Abingdon woman angry after £1,400 of Christmas gifts lost in post

Ali Carre arranged a collection of a 10kg (1.5 stone) box packed with about 30 gifts

A woman who said £1,400 worth of Christmas presents she posted went missing is angry that the Royal Mail has refused to investigate.

Ali Carre arranged a collection of a 10kg (1.5 stone) box packed with about 30 gifts from her home in Abingdon, Oxfordshire.

She used Royal Mail's Tracked 24 service but the parcel never arrived.

Royal Mail apologised for the "inconvenience and frustration" she had experienced.

The tracking information shows the parcel was collected at 09:08 GMT on 16 December and received at the Midlands Super Hub at 21:58 GMT the same day.

This was the last update she received and the parcel was not delivered.

The gifts, including jewellery, a Harry Potter game and candles were for her adopted daughter Gemma, her two children, and their pet cat and dog.

She received £150 back, plus £5.49 for the cost of postage, which is the maximum compensation offered for Tracked 24 items.

'Difficult to investigate'

The retired doctor, who is a wheelchair user and partially sighted, said she prefers to have items collected rather than go to the post office.

Dr Carre said: "I assumed that as this was with the Royal Mail and tracked, the parcel would be safe.

"I sent the parcel in good faith and there is no mention of the compensation level on the app."

Dr Carre said she was worried her package had been stolen. "I'm sure a large box of Christmas presents was appealing," she added.

The complaints team told her said it understood her concerns but levels of internal crime were exceptionally low, and it takes the security of mail seriously.

Royal Mail said that "it can be difficult to investigate and locate a missing item" due to the "sheer volume of parcels within our mail centres".

"We apologise to the customer for the inconvenience and frustration this would have undoubtedly caused," a spokesperson said.

"According to our latest published data, three quarters of first-class mail arrives the following day, and 96 per cent within three of posting."

Dr Carre had a similar experience last year when she sent a £40 gift to a friend in a sealed padded envelope with a postage label, again paid for via the app.

The package went missing at the Nottingham depot and only a card was delivered.

Dr Carre asked in a Freedom of Information request how many parcels go missing ever year, but Royal Mail said it was not obliged to answer because it was no longer government owned. It also refused to answer when the BBC asked the same question.

She has now taken her complaint to the Postal Review Panel.

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