ROYAL Mail customers have been left fuming after being sent six First Class stamps as compensation for lost items – including as replacement for a £400 missing bag.
The UK postal service has been sending books of stamps, worth £5.10, to some disgruntled customers who have complained over items not arriving.
One customer said she was “beyond dismay” after receiving a letter last month apologising for her missing £400 bag – with a pack of stamps as compensation.
A letter from Royal Mail to another customer this week shows them apologising for losing an item and admitting that they “let them down on this occasion”.
However, in return for the incident, they add: “Please accept the enclosed stamps as full payment for this service.”
Customers have been taking to social media to hit out at the company over the response.
Zoe Hanson-Coates claims she paid for a “fully insured postal service” but was still sent the book of stamps instead of compensation for her £400 bag.
In a series of tweets since Christmas Eve, Zoe attached a photo of her Royal Mail response, writing: “Beyond dismay at this response @RoyalMail.
“Somehow my £400 bag has gone missing in transit – I paid fully insured postal service – and I’m compensated with a book of stamps #nowords #fuming #merrychristmas.”
“I am going to continue to re-tweet this as @RoyalMail have left me totally stranded and out of pocket.
“I have followed the steps in the letter and phoned your help desk logging a complaint but still no help getting my £400 back. You pay insured post for a reason.”
An image of the letter reads: “I was very sorry to hear that some or all of the contents were missing from an item delivered to…
“My investigations into your enquiry have included checking all available service information and I cannot identify any reason why this problem occurred or where the contents of your item were lost.
“I have, however, logged and reported the full details of this incident, along with passing the information to my colleagues in our delivery operation to improve the service we provide.
“In light of the service you have used and the evidence provided, I’m afraid the compensation in this instance is limited to a book of six first class stamps.
“If you wish us to consider compensating the value of your missing item, you must provide all supporting claim evidence which includes sufficient proof of the item’s value (copy of PayPal or bank/credit card statement, invoice, receipt etc) and images of the posting packaging.
“Once again, please accept my sincere apologies on behalf of Royal Mail for the problem you’ve had, and our thanks for taking the time to make us aware of this.”
Another customer, Vanessa Furey tweeted a similar message on Tuesday, writing: “Hi @RoyalMail, once again you’ve lost something I sent and once again having admitted it you send me a pack of stamps as ‘payment’.
“I don’t want stamps, I’d like a refund for the amount of the postage and the contents.”
She attached her response from Royal Mail, which read: “I’m really sorry you’ve recently had cause to complain about an item addressed to…
“We’ve logged and investigated this against the reference number at the top of this letter.
“Having reviewed the evidence submitted, I can see we’ve let you down on this occasion and I apologise for that.
“Please accept the enclosed stamps as full payment for this service failure, in line with the conditions of the product used.
“This now closes your enquiry. However, please be assured we will use the information you’ve provided to improve our services going forward.”
It appears this has been Royal Mail’s policy for quite some time, with customers tweeting the company about their compensation over recent years.
A tweet from a customer in January 2016 reads: “@RoyalMail lose a £500 Selfridges voucher and they send me six stamps as compensation?! #royalmail #royalFAIL”
A customer in December of 2018 tweeted: “Wow what an incredible gesture.
“@RoyalMail lost a £150 iPhone in the post and have generously given me a book of stamps as compensation!”
A tweet from July 2020 reads: “I returned a pair of £65 trainers to JD sport using @RoyalMail. They lost my parcel and sent me stamps as compensation.
“I’m not impressed with the customer service.”
A second from November 2020 states: “@RoyalMail did not deliver four packages despite shipping using the click and drop service.
“Total value of toys shipped via the service was £260. Compensation for losing them…six first class stamps? Words fail me.”
