Says delivered at 9:20pm, weird image

[Paddwood]

Afternoon,

I made a Vinted purchase, paid for 48 hour tracked. Item was taken to their local PO in Liverpool on 26/06. Next update was 27/06, item received at Warrington Mail Centre. It then updates at 21:19 on the same day as being delivered by Northapmton Delivery Centre Parcel Hub Delivery, with an image of what looks like a toilet's eye view of a human. Image attached. NDC is about 85 miles from me - I get a lot of deliveries for online bits and not once has NDC processed one of my parcels.

I did a reverse search of the image on Google and someone on Redidt posted the exact same image for a lost parcel a year ago.

Anyone got any ideas?

128b0645-7d29-42fe-9db6-7c3220d0bc19.jpg

[Paddwood]

https://www.reddit.com/r/royalmail/comm ... mail_says/

Here's the Reddit link.

[BELIAL]

A tapeworm?

[Paddwood]

I can't even get a response from their claims team. Still no wiser as to what happened to the parcel and what that (_*_) image is meant to be.

[Paddwood]

Let's bend the ear of the experts on here. How do I escalate a case?

Two months after they claim it was delivered and posting an image of cthulu's sphincter as proof, with a claim opened nearly 6 weeks ago, all I'm getting is fobbing off replies from RM.

[TrueBlueTerrier]

If you have a complaint with Royal Mail and are not satisfied with their initial response, you can escalate it through a multi-step process. Here's a general guide:

Step 1: Initial Complaint

Step 2: Internal Escalation
If you are not happy with the resolution or response from the initial complaint, you can ask for the complaint to be escalated. Royal Mail has internal teams dedicated to handling escalated cases.

For personal customers: If the initial response is unsatisfactory, you can ask for your complaint to be reviewed by the Postal Review Panel. This is an internal body within Royal Mail that provides a fair, impartial review of the case. You can contact them by writing to the Freepost address or by using the form on the Royal Mail website.

For business customers, Royal Mail has a staged process. After the initial contact with the Business Customer Services team, you can escalate the case to the Business Escalation Team. If you remain dissatisfied, you can then escalate to the Commercial Escalation Team or the Postal Review Panel, depending on the nature of your service agreement.

Step 3: External Resolution
If you have gone through Royal Mail's internal complaints process and are still not satisfied with the outcome, you can take your complaint to an independent body.

Postal Redress Service (POSTRS): This is the Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) service for postal matters in the UK. POSTRS can investigate your case if Royal Mail has been unable to resolve it. You can contact them directly if:

Royal Mail has taken longer than 90 days to resolve your complaint.
Royal Mail has not followed its own complaints procedure.
You have received a final response from Royal Mail that you are unhappy with.
Citizens Advice: This organisation offers free, confidential, and impartial advice for postal consumers in England and Wales. They can provide guidance on your rights and help you with the complaints process. Similar services exist for Scotland (Advice Direct Scotland) and Northern Ireland (the Consumer Council).

Important Notes:

Always keep a record of all correspondence, including dates, names of people you spoke to, and reference numbers for your complaint.
Be clear about what you want as an outcome when you make your complaint.
Be aware that the process and the specific escalation steps might vary slightly depending on whether you are a personal or business customer.

[Paddwood]

Anyone else being told the delay to claims is due to a recent system upgrade, or is that some bog standard excuse?

[TrueBlueTerrier]

I got my AI to do deep research, and in essence, this claim is widespread.

I will leave the summary here.

[TrueBlueTerrier]

I got my AI to do deep research, and in essence, this claim is widespread.

I will leave the summary here.

This report examines whether Royal Mail's attribution of claims delays to a "recent system upgrade" is a legitimate explanation or a perfunctory excuse. The analysis concludes that the reality is more nuanced. While recent and significant technological and operational transformations are indeed underway, the "system upgrade" is a verifiable, yet often over-simplified and misleading, explanation for a far more complex and chronic issue. The phrase is actively used by frontline staff to explain backlogs and delays. However, this partial truth obscures a deeper, long-standing pattern of consistent service failures, mounting regulatory penalties, and a deliberately complex claims process that, in practice, serves to disincentivize consumers from pursuing compensation. The delays are not a simple consequence of a single technical glitch but rather the symptom of a broader corporate strategy focused on cost-cutting and liability reduction, which has compounded existing operational challenges.

The "system upgrade" is not a complete falsehood, but a partial truth that serves as a convenient and plausible-sounding explanation for a deeper, more chronic problem. A critical temporal analysis of the Reddit user's claim reveals that their issue began in February, several months before the major Universal Service IT changes went live in July. While other minor, unpublicized updates may have occurred, the "new systems" excuse is most likely a catch-all justification for a variety of internal backlogs and resource constraints. The true causal relationship is not a simple one-for-one technical glitch, but rather the overarching and disruptive nature of a massive corporate transformation. Such a program inevitably strains existing resources, creates backlogs in various departments including claims, and leads to operational inefficiencies. In this context, a "system upgrade" becomes the perfect, albeit vague, public-facing explanation for any number of problems, whether they are directly linked to the new technology or simply the result of an overwhelmed and under-resourced organization.

[Paddwood]

So in essence.... BS

[fb1969]

RM have been feeding the general public BS for years.

[Paddwood]

First fobbing off response:

Thank you for getting in touch about an item of mail you were expecting.

It is always disappointing when items have issues within our busy network so, thank you for letting us know.

On this occasion I am not able to accept your claim for compensation, as the service used was a prepaid contract service and all claims must be made by the contract holder. I do recommend you contact them to discuss this issue further.

Once again please accept my sincere apologies for any inconvenience and concern that may have been caused.

No response on why the delivery person posted a fake image, claiming to have delivered it at 9:30 at night on the same day it was received at the sender's sorting office 300 miles from me