Going Postal

 You may recall a short while ago I ordered a copy of the latest version of Richard Borg's ACW Command and Colours game Battle Cry. The parcel duly arrived on September the 18th but was left on the doorstep by the postman rather than being taken back to the depot for me to collect later - you know the kind of thing, the card through the letterbox advising they were unable to deliver as the house was empty. In this case the postman left the package on the floor by our front door where it was exposed to around four hours of monsoon-like rain. Needless to say the packing had leaked and the box was ruined on one end where it had been in contact with the ground and water.

As luck would have it the contents were undamaged so all that was wrong was the box itself. Now I know this is not such a drama but I was and still incensed that the postman just dumped the package. I duly put in a claim form - not so much for the money but more because I was really annoyed at this very poor service. 

I duly submitted a claim form and after a week or so received a cheque for £20. The letter was obviously a standard response type so I I went straight back to them to have this reviewed as I wanted the full cost refunded. Now I know this seems bloody-minded but the game is no longer in production so if I wanted a pristine copy (I am rather fussy about boxes, dust jackets on books etc) I would have to pay around £40 plus postage.

The case was reviewed by the 'Escalated Claims Unit' and they stuck to the party line of 'the maximum we can give out is £20 due to the postage method used' and that they would be 'taking steps to make sure it did not happen again' you know the thing, the great British fob off....

I had the option to have the reviewed case reviewed so, still not satisfied (and feeling very Victor Meldrew-ish), I opted to go to the postal equivalent of the Supreme Court for a final review. Surely common sense would prevail when confronted with all the evidence? Nah.

They wrote back and apologised for giving me the incorrect information as I was not entitled to anything from them as the parcel was sent via a service that meant the sender had to put in a claim in the event of any loss or damage! As a goodwill gesture though I was allowed to keep the £20 cheque.

I have alreadyou wo been in touch with the seller and they are as bemused about this as I am. They are now going to tackle something that I have spent 6 weeks trying to sort out but to no avail. You would struggle to make this up!