Royal mail have binned my rear shock!

Northwind – Member

I’d be working the contradictory advice angle, since one set of advice on their website suggests it’s fine while another doesn’t. So “If your advice was consistent this wouldn’t have happened, but I followed the very clear list on the website which says it’s “comprehensive” and there’s nothing in there that caused concern”, sort of thing.

Not specifically but possibly covered by this:

*We reserve the right to refuse any other item banned by law or that in our opinion may be harmful or dangerous to our customers or employees. If you send dangerous goods and do not comply with the applicable terms and conditions and legal requirements then we may deal with the goods as we see fit including destroying or disposing of the relevant goods.

Basically, anything we don’t like the look of, we can chuck in the bin with no recompense?

My experience of RM complaints is it’s like a brick wall.

Good luck, hope you get a result.

Someone at RMe fancied a new shock….

Someone at RMe fancied a new shock….

This.

Welcome to privatization!

I’ve sent a few shocks through the post and always just said “bicycle parts”. I’m guessing they have never checked whats inside so got away with it.

I assume that they must have to fully document anything that is disposed of. In that case I’d be telling them that you’ll need to see the documentation. I’d also want proof that this dangerous item had been disposed of safely, again that has to be documented.

What damage could the 250psi (average) of Nitrogen do worse case scenario

I strongly suspect that it’s related to the recent privatisation, so previous experience – unless it’s very recent – doesn’t count for much.

On Monday I was asked what was in a parcel I was posting (“for security reasons”) which is the first time I can remember that happening and I always use the same post office and normally the same teller.

Post on twitter and post on the MTB/bike subreddits on Reddit, store up a hornets nest of shit viral publicity for Royal Mail.

I had a battery ( disposed of or destroyed ) a month before the privatization

Thanks for the warning. I’m going to stop using Royal Mail to post things. I’m not prepared to agree to those t&cs!

I had an update (from an unknown source for just now) saying that RM installed an X-Ray scanners about a year ago as they had cases where batteries exploded. Seems that rear shocks have been caught up in this.

Beware.

I’m with that lot above, it needs to be traceable & if they’ve “disposed” of it there should be paperwork to back it up and a big bin it could be reclaimed from if considered invalid. If not, sh!t flipping should commence.
Shame it wasn’t on it’s way BACK from Mojo at least that’d be their concern.

What damage could the 250psi (average) of Nitrogen do worse case scenario

It’s a big bang that’s for sure – a tyre bead stretching off a rim at 60 PSI makes your ears ring I’d imagine 250 would be unpleasant (though infinitesimally unlikely)

I had an update (from an unknown source for just now) saying that RM installed an X-Ray scanners about a year ago as they had cases where batteries exploded. Seems that rear shocks have been caught up in this.

Beware.

So their x-ray machine can sense compressed gas?

Not good at all… be nice to get a statement from Chain Reaction/Wiggle/TFT/Mojo about their shipping policy or who they use…

If its destroyed then shirley, they cant just tip things in a mincer without documenting them..

Royal Mail at work.

Speeder – Member
It’s a big bang that’s for sure – a tyre bead stretching off a rim at 60 PSI makes your ears ring I’d imagine 250 would be unpleasant (though infinitesimally unlikely)

True enough but there’s a lot more volume in a tyre than the tiny amount in the damper

Mojo now offer an Interlink pick up service. This is what I used 2 days ago for my RP23.

Sent my Shock to Loco a few weeks back, was asked at the post office what it was. It seems it got there through luck! and got returned as well!!!

…. Maybe the Post Office could do with being told Royal Mails policies!

retro83 – Member

Not specifically but possibly covered by this:

*We reserve the right to refuse any other item banned by law or that in our opinion may be harmful or dangerous to our customers or employees. If you send dangerous goods and do not comply with the applicable terms and conditions and legal requirements then we may deal with the goods as we see fit including destroying or disposing of the relevant goods.

Basically, anything we don’t like the look of, we can chuck in the bin with no recompense?

Contingent on you having sent dangerous goods, though, which a shock isn’t. It’s an attempt at a universal boilerplate I think but not a very good one- they’ve made it “we can refuse things we think might possibly be dangerous” but “we can on;y destroy or dispose of it if it actually is dangerous”

Someone at RMe fancied a new shock….

And my new shorts …

“Royal Mail has been in contact with us today regarding your order- they have found a damaged package addressed to yourself but unfortunately the contents were missing due to being either lost or stolen”

not all shocks are pressurized using nitrogen or air and if you had a dhx for instance you would be able to depressurize the air can and the ifp.
unless you actually tell the postie that it is pressurized or a gas canister of some sort how would they know.
i send loads of shocks.
what does the package contain?
cycle components….

I’d be demanding compensation or the shock back and threatening some sort (not sure which) of legal action if they continue to be unhelpful, though probably after doing easier things like pestering the higher up bosses and kicking up a fuss on facebook/twitter etc.

Unreasonable contacts aren’t enforceable and I (in my uninformed opinion) would hope that some thing like “any goods we think might be dangerous” would fall under unreasonable. Best of luck getting it sorted.

so what your basically saying is…

the postman isnt getting a tip this christmas !! 🙂

If you were asked what it was and told them, surely theyve accepted responsibility?

They questioned a set of brakes I sent in the post this week, seemed to have clamped down a lot of items that contain pressurised gases, nowt to do with privitisation. There have been lots of mail centres getting evacuated recently due to items leaking which must cost them thousands.

Rich

For customer returns CRC use Collect+

Reply from RM dangerous goods team

Good Afternoon,

Thank you for your below e-mail, I have looked into the product further and it is a prohibited item and cannot be sent through Royal Mail. Under the Royal Mail Dangerous Goods Policy the product would be classified as the following:

Gases – (including flammable, non-flammable, toxic and compressed gases, new and used gas cylinders, butane, ethane, propane, refills for lighters, fire extinguishers and scuba tanks; also see Aerosols and Lighters)

UK destinations: No
International destinations: No

Because the product is charged by filling with compressed air and whether it is full or not it is deemed a prohibited item under the above guidelines.

Royal Mail takes the safety and wellbeing of our customers, employees and the general public seriously and we have controls and terms and conditions in place to stop items entering our network which, amongst other things, are dangerous, harmful or prohibited. These controls include the x-ray screening of mail (for both UK and international destinations) and the opening of parcels that appear to contain such items.

In accordance with applicable Royal Mail terms and conditions, we may deal with prohibited items as we see fit, including but not limited to, disposing of the parcels concerned. Under these circumstances you are not entitled to any compensation for the contents which have been disposed of.

More information on the types of items which are prohibited in the post for legal or safety reasons can be found at http://www.royalmail.com/prohibitedgoods and in “Our services” or “Prohibited and restricted items – A guide to what you can and cannot send in the mail”, both of which are available from Post Office branches.

Royal Mail general terms & conditions section 4.9 “Restricted and Prohibited Material” subsections 4.9.1 & 4.9.6 state:

4.9.1 You must make sure that you comply with any prohibitions, restrictions or specific requirements in the United Kingdom or the destination country for international deliveries. Restrictions vary from country to country, and can sometimes apply to items which you may think are ordinary. You are responsible for checking whether an item is prohibited or restricted.

4.9.6 If you post an item containing any prohibited material or restricted material (and do not comply with the relevant restrictions or requirements) we may deal with such item in our sole and absolute discretion (without incurring any liability whatsoever to you or your intended recipient) including destroying or otherwise disposing of such item in whole or in part, or returning the relevant item to you. We are entitled to charge you:
• the cost of disposal and/or destruction;
• the standard postage price; and/or
• all other costs reasonably incurred by us.

If posting the parcel at the Post Office you should be questioned by the Post office staff and they advise if an item is prohibited or restricted and any concerns with regards to this should be addressed directly to the Post Office Customer Service team. They can be contacted by writing to Post Office® Customer Care, FREEPOST, PO Box 740, Barnsley, S73 0ZJ or via email http://www.postoffice.co.uk/contact-us-complaint. Post Office Ltd accepts postal items and payment on behalf of Royal Mail but became independent of Royal Mail on 1 April 2012 and is a separate business.

I understand this is not the outcome that you were looking for but I hope that my explanation has been helpful in setting out why a compensation payment is not being made. However if you are unhappy with my response you can have your case reviewed by the Postal Review Panel. The Panel will take a new look at your complaint and will provide you with a final response on behalf of Royal Mail. They can be contacted by writing to: FREEPOST Postal Review Panel or by email: postalreview@royalmail.com. If you do wish to contact this team, please include your Royal Mail reference number which is at the top of this letter. Please be aware they will re-look into your complaint regarding Royal Mail, not the Post Office who you will need to contact separately.

Yours sincerely

Dangerous Goods Team

If posting the parcel at the Post Office you should be questioned by the Post office staff and they advise if an item is prohibited or restricted

This bit seems important. Were you asked when you posted it?

i would escalate this as high up as possible.

try the chief executive…her details are as follows:
Ms Moya Greene Chief Executive

Email moya.greene@royalmail.com
Telephone 020 7250 2888

or maybe their Chief Customer Officer Mike Newnham…i presume his e-mail address would be similar to the one above…

Not sure… don’t think so. Can I prove I wasn’t asked?

If I was to answer that question, i’d have said something like a “bicycle part”.

Thanks Gonzy, might try that.

Doesn’t everyone just say that the package is lego, a vase, or books then?

So gasses are banned? What about air in the envelope/box? Seems absurd to just bin it. That’s RM for you. “We’ll do what we damn well please, we won’t be reasonable, and we won’t listen, because we’re the Royal Mail and we are better than you”. Theiving shysters.

I think that means that I’ll never post any parcel with Royal Mail, just in case they think it’s dangerous and chuck it in the bin.

I’m really struggling to see how it’s OK for them to destroy things that aren’t theirs if they don’t like the look of them, with no possible compensation or chance to appeal…there should really be a time period where such items are held to allow recovery by the owner or recipient.

I’d also be contacting watchdog.

If they’re willing to accept the item and payment then they should at least make explicitly clear what is or isn’t allowed.

I guess that would lead us down the route of having all our packages inspected before payment or packed by the post office, which then leads us to questions of privacy.

I’d still be flipping my shit and sending barrages of emails, post and as much social media attention I could muster.

If they are entitled to charge you for disposal of said dangerous goods then I’d offer to do that for them. I’m assuming they know where it is of course and they should – it’s dangerous! Dangerous stuff can’t just be lobbed in the bin, there needs to be a manifest and a paper trail to demonstrate their duty of care. Someone at RM must know where this shock is.

Tweeting your outrage is a good course of action in these instances, I hit a brick wall with EDF energy then went all twatter on them it got answered, it’s all very public

hash tag as many people as you can… mojo / rock shox / fox etc

Not sure… don’t think so. Can I prove I wasn’t asked?

Works both ways doesn’t it – its perfectly possible that you were asked at the post office and replied “bicycle shock” and the postmistress said it was OK!

This is unbelievable! I posted a faulty Garmin using Royal Mail Insured this morning. At no point was I asked what was in the package and the only question I was asked was do I want it insured. I was not given or made aware of their Terms and Conditions at the point of the transaction either.

Pretty shoddy stuff, I’d go down the route of you not being asked what was in there and not being made aware of their T&Cs.