My Tag Heuer watch went missing but Royal Mail says I'm to blame

[simmo11]

https://archive.ph/c0g7u

My Tag Heuer watch went missing but Royal Mail says I’m to blame’.

From The Telegraph "Money" section.

My beloved 30-year-old Tag Heuer watch needed servicing, so I packaged it up and sent it to a jeweller in Cheltenham via next day special delivery. Due to its high value I also purchased additional insurance to cover loss up to £2,500.
The jeweller called me the following day to tell me the envelope had arrived with my note and address inside, but no watch. I was horrified to learn that the envelope had been opened and the watch removed en route.
I asked the jeweller to keep the envelope safe while I made a claim to Royal Mail that day. I included photographic evidence including proof of postage, insurance and the photographs of the envelope taken by the jeweller.
However, on June 26 I received a letter from Royal Mail telling me my claim was not being upheld. This was because the watch was deemed to have been inadequately packaged, I was told.
In this letter there was not a single mention of the fact the watch had quite clearly been stolen. Furious, I called customer services and my case was escalated.
Next I spoke to a rather hostile member of Royal Mail’s team who, once again, went on and on about the packaging, essentially pinning the blame on me. When I reiterated my claim about the watch being stolen, he became angry.
I feel this is all a smokescreen for an obvious theft that has taken place somewhere in Royal Mail’s system, somewhere between the post office and the jeweller in Cheltenham.
I said I wanted to take this further and the member of staff emailed me a link to the Royal Mail’s review panel, which decides whether the company pays out in disputes such as this one.
JM, Gloucestershire

Dear reader,
You’re adamant that your watch was stolen, but Royal Mail seemed to be insinuating that your lazy packaging efforts might have caused the watch to fall out of its own accord and become lost somewhere within its vast system.
I asked you for pictures of the opened package, as well as a video you had taken explaining how you packaged it up, and demonstrating how the watch could not have fallen out by itself. You had placed the watch, wrapped in bubble wrap, inside a cardboard envelope, which was sealed with lots of thick tape.
It certainly didn’t seem like a parcel that should have come open by itself. The evidence seemed to point to you having securely packaged up the watch, and although we cannot be sure what happened to it, to me at least, deliberate theft seemed the most likely scenario.
You feel Royal Mail has failed to address the issue of theft to suit its own purposes, and you might be right. Instead it has attempted to pin the blame on you for apparently failing to package the watch correctly, leading to its “loss”.
Royal Mail’s gripe was with the fact that you placed the watch inside a cardboard envelope, despite the guidance on its website stating that padded envelopes should be used for parcels with “odd shapes”.
So could your wrapped watch be classed as an “odd shape”? Quite possibly.
However, the information on its website is merely “advice” to be taken or left. What really mattered were the terms and conditions of the insurance you purchased to cover the watch against loss or theft.
They state that the policy will be void: “where the item is not packaged in accordance with the requirements of the relevant schemes made under the Postal Services Act”.
A list of exclusions are then detailed, the last one being: “where the packaging does not comply with any other information published by Royal Mail in paper or electronic form on packing.”
So when it came down to it, despite your evidence pointing to the likelihood of theft within its operation, Royal Mail was happy to rely on a vague exclusion in its T&Cs to avoid paying you. I felt this was a poor show, but it refused to change its stance, even after my involvement.
You put your case to Royal Mail’s review panel, which can take 30 days to make a decision, and you hoped for the best.
In the meantime I’d been talking to the Post Office where you dropped the watch off, asking why, if the parcel was incorrectly packaged, its staff hadn’t alerted you to this when you handed over the parcel.
Eventually it came back with a statement which completely flew in the face of Royal Mail’s stance on the situation.
A spokesman said: “We have looked at the video showing the packaging used. We believe that the item was appropriately packaged and sealed by the customer. The item, with enhanced insurance, was correctly sold to the customer.
“The package was sealed when it left this Post Office for onward delivery by Royal Mail. A Special Delivery item is scanned when it leaves a Post Office and then rescanned at different stages of its journey with Royal Mail.”
The day after I shared this with Royal Mail its review panel decided to reimburse you to the tune of £1,850, which is what your watch is worth. This was the right decision, but it’s shameful that it took the involvement of both myself and the Post Office to reach it.
Royal Mail has now apologised and is actively searching for the watch. Of course, if it was stolen, it will be long gone by now.
You thought you saw it up for auction at an online pawnbroker, but following a short investigation it turned out not to be yours. Although this heirloom piece can never be replaced, I hope you’ll find something similar you’ll enjoy wearing for years to come.

[BenacreNick]

Interestingly, are Special Delivery lockers covered by cctv or other cameras ?

[N|M]

Interestingly, are Special Delivery lockers covered by cctv or other cameras ?

As far as am aware, in ours there is only a camera outside the locker to see who goes in and out, but not one inside.

[BenacreNick]

I wasn't suggesting anything untoward, I was just curious.

The door is mostly wide open to our SD locker

[Mr Rush]

Interestingly, are Special Delivery lockers covered by cctv or other cameras ?

There should be although I suspect, like the CCTV in the office in general, it only gets turned on if there's an active investigation (or so I've heard). Nevertheless, even when invited to enter the locker (which usually isn't locked at all) to pick up my specials and PDA I refuse to be seen in there in case a theft occurs.

[enskied]

I wasn't suggesting anything untoward, I was just curious.

The door is mostly wide open to our SD locker

Ours in half on shop floor..

Book of stamps will cover it.

[heraldmoth]

Am I’m the only one who thinks the jeweller done it

[nutcracker]

Security of SD Mail is ludicrously low. Partly cost cutting, partly poor/unaccountable management.

SD’s travel through the network unmonitored, past random temps and opportunistic opgs, in red sleeves that are basically wide open….

Another way the business haemorrhages customers just because it does not have the foresight to do things better (green sleeves seem to break easily/ green bags prone to missorts).

[scoobydo79]

Am I’m the only one who thinks the jeweller done it

No. My first thought. It would be so easy for Him.

[VeteranBitterPostie]

Am I’m the only one who thinks the jeweller done it

No. My first thought. It would be so easy for Him.

Would actually make the most sense that the jeweller did it, they know the true value of the piece better than some random after all. So easy to blame it on the courier while they keep it locked away till the heat dies down then sell it on the black market.

Also not outside the realms of possibility that the Post Office took it, if they happend to tell them its a high value watch.

But in the end who knows what really happend, we may never know.

[heraldmoth]

Agreed the persons most likely are the ones who know the value (not saying that rules out the courier, they know what a jeweller deals in)

[pieoftheday]

Seems like a chancer to me, hes probably wearing it right now

[guardianangel]

Interestingly, are Special Delivery lockers covered by cctv or other cameras ?

Not in our office everyone goes in and out of locker room to pick up their own specials,when specials are taken back after a 739 they all get thrown in a york where any tom dick or harry can nick it,there is nothing special about a special anymore .