Brief update - got the box out again and the side with the additional tape has been cut open and then reseated by the looks of it . I’m sure it’s not forensic evidence standard but it is certainly making loads more sense now
Sorry to hear about this, hope it gets sorted soon.
I'd strongly advise you to photograph each and every side, top and bottom of the box before letting DHL, (or anyone else for that matter), anywhere near it. If your camera/phone focuses close enough then try to fill the frame with each side for as much detail as possible.
Best Regards - Peter
I'd hate to be with you when you're on your own.
Brief update - got the box out again and the side with the additional tape has been cut open and then reseated by the looks of it . I’m sure it’s not forensic evidence standard but it is certainly making loads more sense now
Last edited by back to the top; 4th November 2017 at 19:13.
It might be interesting evidence for the police maybe, it is certainly worth asking, the added tape may have the thief's finger prints on the sticky side.
If I was the receiver/sender I would certainly ask the police if they would be interested, it costs nothing to ask.
I had a similar thing happen to me a few years ago but it was the buyer who was trying to steal the watch not a light fingered post man.
The buyer of a Speedmaster said when he opened the box he found the red box still wrapped in bubble wrap but no watch inside, this was through a message in the Pay Pal dispute which he had opened, he never once called me or messaged before hand, he knew my number as I had sold him around six other watches before hand. After 3 days he finally answered his phone. I knew through is lack of communication that something was amiss, I told him straight that I didn't believe him, I just knew he was in the process of trying to steal the watch, the biggest thing for me was that he said the Omega box was still wrapped in bubble wrap and the fact he never once tried to call me.
He changed his mind when I got the police involved, I asked them to call him to ask if he would bring the package in for forensic examination, the next day the Pay Pal dispute was closed with the message attached that his neighbour had signed for the watch and taken it out of the package for safe keeping.
Cheers, Michael
Ryan has the new info and picture - hopefully it’ll help speed DHL along - anyone know how long these things take ? Getting a bit of heat from the other half - not surprised really !!
Last time I did a DHL claim it took a few months. They really did resist / drag it out.
Hope you have better luck
I’m presuming the value was low four figures, that isn’t something they will pay out immediately - whether he is claiming from DHL or his insurance company. It also depends if they get him to report it to the police, which for four figures I would imagine he will need to.
Can’t you just explain to your other half that a resolution won’t be instant? I think most adults would probably understand that?
The time of the resolution process should really be irrelevant.
Rational behaviour often goes out of the window when something like this happens. Even when you’re the innocent party, you’ll be judged guilty for doing something that appears risky to a non WIS.
I got grief when I fessed up to reserving a Speedy Tuesday even though no money changed hands at that point
That’s a fair point I guess. But it has been stated on this thread that both buyer and seller are reputable. It has also been stated that the seller is already in the process of filing a claim.
In the ideal world things would happen over night, but obviously on a watch worth a few grand, they are going to have a few boxes to tick and they won’t pay out immediately.
Perhaps I am lucky with my partner, who just lets me get on with it! Maybe she’s learned that if she does, I will throw her a blingy Datejust every now and then ;)
Sorry to read this, and obviously too late to assist in this instance, but all members should now be thinking seriously of using security tape on their parcels.
https://www.rajapack.co.uk/packaging..._PDT02316.html
https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_n...p2045573.m1684
I certainly will be, even though I’ve used duck tape for the last few years now.
Last edited by PJ S; 5th November 2017 at 23:44.
Is the best idea to use security tape AND have even small items placed in as large a box as possible?
Can't just pocket the package so they'll have to tamper with the tape.
That tape only works if you peel it off, they will just cut it with a Stanley.
I don't know about your experience, but whenever I receive a package, the courier barely has time to get my signature before they are off to their next delivery. They are mostly paid by the delivery and have a ridiculous number of drops to do every day.
They certainly don't have the time to hang around and watch while I open the parcel.
I like the security tape - I know RM do a RMSD bag that’d be obvious was tampered with - no help for me now but useful in the future .
Inside jobs must be the hardest to combat - especially coming from overseas - it’s made stops at Vienna , Bratislava , Leipzig , Heathrow and Southampton - multiple opportunities to tamper - 2 mins , a knife and a roll of DHL tape appears to be all the employee would have needed .
This has made me really cautious about my future buying and selling . I’m sure Ryan feels the same - I think I’ll stick with uk RMSD only if possible from here and take extra insurance if needed . Once the funds are back I guess we’ll see how brave I’m feeling for my next purchase - and if ‘budget control’ will sanction further indulgence . Typically it couldn’t have been £100 worth of SKX could it ....
And insist on it for RMSD - they can be a bit difficult about giving you the bag, but it's really worth it. It does mean you have to spend a little longer at the desk filling out the addressee and sender sections on the bag.
Someone on another forum I'm on had something go missing from an RMSD package, and RM claimed that as it wasn't in their tamper evident bag, they couldn't be sure it had been tampered with so refused to pay out. I'd like to think there was more to the story than that as that sounds truly shocking, but it also wouldn't surprise me.
I have noticed that there can be confusion about the RMSD bags. There are in fact two sorts of RMSD bag: The prepaid sort and the free (non-prepaid) sort. Sometimes Post Office staff think you want the prepaid sort when you are only asking for the free sort.
The free RMSD bags come in at least three sizes. You can (or should be able to) ask for a load of them at the PO counter and take them away to pack at home as usual. As far as I have been able to establish, most Post Offices have stocks of them that are intended to be given away free to customers. (Note once again, I am referring here to the free bags, for which you purchase postage when you send it as normal, and not the prepaid bags).
Ah! I once had one PO insist I pay for a bag before filling it out then and there (it was about a quid less than the usual full whack) and then once I'd completed the address fields they took the bag and proceeded as normal, but with me then paying the remaining balance (quid) at the end! It was most confusing and I put it down to staff incompetence rather than two different types of bags.
Sorry to hear of your loss :-(
This situation was at the back of my mind when my Sinn U2 that I had worn for 10 years straight needed a service.
I could have sent it down to Page & Cooper but I didn't want to risk putting it in the post so I had my Sister hand-carry it to the AD in Essen, Germany (next town over from where she lives) and then collect it in person and bring it back over on her recent visit to the UK.
Update for those interested -
Ryan is navigating the path of DHL insurance that he took out and I understand he has a further back up if needed so I’m sure he’ll update us with a success before long . In the meantime the funds are back with me today . It’s the first time anything like this has happened - hopefully the last too .
It’s made me a little wary - I really hope the watch head surfaces at some point and Rolex return it to Ryan or the insurers - that’s the one plus point of restricted parts supply I guess ? Is it the same throughout Europe ?
:) I checked the thread for updates 15' ago.
I hope it will end soon.
An acquaintance of mine jusy had is house broken. The thief took only his small collection of watches and sun glasses.
What kind of twisted twat leaves the money and jewelry and takes a few fashion watches?
I hate thieves.
So sorry to hear the news. A tad surprised that this could happen with DHL....that said it is still an utter shame and causing you a headache.
I've entered week 3 of this saga and finally see some progress on the DHL front. After spending a week and a half looking for the watch in their UK warehouse, DHL has finally concluded that the watch will not be found. I tried on several occasions to explain that they wouldn't find the watch, as it had been STOLEN en route. No matter, they had to perform due diligence.
Anyway, today I was informed that the matter had been transferred to their Customer Care department for loss handling. Hopefully this will be resolved soon.
Ryan
Crappy situation to be in and one that I imagine all of us fear of when shipping a watch out. Following advice on here I always use two of the post office RMSD bags just in case one gets torn and use bubble wrap to reduce the chance of a sharp corner making a hole. For international shipping I prefer UPS Express, its one of ParcelPro's preferences, they are decent value and dont want to inspect package contents, so you can put any description on the package to keep the interest level down.
I hope this gets sorted quickly for you
Keith
Hope all is resolved quickly
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Quite worrying.
I had a 16600 turn up from Italy yesterday via DHL and the driver was quite nosey.... asking why the parcel was so light and he knew it was insured for a high amount. Luckily the seller had wrapped it all in a very large box with unique branded security tape and had sent specific instructions not to accept delivery if it was tampered with in any way.
Hope you get it resolved soon.
I always use the RMSD grey plastic bags, as far as I can see they’re tamper-proof and surprisingly strong.
I always keep a few at home, they’re free from the local PO and they come in a variety of sizes.
One thing that surprises me is the way people post stuff out but don’t clearly state their own sender’s address on the outside if the package! I’ve had watches sent to me for repair in this way, or maybe a scribbled postcode that's hard to read but no other information.
I’m also a great believer in not attracting attention to a package. Writing ‘watch, Fragile’ on the outside isn’t wise! Also had one recently with the value (£1000) written on the outside of a RMSD envelope.
It’s sad that postal fraud can still happen, but there are ways to minimise the likelihood. I’m always wary about posting expensive watches ar Christmas time when lots of temporary staff are being used.
Paul
DHL Customer Care emailed today saying they needed further documentation for their insurance department. Specifically, they wanted either an invoice from the purchase of the watch or proof of value.
I explained to them that I bought the watch from a private seller, not a brick-and-mortar dealer, therefore I did not have an invoice. I also told them that I hadn't had the watch appraised before shipping it.
I did provide them with an average price for a 2003 Rolex Explorer 2 based on current results from Chrono24.com (which is significantly more than I insured it for with DHL).
So, we'll see how this goes...
Ryan
Every time I make any kind of payment by Bank Transfer I take a screengrab of the transaction's confirmation, so I have a jpeg that has a datestamp within a minute of the payment itself.
Though presumably I'm not recording any information that isn't going to appear on my bank statement, and so am just merrily wasting my time.....
This thread has the potential to significantly increase the number of F2F deals insisted upon for higher value stuff.
Sounds like DHL trying to wriggle a bit with this.
Total pain in the backside for Ryan.
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Must agree with hood. I have bought a few watches through the forum and conducted two F2F due to value, and one that was posted to me. It make me much more reluctant to have anything of value posted in the future.
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Lets hope that "broken watch parts " does not become a self fulfilling prophecy...........
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Doesn't faze me at all really. As annoying as the experience might be, it's just one story, and think that to stop posting based on that would be a huge over reaction. How many watches have been posted since this instance without any mishap? I bought a rolex from the Netherlands just a few days after this story, it's on my wrist as I type.
I agree . It is a frightening tale, the full facts of which will probably never be known. But it is pretty rare, because many thousands of valuable parcels are posted every day, and the overwhelming majority are fine. Doesn't help the people caught-up in this, but it's not a common occurrence. Still, having said that, face to face has clear attractions.
Although, if the paranoid type, you could fear getting robbed .......nothing in life is entirely safe.
I did both F2F meetings in a London airport. Be ballsy, if not foolhardy, to try to rob someone in front of H&K toting police.
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Of course these things happen but it is how the company deals with it when
it does happen that’s the important thing.
If It’s handled well then no problem but at the moment all Ryan has is a load of chasing up stuff,hassle and general worry over a watch.
A good insurance scheme would already have had him compensated.
If the outcome of this isn’t satisfactory then there would be little point in using an insured DHL delivery.
Anyhow hopefully it’s a worry for nothing and the insurance is paid.
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No insurance company is just going to shell out money. They have to make checks , including evidence that the goods actually existed . If they didn't , any crook could run a very profitable scam, claims for 'lost' goods that were never sent. Annoying, no doubt, but what else can an insurance company do to protect itself?
Incidentally, this is why I don't buy insurance. Too much hassle, too much chance of never being paid. Been lucky so far......