Which one of you....

[Ryan2501]

Thanks for the replies, let me clear this up: I'm sorry that I directed my anger to you guys - you were not responsible or at fault (I hope!) You gotta realise that for the whole time since November I had nobody to vent this at, which was probably the biggest factor in the stress building! I appreciate that you're all hard workers and 99.9% of you do your jobs properly to the best of your ability, it just sucks that a rare few can ruin things.

Regarding the £400, It was a 1-2 month old brand new Slimline PS3, which I bundled with about 10 games, Official headset & 2 Dualshock 3 controllers.

Another part of my stress was not knowing if I could trust the buyers word, as he kept pestering me for a refund (fair enough if he was genuine but I really didn't want to be up the inevitable sh*ts creek without a paddle) so I managed to bargain an extra 10 days with him with the promise of the money back but sadly it never happened so I had to refund him. I don't know if I'm being paranoyed aswell but I kept checking his feedback and he was buying lots of PS3 games and accessories but not the actual console which made me even more paranoid/mad/stressed (even though he may well have purchased one elsewhere).

So there I was with no PS3, no money and a sh*t load of stress that wrecked my life for a good 2 months (sounds dramatic but it really did get me down)

Anyway thanks for listening, responding and shaking your head at my actions I hope if anyone reads this it may teach them a lesson through my mistake.

[Ryan2501]

Out of complete curiosity, this is the message I get through 'Track & trace':

"Item BR69******5GB was posted at 64 Summerhouse D DA5 2EE on 25/11/09 and is being progressed through our network for delivery."

Would this give any clue to where it was lost/stolen/whatever? For instance would it say something else had the item reached a certain process? Or is it either that message or the (elusive) "Delivered" message.

[baldrick]

Recorded Delivery items are not tracked through the system, only Special Delivery ones are, but if it was posted in Dartford area (DA5)
it might well have gone to the Dartford Outhouse which was set up during the strikes last summer and was being used until well into 2010.
It was staffed by casual and Agency staff.
http://www.royalmailchat.co.uk/communit ... t=Dartford#" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[TeeferTiger]

Out of complete curiosity, this is the message I get through 'Track & trace':

"Item BR69******5GB was posted at 64 Summerhouse D DA5 2EE on 25/11/09 and is being progressed through our network for delivery."

Would this give any clue to where it was lost/stolen/whatever? For instance would it say something else had the item reached a certain process? Or is it either that message or the (elusive) "Delivered" message.

Unfortunately, Recorded Delivery (RD) is exactly that, the delivery has been recorded with a signature. It's only scanned once it's been out on delivery. It's either scanned on the PDA (handheld device) with a "real time" update, or it's attached to the white cards and scanned by the office staff upon the card's return (either with or without the item depending on if it was delivered or not). A Special Delivery (SD) travels separately to the rest of the mail/parcels and is scanned at every step of it's journey.

All the above message tells you is that the Post Office have accepted it. So, as per my original post, it could be anyone/anywhere from the Post Office to your Postie and all the places inbetween, or the label fell off.

[coxie]

It is possible the driver just handed it over and couldn't be bothered to get a signature and then your customer saw his opportunity to rip you off. That is a big item to steal it's not like you can put it in your pocket and I can't see anyone would risk it unless they were sure it was a ps3. Having said that, it is possible. I would be pissed if i were you mate, my girlfriend just sent her old iphone to mazuma and some bastard stole it, royal mail don't tighten up on secuirty checks like they used to, all they are interested in is emloying cheap labour for the busy periods. I would try fight it harder, you can understand things occasionally get damaged but if royal mail have employed somebody that has stolen from a customer then that is their responsiliby although they will say you should send special delivery, but why should you have to send everything special delivery just so it dont get stolen.

Im with you on this one ryan, at christman they employ a lot of casual workers and it sickens me the amound of xmas cards that come through to us posties already opened. It is embarrassing having to deliver them. Royal mail used to care but now all they are interested in is making money, they s**t on us and they s**t on you. Go with parcelforce next time you send a big parcel, its cheaper and safer.

[Ryan2501]

It is possible the driver just handed it over and couldn't be bothered to get a signature and then your customer saw his opportunity to rip you off. That is a big item to steal it's not like you can put it in your pocket and I can't see anyone would risk it unless they were sure it was a ps3. Having said that, it is possible. I would be pissed if i were you mate, my girlfriend just sent her old iphone to mazuma and some bastard stole it, royal mail don't tighten up on secuirty checks like they used to, all they are interested in is emloying cheap labour for the busy periods. I would try fight it harder, you can understand things occasionally get damaged but if royal mail have employed somebody that has stolen from a customer then that is their responsiliby although they will say you should send special delivery, but why should you have to send everything special delivery just so it dont get stolen.

Im with you on this one ryan, at christman they employ a lot of casual workers and it sickens me the amound of xmas cards that come through to us posties already opened. It is embarrassing having to deliver them. Royal mail used to care but now all they are interested in is making money, they s**t on us and they s**t on you. Go with parcelforce next time you send a big parcel, its cheaper and safer.

Again, thanks for replies, @cozie, now you mention it, it makes alot of sense that it'd be a very hard thing to steal, (then again Im not aware of the protocol you guys have at wherever these parcels go) and I cant get the little voice from my head saying the guy on ebay stole it without giving a signature...thanks for the support though I agree with everything you said apart from the trying to fight it harder part...if I had loads of money I'd even consider legal action but I tried so hard to fight it by asking for various managers but all they did was blame me and one guy took my details to pass on to the 'lost mail depot' in Guernsey or somewhere??? (something like that) If Im honest though I even considered trying to think of a way to scam the royal mail back to get my money but I decided it wasn't the wisest thing to do.

But to whoever I spoke to you shouldve heard the awkwardness in their voice right after I said the words "how do you lose a greatb ig box weighing 5.5kg??? it had to of been stolen by somebody right??" They all creamed their pants after I used that line but they still try and come up with some excuse to weasel out of it!

[post_bitch]

did u play ur ps3 online .. if u did then contact sony they will have ur sytems code number and this will flash up if anyone else tries to use it online.

[andy2007]

It is possible the driver just handed it over and couldn't be bothered to get a signature and then your customer saw his opportunity to rip you off. That is a big item to steal it's not like you can put it in your pocket and I can't see anyone would risk it unless they were sure it was a ps3. Having said that, it is possible. I would be pissed if i were you mate, my girlfriend just sent her old iphone to mazuma and some bastard stole it, royal mail don't tighten up on secuirty checks like they used to, all they are interested in is emloying cheap labour for the busy periods. I would try fight it harder, you can understand things occasionally get damaged but if royal mail have employed somebody that has stolen from a customer then that is their responsiliby although they will say you should send special delivery, but why should you have to send everything special delivery just so it dont get stolen.

Im with you on this one ryan, at christman they employ a lot of casual workers and it sickens me the amound of xmas cards that come through to us posties already opened. It is embarrassing having to deliver them. Royal mail used to care but now all they are interested in is making money, they s**t on us and they s**t on you. Go with parcelforce next time you send a big parcel, its cheaper and safer.

Again, thanks for replies, @cozie, now you mention it, it makes alot of sense that it'd be a very hard thing to steal, (then again Im not aware of the protocol you guys have at wherever these parcels go) and I cant get the little voice from my head saying the guy on ebay stole it without giving a signature...thanks for the support though I agree with everything you said apart from the trying to fight it harder part...if I had loads of money I'd even consider legal action but I tried so hard to fight it by asking for various managers but all they did was blame me and one guy took my details to pass on to the 'lost mail depot' in Guernsey or somewhere??? (something like that) If Im honest though I even considered trying to think of a way to scam the royal mail back to get my money but I decided it wasn't the wisest thing to do.

But to whoever I spoke to you shouldve heard the awkwardness in their voice right after I said the words "how do you lose a greatb ig box weighing 5.5kg??? it had to of been stolen by somebody right??" They all creamed their pants after I used that line but they still try and come up with some excuse to weasel out of it!

The "lost mail depot" or Returned Letters Branch (RLB), is in Northern Ireland.

[baldrick]

I'd agree that something that size would be difficult to steal.
The tiny minority of dishonest people in RM, whether they are permanent, casual or Agency,
would probably go for small stuff that can be slipped into a pocket.

[Ryan2501]

I've really opened up a closed wound here and reliving all the stress again, called Sony who were SO helpful, took all my details and gave me a reference number that needs to be quoted to Sony by the police which then authorizes Sony to trace the console.

UNFORTIANATELY, the police I spoke to were as dumb as a bag of spanners and it very closely rivaled Royal Mails' customer service levels...

I haven't reported the PS3 as stolen yet and I need to do that, but the police woman says that my beef is with Royal Mail as its 'not stolen' just 'lost mail'. No way am I going to phone the RM again they just wound me up to the maximum. She suggested I report it as lost property at my local station and they might be able to do it that way. The rookie even told me that "we only do things like that in such cases as a murder scene" when Sony JUST told me that it's standard procedure for stolen PS3's. Maybe if I go in and murder the clerk they'll find my PS3 for me!

The most frustrating thing of all is it only needs one phone call from the police and Sony can trace away, and if it's traced it PROVES it was stolen....police are a bunch of useless pencil pushers this isn't the 1st time I've been a victim of crime and the police have ALWAYS failed to do anything whatsoever.

[Ryan2501]

did u play ur ps3 online .. if u did then contact sony they will have ur sytems code number and this will flash up if anyone else tries to use it online.

I did a factory reset of the console so my online accounts were removed from the PS3, but I did call Sony and they said I could still track the console. I'd thought about doing this in the past but only when I read your post I thought f*ck it I'm gonna ring them, so thanks.

[coxie]

Hey do it ryan, if it pays off mate then it will seem all worth while and maybe the person who stole it still has it, if he does then you can get some justice on them.

[andy2007]

Instead of going through Customer Services again. Which seems pointless, considering you've already gone through it all with them once. Give Investigations Branch (IB) a call. They have close links with the Police, so they may be able to get the Police to authorise the trace on your Console. I can't be completely sure that they'll do that. But it seems like the obvious place to start an investigation, so I think they probably will.

[Ryan2501]

Thank you Andy, I will consider it tomorrow after I've visited the police station. I appreciate it.

(I would change the title of this thread and my first messages as they seem hostile, but I think people remember this thread now and I want it to be read by people for advice)

[andy2007]

No problem. That's what the Customers section's for.