Fed up with An Post - Lose Everything I Send

obliviousgrudge

It seems almost every item I send using An Post gets lost or damaged.

Last March I posted a PSP to a buyer in Belarus.
I sent the item via standard postage and after a month or so he contacted me to tell me it hadn't arrived.

This meant I was down a PSP and about €90 which PayPal took from me.
It was very annoying but I put it down to experience.

In September of last year I posted an envelope to a person in Cork via standard post. I contained a Sky viewing card. The envelope arrived to his address but the card had been removed. This definitely wasn't a simple case of the mail getting lost. I contacted An Post and they took two weeks or so to look into it and was eventually told that there was nothing they could do.

Then, in December I posted an item to the UK, via standard post. The item didn't arrive with him. I have contacted An Post but I'm in now way getting my hopes up that will discover the item. This will lose me another €70.

I've posted several items via registered post throughout the year too and they've arrived fine, but it seems every other thing I send via standard post just goes missing or is tampered with.

This is really getting on my nerves now, it seems as if An Post assume that if it isn't sent via registered post then I don't care whether or not it gets to its destination.

It is just infuriating that the national postal service can't even get items delivered and it's their job.

Sorry for the rant.

Has anyone else had any trouble with An Post?

wmpdd3

In a word, no. As you can see form adverts I've posted a fair few items within Ireland and they always arrived the next day, even though I advised the customers it would be 2 days later for delivery.

The only only other places I send to are Kansas in America and The UK, again I've never had anything go missing. I could be sending anything from clothes to hard drives. Never lost anything, never paid for registered post.

I also often have to post things out for work and its the same, never lost anything, but its always to Irish addresses.

In September of last year I posted an envelope to a person in Cork via standard post. I contained a Sky viewing card. The envelope arrived to his address but the card had been removed. This definitely wasn't a simple case of the mail getting lost. I contacted An Post and they took two weeks or so to look into it and was eventually told that there was nothing they could do.

This is very worrying, how many people handled this envelope, maybe only 4 people and An POST couldnt explain how the contents were removed.....

jd83

I sell stuff on ebay every so often. Ive always used an post. If its an expensive item i used registered and if not I used standard. Ive never had anything go lost or tampered with.

Mountjoy Mugger

It doesn't have to be an Post's fault. It could be Royal Mail or the Belarus postal service that's at fault.

Hannibal

Royal mail have one of the highest theft rates among postal services around I heard not so long ago.

kumate_champ07

sounds like bad luck, and possibly a buyer pretended not to receive an item?
I'd use registered for anything worth over 50euro

lala88

Maybe just use registered post?

Pythia

I would never send anything to Belarus without registered post. That country is dodgy!

MeerKat17

I'm having trouble with An Post at the moment too.
I ordered an item on ebay on 21st Dec, it was sent Airsure next day delivery registered post. Still hadn't received anything this week so I contacted the sender. They said it shows on the track and trace that it had been delivered on 29th Dec. I didn't get anything. I waited in the house from 27th - 30th Dec especially for this item but didn't get so much as a delivery docket.
So now I've got the tracking number and have been in touch with the Sorting Office who can't find it, and can't find a signature yet their system says it has been delivered. So now I'm just waiting for them to track down the Postman and find out what happened.
I really don't know what to do. I haven't bought anything off ebay before and am bitterly disappointed by this whole situation.
Can I cancel my paypal payment for the item or is this not allowed seeing as it was not the senders fault but An Post's problem for losing the item?

Paulw

MeerKat17 wrote: »

Can I cancel my paypal payment for the item or is this not allowed seeing as it was not the senders fault but An Post's problem for losing the item?

It is up to the sender to ensure delivery.

If you lodge a complaint with paypal, you must state that the item wasn't delivered and let the sender sort it out. Hopefully the sender insured the package, or else they will be at a loss and have to send another item at their cost.

wmpdd3

Meerkat17, you should be OK as An Post cant even prove to you that it was delivered.

MeerKat17

wmpdd3 wrote: »

Meerkat17, you should be OK as An Post cant even prove to you that it was delivered.

Well An Post just got back to me and said it has been successfully delivered but it would seem to the wrong address, but they claim it must have been the address that was on the package. So I rechecked my order history and just as I though it was my own correct address I had down to be delivered to. The Seller hasn't got back to me yet so I'm just in limbo. An Post claim that the tracking number I gave was not for registered post, despite me paying for registered post on the ebay website, so now I'm even more frustrated and confused.
If its been delivered does that then mean that the seller and An Post are off the hook and I just have to shut up and put up with it or what?!

Dodge

Well no, if An post can confirm it wasn't sent by registered post, and you clearly paid for this, I would look to recoup the money from the seller

The Lovely Muffin

lala88 wrote: »

Maybe just use registered post?

I agree 100% with this.

I will only use registered, it's more expensive, but worth it, in my opinion. It doesn't matter if the item is worth €5, €15 or €50, I wouldn't even consider using standard post, not a chance.

Standard post is not secure and too risky in my opinion.

As for sending a €90 euro item via standard, well, to be honest, that's plain silly, in my opinion. I apologise for being harsh.

For a few euro extra your item would (most likely) have arrived and as the buyer (presumably) paid the postage cost you wouldn't have been out of pocket yourself OP, even if you paid the postage and buyer didn't, it wouldn't have cost you €90 euros + a PSP.

If a buyer wants the item badly enough they will pay the extra for registered/secure post, if they aren't fussed about the item, they won't pay, in my experience anyway.

In future OP I'd say just use registered post.

The Lovely Muffin

MeerKat17 wrote: »

I'm having trouble with An Post at the moment too.
I ordered an item on ebay on 21st Dec, it was sent Airsure next day delivery registered post. Still hadn't received anything this week so I contacted the sender. They said it shows on the track and trace that it had been delivered on 29th Dec. I didn't get anything. I waited in the house from 27th - 30th Dec especially for this item but didn't get so much as a delivery docket.
So now I've got the tracking number and have been in touch with the Sorting Office who can't find it, and can't find a signature yet their system says it has been delivered. So now I'm just waiting for them to track down the Postman and find out what happened.
I really don't know what to do. I haven't bought anything off ebay before and am bitterly disappointed by this whole situation.
Can I cancel my paypal payment for the item or is this not allowed seeing as it was not the senders fault but An Post's problem for losing the item?

If it isn't 45 days since you paid for this item, open a PayPal dispute NOW!! And as soon as you can - escalate it to a claim.

Do everything PayPal ask you to and you should get your money back.

However if the tracking number shows as delivered you may not get your money back.

https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=xpt/cps/general/PPDisputeResolution-outside

https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=p/gen/buyer-complaint-outside

MeerKat17

Thanks for the replies, hopefully the seller will get back to me soon so I can get to the bottom of this!

The Lovely Muffin

MeerKat17 wrote: »

Thanks for the replies, hopefully the seller will get back to me soon so I can get to the bottom of this!

Remember you only have 45 days to start a claim so don't wait too long.

Also the person you purchased from may be purposely delaying you so you reach the 45 day limit - and if you, then they won't have to send another item or refund you, and you won't be able to start a PayPal dispute as it will be too late.

MeerKat17

The Lovely Muffin wrote: »

Remember you only have 45 days to start a claim so don't wait too long.

Also the person you purchased from may be purposely delaying you so you reach the 45 day limit - and if you, then they won't have to send another item or refund you, and you won't be able to start a PayPal dispute as it will be too late.

I think they may be stalling a bit alright, I first contacted them last Monday about it, they replied Wednesday saying they'll look into it and get back to me that day. I emailed Thursday asking if they had any more information. By Friday I still hadn't heard back from them so I went to the ebay/paypal resolution center and filed a dispute. They replied within the hour with the hour saying that Royal Mail takes stolen mail very seriously and that they will do their best to track the item down. I went to the Sorting Office that evening but they couldn't help me without a tracking number, so I emailed them looking for the tracking number and they sent it to me. I haven't heard back from them since. I'll give them another 3 days I think and then try to advance the dispute to a claim. This is such a pain the the a$$!

barone

as was already stated, once post leaves an post for another country and arrives there its no longer under the control of an post, and its entirely up to that countries postal service to deliver it, this goes for registered and standard post ,if belarus postal services decide to say your registered item is signed for then thats it.. any scribble will do really...

same with inbound mail, if the sender does not write the correct address on a item then it goes astray.. happens allllllllll the time believe me.

obliviousgrudge

I know what you all mean, I was stupid the first time in fairness sending the item via standard mail but I'd had no problem sending stuff around the world before that.

I just thought then, what are the odds of it happening again?

As for the item sent to Cork, the address was 100% correct, I'd sent things to him before using the same address and it arrived fine. It's just a shame that An Post can really do anything they like with your post as long as it isn't sent via registered mail.

SteoL

Has anyone else had any trouble with An Post?

Nope never, quite the opposite in fact I find them to be very efficient. Anything I've posted has usually arrived much quicker than I ever expected.

Trevor451

Yeah I never have had any issues with anpost. I find them better than the more expensive/private couriers

upandcumming

I have relatives in America and over the years I've sent birthday cards and other crap to them. I worked it out before Christmas and only something like 25% of all envelopes I've sent to my relatives have been delivered.

Dodge

US post is abysmal. Absolutely terrible. A friend sent a card to my lil'one on her birthday and it took 20 days to get here.

Technocentral

I have to say that only once ever did I not receive something due to me in the post that was sent within Ireland (2 years ago a guy posted me something from Offaly), when it comes to stuff sent to me from outside the country I received it all. The only problem is that a few times I have received stuff intended for someone else with the same apartment number but a different apartment complex, I either delivered it if its nearby or put it in postbox.

watna

I regularly send items back and forth from NZ, not tracked and I've never had any problems with either An Post or the NZ post service. A package arrived for my yesterday that had been sent in Dublin 6 days prviously by standard post. That's pretty impressive, imo.

CricketDude

Im sick of An Post too. At least twice a month post that i am assured is sent to me goes missing. And at least twice a month too I get post in the letterbox for people who I dont know and the address on the letter is nothing at all like mine. Sometimes not even in the same town.
This has been going on for years. No matter how many times I bring it to their attention they just keep doing it.

frank9901

it must have been registered if you got a tracking number

fl4pj4ck

las few months I've been having terrible delays with getting my post. a simple letter takes 15-20 days to arrive (within Ireland!) and I live in Limerick's city center. for example just today I've received three letters from the same company sent on 9th, 12th and 16th of January, that's 14, 11 and 7 days for a letter posted in Dublin to arrive in Limerick. rubbish

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

I have to say I have never had a problem sending or receiving post within Ireland. Several items went astray when posted to the USA but their system is dreadful. I had issues with Eastern Europe in the past but An Post can't be held responsible for this.

Anybody who sends equipment they are selling by standard post to an overseas address is asking for trouble.

Anyway, I can't find any fault with An Post - quite the opposite in fact. They have been great to deal with over the years,

dxhound2005

fl4pj4ck wrote: »

las few months I've been having terrible delays with getting my post. a simple letter takes 15-20 days to arrive (within Ireland!) and I live in Limerick's city center. for example just today I've received three letters from the same company sent on 9th, 12th and 16th of January, that's 14, 11 and 7 days for a letter posted in Dublin to arrive in Limerick. rubbish

Was that franked mail? It's not unknown for companies to frank their mail and then not send it the same day, not usually two weeks' delay though.