Reply With QuoteI'd think it will either make its way to the buyer or back to yourself, but.. Are you really worried about sleeping tonight over a (potentially) lost £500 camera ?
Hi worried stiff.
Recently sold a small digital camera to a fellow forum member. Agreed to send it to Denmark. Posted last Tuesday, today I decided to use the tracking number.It has got to Heathrow but I am getting a message " On its way- Do not fly" Checking around the only thing I can think of is that the camera had a battery and in the box I had included another as a spare, what else can it be? Can't ring them until tomorrow but in the meantime I have to try and sleep. " on it' way" could that mean by rail and road.
Oh yes I have offered a refund but the guy buying it is being very very reasonable and says it'll sort itself out.
So any ideas, yes the parcel was addressed up with my details as sender.
I'd think it will either make its way to the buyer or back to yourself, but.. Are you really worried about sleeping tonight over a (potentially) lost £500 camera ?
A lot of services only track in the sending country and then not until it's signed for by the receiver, especially with Royal Mail or national postal services, DHL/FedX etc usually update at every step.
I wouldn't be panicking just yet.
Was it a lithium ion battery? They can only be sent if attached to equipment and are prohibited otherwise. Either your package will be destroyed or you might get lucky and they'll return it to you.
https://business.help.royalmail.com/...etail/a_id/863
Last edited by drhexagon; 3rd September 2017 at 20:53. Reason: Link added
Originally Posted by BrianT
On it's way - sounds like it's on the way to Denmark
Do not fly - send the parcel surface mail only
Sounds to me that the parcel may simply arrive a few days later than expected?
Yes as an old age pensioner I am worried.
Yes they were lithium ion, one in the camera and a spare.
Last edited by BrianT; 3rd September 2017 at 21:26.
My 92 year old granny worries about going to sleep in case she doesn't wake.
Just discovered a battery fitted to the camera is O.K. but a spare one sitting in the same box isn't.
Usually when you post an item you are asked whether it contains a battery, and whether it is installed/fitted to the device?
Assuming the buyer is OK and you added insurance there's nothing to worry about, and it won't make it get there any quicker either.
Depends on the competency of the posting office. Some ask and send anyway!
No the lass in the post office didn't ask.In fact there wasn't,t even mention of air or surface delivery. She just said £13 odd and push the parcel through the hatch.
But I have been in contact with RM. The answer was, the spare battery, the one in the camera was OK, but one in the same box wasn't. Now the camera is being sent back via Belfast!! It got from here to Heathrow without a diversion to Northern Ireland so why the ...........Anyway, here's the irony, guess how it gets from Heathrow to NI? They didn't mention removing the hazard but I suppose that's what will happen.
Still I shall at least get the camera back albeit in 30 days or so.
This panic about sending anything by air which has a battery in it is becoming a bit of a hypocritical. Most carriers use air transport even within the same country (e.g. RM does frequently within the UK) but there seems to be a bit of selective blindness applied e.g. all mobile phones contain batteries yet there never seems to be any issue getting mobile phones mail order even from China! Even (keeping in with the themes of the forum) quartz watches; never heard of any carrier refusing the post of a quartz watch.
In the examples you've given, the batteries are attached to the equipment. Don't most quartz watches take alkaline batteries?
As, I believe, were the batteries that were in that plane a couple of years back that started all this panic.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/...ithium/2582213
As far as I can tell from this article and others, they were part of a larger cargo of batteries that were intended for use in equipment.
No I meant the ones in the Dreamliner...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing...ttery_problems
Gosh that was 4 or 5 years ago now!
Oh, the one that was actually part of the plane's equipment? I get you now
Contacted the buyer and he is prepared to wait, there are some really nice people on this forum.
Thought some might like to see what the little X100T can do even in my amateurish hands. Also note how often the little un is chosen over the big un.
https://www.flickr.com/gp/148304961@N07/FX29Ri
If you sent it for £13 it sounds like they didn't offer insurance either. I sent a lens to the EU last week and the post office charged £15 with tracking and insurance.
Might be worth complaining to Post Office customer services as well. If she had done her job properly then you wouldn't be in this position.
It looks like it was sent International tracked so it is insured- your right they should have asked what it contained.
The one in the camera was fine but the extra one not- I presume you put your address on the outside (part of the contract) if so I cant see why its going via Belfast(this is for packets with no external return address)
If you address is inside or outside I would expect you to get it back- might be a couple of weeks if its gone to Belfast
"To comply with national and international regulations governing the carriage of mail, and ensure
that mail in transport does not present a danger to the general public, we restrict or prohibit
certain items from our network. A summary of some of the prohibitions and restrictions is set
out below. You are responsible for checking whether or not an item is prohibited or restricted
and any applicable conditions for acceptance. Up to date information may be obtained at
www.royalmail.com/restrictedgoods or www.royalmail.com/prohibitedgoods or
www.parcelforce.com/help-and-advice/sending/prohibitions-and-restrictions"
I bet if you return to the post office you posted from there will be a poster explaining what you can and can't send.
Last edited by lewie; 4th September 2017 at 13:11.
Shame you weren't told Brian.
The bloke down my local sub post office always asks if there are batteries in any parcel.
Cheers,
Neil.
They would have also made a few quid extra on the sale
How would that work?
Thanks for the support and advice.
Yes the lass at the PO should have asked but maybe she was having an off day. I simply didn't have the slightest knowledge, I have on one other occasion sent a camera abroad with no problems. In this instance it was because the extra battery wasn't connected in a device.
When I spoke to the RM people they told me that the parcel would be returned unopened, the old thing about removing the guilty object had been given up on.
But really I hold my hand up, should have known.
Brian would've paid more for the insurance etc. that he would be purchasing. Surely they add a little on for themselves when you upgrade your order?
I would think he sent it via international tracked and signed- it would have been covered up to a certain amount - I suppose depends on the quoted value of the camera
Indeed, she quoted £500 which was enough. Funny though if I had. Lost the camera due to a technical infringement would the insurance still have coughed up.
Fortunately that isn't going to happen, just wondered.
Brian if you want to pm me the tracking number I'll check it tomorrow on our internal system
The whole business of postal insurance is a complete and utter rip-off. You pay a firm to get your package from A to B in a certain timeframe, the clear intention being that it needs to arrive undamaged. But they accept no responsibility for loss or damage caused by dishonesty, negligence or recklessness on the part of their employees (so much for vicarious responsibility) or any other failure on their part to take proper care of the goods entrusted to them. Shoddy in the extreme.
Really- that's a new one on me
He has a point.
How did they know about the spare battery? I usually get a grilling at the local PO about what's in the box, to which my normal reply is non of your business but nothing on your prohibited list, which usually provides a fun five minutes. But how would they know if a contraband item, carefully packed, was in the box without opening it?
I presume they scan.
If the spare battery had been clipped into the charger then, strictly speaking, it was incorporated into a piece of equipment and would probably have gone through ok.
The whole business of shipping batteries is confusing and sometimes misunderstood. I don't disagree with a bit of caution but it does seem to be getting out of hand.
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