An Post - Compensation issue

VEN

According to Royal Mail, any registered and insured item that is lost/damaged is compensated on declared value PLUS registration fee afaik

here, if its not registered, there is a possibility that only the postage fee is refunded if one can prove they sent it, granted.

but, even with registered and insurance paid, no refund is given on the registration fee but the declared value of the item only.

they ask for you retain the damaged item? how when you've sent it? that means asking the recipient to send it back to you, at their cost or yours? = double postage.

they say they accept photo evidence but they clearly ask for to send the damaged item to them? the way it works, you send them photos, it gets delayed, then "sorry we'll need to inspect the damaged item"

this was a 4 month cycle for me, i sent everything, the recipient got a refund on what they paid for the item but i had to get them to post it back to me, then to an post.

3 phone calls later after chasing it and chasing it....compensation was just the declared value.

so anyone have anything to say about this? how does it work?

i also told them, Royal Mail compensate for the fee and it says on the an post site but not 'clearly', it relates to 'if you hadnt registered it'
they told me "ah but thats a different country" well blow me down, i never knew, was just making the comparison to what i think is not clear from an post.

so... anyone registering and insuring items to send, make sure you add a good €10-€20 on top to cover the fee cos from my experience they wont refund it.

i like this one "If we don’t resolve the complaint within these time frames (40 days international), you may be entitled to a payment of €15."

so would delay tactics for 4 months save them money?

or

"If your complaint takes longer to resolve than these time frames, we will be in touch regularly with more specific information"

i never heard a thing from them, just one letter i received 1 week after claim went in.

live and learn, over declaring from now on to cover fees in case it happens again

Five Lamps

ven wrote:

According to Royal Mail, any registered and insured item that is lost/damaged is compensated on declared value PLUS registration fee afaik

Does it or does it not? As far as I know is different to it does.

I see no reason why An Post would refund the fee if they provided the service. Even if the parcel arrived in bits if it was signed for as expected then the service is provided.

You are not really giving us much context here - who sent the parcel, where to, why did you insure it and why are you claiming.

Generally with insurance claims you have to bear the cost of the admin. The goods are insured - not your effort to make a claim. So as you say yourself, you need to check if you are adequately covered for what's involved or if the An Post product meets your needs.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

My home or motor insurance doesn't refund me the cost of the cover premium ot the costs associated with making the claim. Funny, neither does my health or travel insurance. I see a trend forming.

VEN

Five Lamps wrote: »

Does it or does it not? As far as I know is different to it does.

I see no reason why An Post would refund the fee if they provided the service. Even if the parcel arrived in bits if it was signed for as expected then the service is provided.

You are not really giving us much context here - who sent the parcel, where to, why did you insure it and why are you claiming.

Generally with insurance claims you have to bear the cost of the admin. The goods are insured - not your effort to make a claim. So as you say yourself, you need to check if you are adequately covered for what's involved or if the An Post product meets your needs.

1. an post will compensate for the postage fee only on items sent non-registered and insured if it can be proven that its lost or damaged and they have a receipt for posting it, only in cases it can be proven mind. says so on their site >

[16. (1) Save as otherwise provided in these terms and conditions, An Post shall have no liability to the sender or to the addressee of any Postal Packet lost, damaged or delayed in any service provided pursuant to these terms and conditions.
(2) Subject to Condition 16 (5) If any Postal Packet is lost, damaged or delayed, by at least seven (7) days if for delivery within the State or by at least ten (10) days if for delivery outside the State, whilst in the custody of An Post, An Post shall pay compensation to any person or persons who establish a reasonable claim to compensation. No compensation shall be paid for consequential loss or the cost of the contents. Compensation shall include the cost of the Charges, cost of the cover of the Postal Packet, the cost of replacement or reproduction of the packaging and a small sum in respect of any other costs. Compensation may be paid in stamps.]


2. however, if its registered and insured they'll compensate on either of those grounds i.e. lost or damaged, stolen etc BUT without the fee paid. kind of odd considering you have proven its lost/damaged like in situation one but don't get refunded the postage fee like in point 1.

i sent it, i insured it cos it was fragile and a valuable vinyl record to a customer. it was securely packed, with fragile labels. the customer received it bent in two after all that! i've sent many like this before, was first time one got damaged.
it says on their site "please retain any damaged items,packaging for inspection and post to their address". how am i supposed to do that? i had to get them to return it to me, but they have said since that "oh photo evidence would have been ok" lol now, this is ireland, this is hoops going through hoops, sure enough they'd have asked for to see the damaged item. it seems that statement on their site is geared towards the receiver of the item, otherwise the person sending it, had to get the recipient to send it all the way back. so, should i pay for that too? in this case, i asked the buyer to pay for the postage return, he/she wasnt happy about it. i told them i'd need to make a claim as it states to retain damaged item on their site. i refunded them what they paid me for the item and initial postage. By right i should be refunded for that registration fee as i should be paying for the return postage and not the customer, its not their fault but the postal delivery person.

it works this way on Royal Mail, seems logic to me. Its obvious the item is going abroad, how is one suppose to get it back to prove the damage. I don't buy this photo evidence been sufficient, especially of its high value. sure i could take those photos myself and claim! they'd surely ask to see the item.
not just that but the buyer could also have done the same and took out any broken record and photoshop the labels.

i got the insurance value refunded but know now to include the registration fee in future to get the item back here and send it to them.

also, ive phoned them since about this, got a smart a$$ on the phone, he said he'd send out the terms and conditions, still havent got them. he hung up on me, didnt surprise me as he wasnt helpful to begin with unlike the lady who sorted it out for me after the 2nd phone call 4 months later and got the cheque the following week. i've found the terms and conditions, it doesnt state clearly about refund of registration fee >

[Subject to Condition 16 (5 )If any article of pecuniary value enclosed in, or forming part of, a Registered Postal Packet, is lost or damaged whilst in the custody of An Post, An Post shall pay compensation to any person or persons who establishes a reasonable claim to such compensation (having regard to the nature of the article, the care with which it was packed, the Charges paid by the sender, and other circumstances), subject to the following limits-
(a) The amount of compensation payable shall be no greater than the value declared by the sender or €25.39 if no value has been declared.]

i declared €30, got that back but... "having regard to the nature of the article, the care with which it was packed, the Charges paid by the sender" ?

they disregarded the charges paid by sender is what i can see so "The amount of compensation payable shall be no greater than the value declared by the sender" means you need to compensate your fee paid otherwise...

Sulla Felix

Five Lamps wrote: »

Does it or does it not? As far as I know is different to it does.

I see no reason why An Post would refund the fee if they provided the service. Even if the parcel arrived in bits if it was signed for as expected then the service is provided.

You are not really giving us much context here - who sent the parcel, where to, why did you insure it and why are you claiming.

Generally with insurance claims you have to bear the cost of the admin. The goods are insured - not your effort to make a claim. So as you say yourself, you need to check if you are adequately covered for what's involved or if the An Post product meets your needs.

I'd argue that the service you're paying for is for the package to be delivered in a state equal to that being sent. It's not really good enough to say that delivery is the be all and end all.

VEN

Sulla Felix wrote: »

I'd argue that the service you're paying for is for the package to be delivered in a state equal to that being sent. It's not really good enough to say that delivery is the be all and end all.

yes i can understand that and i read these terms before i sent these things a while back but its not very clear, they refund postage on one thing but not on the 'higher rate' which is to insure it gets there.

tbh, why they refund postage costs on non-registered items that get damaged and are proven doesnt make sense, thats the senders risk, then of course its not as high as registered postage to refund... maybe, i don't know.

anyways, its my first time it happened, i will allow for this in future.

Sulla Felix

VEN wrote: »

yes i can understand that and i read these terms before i sent these things a while back but its not very clear, they refund postage on one thing but not on the 'higher rate' which is to insure it gets there.

tbh, why they refund postage costs on non-registered items that get damaged and are proven doesnt make sense, thats the senders risk, then of course its not as high as registered postage to refund... maybe, i don't know.

anyways, its my first time it happened, i will allow for this in future.

That's amazingly two faced of them. Offer refund on the lesser amount, which most people won't bother to collect off a 75c stamp or whatever, but refuse a refund on a higher amount that people would try and collect.

VEN

Sulla Felix wrote: »

That's amazingly two faced of them. Offer refund on the lesser amount, which most people won't bother to collect off a 75c stamp or whatever, but refuse a refund on a higher amount that people would try and collect.

yea i think they should just fobbed me off, particularly now when no t&c were sent out and yer man got narky. when i said, but royal mail do that, he said "royal mail is a different country" well blow me down, i never knew smart a$$ was just making the point that something right is not right here. royal mail certainly do refund that fee and thats the difference.