Can Royal Mail refuse refund for lost item?

QIn February, I posted an ipod Touch back to the ebay seller I’d bought it from. This seller refused to accept the parcel but instead of returning it to me, Royal Mail lost it. However, it has refused to give me any compensation because of the service it says I used. Is this right?

Alan Smith

ABefore we can answer, we need clarification from Alan about the postal service used. There’s some confusion because Alan says he paid for the return, while Royal Mail says he used a pre-paid returns label.

If Alan paid then Royal Mail owes him compensation – how much depends on whether he paid for additional insurance. But if the ebay seller paid for the return, Royal Mail’s contract is with that person, and therefore only they can ask Royal Mail to investigate the missing item.

We don’t like the attitude of the seller. Why refuse delivery of the ipod Touch? This is tantamount to holding a buyer to ransom. More than 30 days have passed since Alan bought the device, so it’s too late for Alan to log a dispute with ebay. But that won’t stop us investigating further.