same applies any processor of online credit card transaction

lecheile

Fighting Irish wrote: »

I've bouth over 150 items from ebay over the past couple of years only one item has never arrived and that wasn't An Posts fault

Sounds like a good hit rate FightingIrish - perhaps the answer is to move to Carlow:)