Trying game of pass the parcel
ROYAL Mail has come up trumps for a customer whose parcel she suspects fell into the wrong hands during the course of its delivery.
The £50 goodwill gesture for Dorothy Hobson means she will not be out of pocket after her bracelet purchase last summer from US online jeweller Dcentral Wonder.
And while she had a frustrating experience trying to trace what had gone on, Dorothy vowed to Crusader: “I won’t get caught again, I’ve learnt a lot from this.”
After placing her order in August, Dcentral warned there was a wait for the bracelet but not to worry. By October 6 it still hadn’t appeared so she tried again.
She was told confirmation had just come through and the bracelet was on its way via Royal Mail. Dorothy hung on and tried again at the end of the month only to be told by the retailer that its system was showing the parcel had actually been delivered on September 10.
When she gave the tracking number to Royal Mail it confirmed the same. Dorothy then got another number to call where further checks suggested it had gone to another address locally.
Come November she still had not got to the bottom of what had gone on and had also been sent back to Dcentral which gave her the same details again.
“My address is similar to another in the area,” Dorothy explained, “But the people living there have not been helpful over the mix-ups that have happened.”
Crusader asked Royal Mail to investigate. But due to the time that had elapsed since the delivery date, no data about who delivered the item and at what time was available. And without further proof, her claim was on shaky ground despite her doing everything she had been advised to do.
“So as a goodwill gesture, we have agreed to pay for the lost item and apologise profusely for the experience provided to the customer,” Royal Mail explained.
The message for everyone, it urges, is to act immediately if you don’t get what you are expecting and keep pressing.
Fortunately there is no shortage of alternatives with services such as Local Collect, where parcels are delivered to a shopper’s local post office, or a Royal Mail Customer Service point to collect.
“This was a lucky escape, another way is the answer,” said Dorothy when she thanked us all for her happy result.