Royal Mail & missing CDs

[Jayne]

Hello!

I was just wondering if anyone else has had problems of CDs going missing when they're sent by regular Royal Mail snail mail? My friend will only send CDs as registerd post as he's known so many to go missing. I thought this was a bit paranoid.

Until my christmas present went missing. :sad:

A replacement was then sent. And that also went missing. :tears:

Other mail (eg orders from Amazon) are coming through OK, but not CDs.

Has anyone else had this problem, or is it just me?

Cheers,
J :nice:

[Sheepman]

I've voted for "always arrived" but I feel I'm tempting fate, as my latest order is yet to arrive. There again it is from CD-wow, and I bet they had a big rush on of people (like me) trying to beat the anti-competitive BPI surcharge.

The only other problem I've had was a CD ordered for me in the States that never made it to these shores, no problem with a refund, but it is a pain having to cough up for exchange rate differences when you've got nothing to show for it. This is one reason I rarely use Tower records online, as all their charges are in US$, we're not part of the union yet!

Greg

[DavidB]

Originally posted by Jayne
I was just wondering if anyone else has had problems of CDs going missing when they're sent by regular Royal Mail snail mail? Welcome to the wonderful world of the Royal Mail in London.

First class takes anything up to a week if they don't lose it. Our mail is usually delivered about 4:00pm, and typically only 4 times a week.

Anything remotely important I now send by Special Delivery.

Just wait until you have to use ParcelForce. Now they usually do manage to deliver the next day, but you have to hope you are in to sign for it. They don't answer the phone to sort out redelivery. And going to their office results in a 2 hour queue.

[Chris]

Originally posted by DavidB
Just wait until you have to use ParcelForce. Now they usually do manage to deliver the next day, but you have to hope you are in to sign for it. They don't answer the phone to sort out redelivery. And going to their office results in a 2 hour queue.
ParcelForce have made improvements (so they tell me) but I still have all deliveries made by a different service if I can. I have had more problems with ParcelForce than anyone. With Royal Mail I have an armful of wrongly delivered mail to re-deliver locally every time the postman changes.

[Jayne]

Originally posted by Sheepman
There again it is from CD-wow
The two CDs that went missing were from CD wow and were in CD wow boxes...

J :sad:

[Paul F]

Ive not sent cd's through the mail but i have sent other things that have disappeared.

While i was living in stevenage i 'stupidly' put a necklace loose in an envelope with paper so it didnt slide around. That never reached its destination.
About 3 months later i sent a remote control (without batteries so it was light) in the regular post. That never made it.

It seems to me that any packages resembling something other than letters are prone to go missing!!

Trouble is, if i had complained what would have happened?

[Chris]

Originally posted by Paul F
Trouble is, if i had complained what would have happened?
I've complained over a period of years. You can go up the chain. Complaint letters were always answered. Sometimes I got a book of stamps by way of apology. When I complained to my MP I got a flurry of letters and a book of stamps. Occasionally they said they had reprimanded or fired someone. I felt bad about that and stopped complaining. The posties are not given the support necessary. I try to catch the new ones and point out the addresses that seem liable to get wrong mail.

[Paul F]

Originally posted by Chris
I've complained over a period of years. ............

SNIP!
......The posties are not given the support necessary. I try to catch the new ones and point out the addresses that seem liable to get wrong mail.

I didnt realise anything would be done to be honest.
Nothing worse than complaining and getting a standard letter.

[DangerousCurves]

I have to confess to a vice/addiction....

...Ebay! :blush: :blush: :blush:

So far over 200 parcels have reached me safely every time.

I am amazed to have received them all - not because I doubt the post office's efficiency but because our post man comes very early in the morning - and Mikey is a much lighter sleeper then me... :rofl:

[bobgadjet]

Originally posted by DavidB
Just wait until you have to use ParcelForce. Now they usually do manage to deliver the next day, but you have to hope you are in to sign for it. They don't answer the phone to sort out redelivery. And going to their office results in a 2 hour queue. That's exactly why I now refer to them as Porcel Farce:)

[Paul F]

Originally posted by DangerousCurves
I have to confess to a vice/addiction....

...Ebay! :blush: :blush: :blush:

So far over 200 parcels have reached me safely every time.

I am amazed to have received them all - not because I doubt the post office's efficiency but because our post man comes very early in the morning - and Mikey is a much lighter sleeper then me... :rofl:

Im terrible as im still scared of buying off ebay. I always think everyones a conman....sorry, conperson !! :wink:

maybe i will pluck up the courage one time

[bobgadjet]

Well, as far as I'm concerned I've not had problems, but I haven't used them too much recently.
I have a local sup-post office who I ask about the best way to send something, and taking their advice I usually get a good service.
I've sent CD's among many other types of thing and always send by a method that requires a signature.
I would suggest if you are SENDING a CD, and are worried, then pack it in some way that is not obvious it's a CD.
My worst, and I MEAN worst experiences have been with ANC, the courier company, so much so that I now insist that I collect from their depot, which is about 10 minutes drive from my house.
Besides loads of things "getting lost", they are too often losing them in their warehouse, and so not loading it.
They once told me they could not find a parcel, so I went down to look for it. I found it in 2 minutes. It was about 10 inches in diameter, and over 10 feet long, but they lost it ! ! !:confused:

[Jon L]

I have had stuff I have ordered go walk about and then had a resend which got here.

I have also received other peoples mail and in one case a glass cabinet! fortunately I was able to find the right owner who was a few doors down the road.

[DangerousCurves]

Originally posted by Paul F
Im terrible as im still scared of buying off ebay. I always think everyones a conman....sorry, conperson !! :wink:

maybe i will pluck up the courage one time

I think that the likelihood of being conned probably varies according to what category you are buying in. I mostly buy clothing (:blush: ) and have had very little problem, but when we ventured into car parts there were a lot of dealers and we had a couple of disagreements. That said, overall its been remarkably hassle free - certainly much easier than dealing with some "respected" mobile phone companies, cable tv providers and utility companies I could mention! You also get an opportunity to leave feedback about your transaction - and you can check out your potential trading partner before you bid. If they've done many transactions with a very high satisfaction rating you have some re-assurance of their bona fides.

I also set myself an upper limit as to how much I will pay for any item of clothing I haven't seen or tried on - no matter how much I like the look of it. That way any disappointments are limited! If it doesn't fit or suit, you are generally on your own, unless it doesn't meet the description posted.

Another tip is check out the postage fees - some people sneak some extra money out of you there.

There was only one clothes seller who was a bit naughty with me on postage. She quoted quite a high p+p fee for each item - but offered an overall reduction if you bought more than one item. I had bought three things from her auctions and contacted her to ask what the combined fee for p+p would be. She ignored every email and just sent me repeated invoices quoting 3x the basic fee. Since the items had been very cheap, in the end I felt sorry for her and just paid the lot. HOWEVER, when I received the parcel she had "forgotten" to put any stamps on it and I had to pay an exorbitant amount to release the package from the post office. Of course, she never responded to my emails of complaint - so I left some fairly damning feedback.

It was with great difficulty that I resisited my housemate's suggestion to wrap up a brick and send it to her - postage unpaid....:devil: :devil: :devil:

[White Knuckle Ride]

Originally posted by DangerousCurves
I have to confess to a vice/addiction....

...Ebay! :blush: :blush: :blush:

So far over 200 parcels have reached me safely every time.
:rofl:

It's scary stuff watching you trying to kickstart the world's economy. I've never seen a credit card burst into flames before!:kiss: