Royal mail have binned my rear shock!

To form a contract the terms have to either be explained to you or shown.

As I mentioned earlier- I was in the post office last week to post two Thomson stems. I didn’t see ANY signs showing the Post Office/Royal Mail’s terms and conditions. Any significant changes such as this should be made clear.

When asked what was in the parcel I said ‘used bike bits’. I wasn’t asked further to elaborate. IF the item(s) were then siezed or ‘confiscated’. I don’t think RM would do well in court.

HMRC has the legal powers to sieze and confiscate. I do not think a private company has the right to seize or confiscate another persons property without a specific note from Court. Bailiff’s etc.

I’m no Solicitor, however this is how I understand and would fight any such claim.

Excellent work mojo.

Massive qudos to Mojo. What a jolly nice bunch. 😀

Yep, good one Mojo 😀

However, as GavinB says on the news item…

The suspension tuning companies need to get involved here too, as a quick glance around their sites shows that none of them note the dangers of RM classing a shock or fork as dangerous goods

I’m just about to send my shock off for a service and, for those who don’t dwell on STW and now know the risk of sending with RM, I think the tuning companies should be warning customers

Nice one Mojo. Now on an unrelated note. Ahem. Did I tell you about my forks and shock being stolen disposed of?

😛

Great news from Mojo- if it pops up on Ebay, lets have ’em

Wow, another reason to love Mojo 🙂

I don’t know. Hi Mojo I sent you my Kashima forked 36’s last week. Where are they? 😉 😀

Would certainly be worth chasing Royal Mail on this as I’m sure it has big implications for most of the bike servicing people.

Props to Mojo for sorting it though.

Hi Mojo I sent you my Kashima forked 36’s last week. Where are they?

last week? You’ve probably had them back and sold them ‘cos the rebound’s ‘not right’ by now 😉

*applauds Mojo*

Man, I like a story with a happy ending. 🙂 Props to Mojo, and really happy it’s all taken a positive turn – but I’d like to add my voice to the “don’t let the buggers off the hook” chorus! 🙂

Right, pressuization issue would be with rear shocks we will be using another carrier for the moment.
Forks shouldn’t be an issue.
We’d suggest other carriers to us, just make sure the item is covered by insurance to full value on it’s way to us.
Royal mail recorded would have only covered any item to £50 max.

Yeah fair play to Mojo indeed!!!

But aye, can’t let off the pressure on RM…

Loco, I was told that it didn’t matter what level of insurance I had, as it breached their terms there would be no pay out.
I also wouldn’t send forks via RM either, not worth the risk….fluids and an air chamber/cylindrical objects…

I’m going on holiday in the next few days but will definitely follow up with RM and other avenues when I get back.

It wasn’t lost on Mel the number of folk who would claim siezed items now, jokingly of course 😆

Get yourself a hashtag for those twitter posts
#shockingservice ?

I’d also include some of the customer service ones
#custserv
#custexp

huge kudos to Mojo and all the bad karma in the world to Post Office management.Paul please please don’t let up on them, they are so out of order its almost untrue, ps enjoy your hols 😀

Hi Paul,

sorry that was in reference to the cover of any item sent by any carrier that we’d suggest that the insurance on it should cover it’s replacment.
Glad Mojo sorted you out, having spoken to most of the other Service companies this is a one off, however until we get further confirmation from RM we won’t be using them. Enjoy your holiday 😀

Fair play MOJO..

That’s a pretty fantastic gesture!

Nice one from Mojo, will definitely be giving them some business as a result of the above.

Wonder how they’ll post the new shock out?
In fact, wonder how I’ll get my shock to them in future? ❓

I’ve not been Mojo’s biggest fan in the past to say the least but they’re doing a good thing here (with the proviso that the cost of a shock is pretty low compared to all the good publicity they’re getting).

LoCo – Member
Right, pressuization issue would be with rear shocks we will be using another carrier for the moment.
Forks shouldn’t be an issue.

I thought the wording was that disposal could still apply, if the item is designed to carry pressurised gases, even if it is empty when sent?

Here you go, from page 2:

PaulGillespie – Member
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.

having spoken to most of the other Service companies this is a one off,

So either Paul was the unlucky victim of one individual’s interpretation of RM’s house rules, or he could be the first of a random series, because only a proportion of parcels get X-rayed. Either way, RM needs to come clean.

And I won’t be sending forks by RM either.

We use another carrier for forks due to size and weight.

Frankly the bold line is daft, although it would seem to cover those too, so maybe avoid them too then, other carriers are cheaper anyway.

As I said this is the first time any of the industry lot has come across, although this doesn’t make it any less crap for Paul.

So either Paul was the unlucky victim of one individual’s interpretation of RM’s house rules, or he could be the first of a random series, because only a proportion of parels get X-rayed. Either way, RM needs to come clean.

Yes, which is why we won’t be using them until this is cleared up, as units going missing is a pain for all involved

How do RM actually have the right to bin your stuff anyway? It’s not theirs. Did we establish this?

sorry that was in reference to the cover of any item sent by any carrier that we’d suggest that the insurance on it should cover it’s replacment.

Yep – but beware of that too…..I posted on this yesterday but maybe it’s been missed. When RM lost one of my items a year or so back, even though it was ‘insured’ they still wouldn’t pay out for the loss.

I didn’t specifically insure it because their counter person told me that standard post was covered up to (iirc) £50, so i went with a signed for delivery. But when they lost it, and i claimed for my £30 loss I was told that they wouldn’t pay it because they had no ‘proof’ that the contents were worth £30. Even though i emailed them links to the FS thread on here, etc. They reimbursed the cost of the postage only, and to rub it in, did it in stamps so in effect no cost to them because the only way i could use them was to send something else!!

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.

I hear you.

However the carrier should REFUSE to accept, carry or deliver the item. It should be returned. NOT kept, stored and then sold on by themselves. The latter part is a mockery. No?

As mentioned earlier, it seems totally daft and counter intuitive to think that a company is providing a service so poor that they recommend that you insure against them **** up.

If the company I used to work for (a PC repair/service place) asked for an extra £50 for every PC we tried to fix in case accidentally lose all their data the customer would quite rightly bugger off and go somewhere better. Its a mental situation.

I also wonder if the department in charge of “disposal” of said items has targets they are expected to meet in regards of revenue raised from pilfering the mail.

Final email in from Royal Mail….and my reply.

From: (Name withheld by PG)
Sent: 20 December 2013 11:30
To: Paul Gillespie
Subject: Dangerous Goods

Dear Mr Gillespie

Further to our telephone conversation yesterday and as promised, I did ask about the disposal process for the kind of item that you have sent. The bicycle part identified as prohibited will have been passed for auction as part of a mixed consignment. We do not list auction items separately so have no way of tracing the actual whereabouts or specific consignment the item will be part of.

The auctioneers that we work with is Wellers Auctioneers who I believe are based in Chertsey. I can’t refer you to them personally but if you perform an internet search for them, you be able to contact them independently.

If there is anything else I can help you with, please let me know.

Kind regards

(Name withheld by PG)
Chairman and Chief Executive Office
100 Victoria Embankment LONDON EC4Y 0HQ

My reply…

Thanks Dave,

Although that’s not quite the news I was looking for I’d like to thank you for following this up.

As you can imagine I’m not particularly pleased with the outcome and feel that Royal Mail’s policy needs revised in these situations. Further research online has shown that this is quite a big issue that affects a lot of Royal Mail customers. I particularly have an issue with Royal Mail profiting from the disposal of my expensive and safe item. It’s unsafe to post but it’s safe enough to transport to the auction house and sell on? I’m sure you can see the irony here.

These items are taken on aircraft all over the world for cycling holidays, the airlines are well aware of these items and their check-in staff even ask if all air has been let out of suspension and tyres when checking in a bike to the check-in desk. I understand that these are relatively new policies for Royal Mail and that some teething issues occur.

I feel compelled to bring this issue to the attention of the national press, trading standards (for profiting from my item), my MP, Watchdog, all social media avenues and any other method of getting the message to your customers out there. This will not be done out of spite but to hopefully prevent further occurrences of this situation.

Once again, thanks again for your assistance with this.

All the best

Paul Gillespie

Jesus! That is beyond shit.

Hopefully this will be stirring up some massive arse ache for some people within Royal Mail who need to sort this out.

I don’t post a lot, but will be looking at all other avenues in future before using Royal Mail. Utter cak.

Good response, well done. Absolutely absurd.

Still tempted to bid on the auction though!

Awesome result from Mojo, mad props.

Wow. I would have come across a LOT more angry and cynical than that in the letter. 😯

I commend your level-headed articulateness, sir 😉

That response from RM is appalling – I’m struggling to see the legality of it, never mind the moral implications.

Fair play to Mojo – faith in human nature is restored a little.

**shakes head and sighs**

Utter madness.

I’d be contacting the MBUK, Dirt Mag, Fox, Mojo (very nice touch by them by the way), Loco, TF Tuned, Stif Cycles, CRC and Wiggle Facebook pages as a start with all of this info, hopefully that will start the ball rolling on spreading the word while you get in touch with the relevant people to take this further.

Like everybody else, I’m still struggling to see in what world there is any logic in refusing to transport something to where somebody has paid you to transport it, because it is dangerous, but being quite happy to transport it to somewhere else to sell on for your own profit.

Well actually there is some logic in that – the sort Watchdog et al ought to be quite interested in.

We’re aware and have spoken to various other industry types regarding this, as I said we won’t be using RM for suspension units from now on.
and frankly WTF with the reply from RM

Well I personally will never send another parcel via Royal Mail again.
Sounds a bit melodramatic and will make little difference to the Royal Mail I am sure .

I bought the sun newspaper practically every working day of my life up untill the Milly dowler phone hacking came out ,
And i have not bought a copy since.
Will make little difference to the sun but I feel better knowing they do not profit from me.

I just wish their was an alternative for letters.

We know why you ‘kin love parcels now don’t we??!!

That is just wrong and if there are any solicitors on STW i think you should have a pop at this. Its appalling behaviour from RM.

Well done Mojo for helping Paul out, and well written Paul as you would of been well withing your rights to give a load of crap back. Like you said, get the word out and lets hit them where it hurts, in the ££££.

OMFG. That’s outrageous. You have a lot of mileage now to pursue this. They have told you that they destroyed it due to it’s dangerous nature, and have now admitted that they are selling it for profit. Absolutely disgusting.