Another ebay question - item damaged in post

[CelluliteQueen]

A buyer contacted me this morning to say that an item which they paid me £24 for was damaged in transit. I know that you are automatically insured up to £28 with Royal Mail but has anyone actually made a claim and if so, was it easy to do?

Also, the item cost over £10 to send so do they refund that too if your claim's successful?

TIA,
CQ

I've made sucessful claims wiht royal mail, if you go to the website, you can start the claim off there, and they normally tell you what information you need to post. However, they don't refund postage costs, only the value of the item.

Thanks Kelly. The problem is that the item is now with the buyer. What's the best way to approach this? Should I refund her myself or wait for the claim to be settled. This is all new to me.

Actually I was wondering about whether they refunded the postage costs too. I have sent a couple of things parcel post & insured them for £40 which is the value of the item. I assumed if the Royal Mail did not adequately supply the service you paid them for then they would have to refund you. You wouldnt pay the service charge in a restaurant if the service has been dreadful would you. I guess it may be different if it was lost as opposed to damaged?

I know when I have had problems with couriers in the past I did get refunds but that might have been due to the quantity of mail we sent.

Royal Mail never usually refund postage costs for either loss or damage - bit silly when it their mistake that you claiming for. You can appeal against this when the cheque comes, but I don't think it gets very far most of the time.

CQ - Most sellers wait until they have a sucessful claim before refunding - but it's up to you. Royal Mail may contact her to verify the damage, make sure she keeps the item and packaging.

HTH!