Postage problem: Caught up in bureaucracy. Who is responsible?

[Poor Student]

I'm having a big problem with a package sent to me from the continent. It was sent over a month ago from Slovenia. It came to Dublin with the address missing or damaged. It lay in Sandyford stores for a few weeks and was sent back via London. I only got a hold of the barcode number when it had left Britain as the Slovenian post office kept reassuring the senders everything was ok, that they never lose packages and then took their sweet time about processing a written enquiry. Slovenian post insist the returned package never entered the country (this has been examined via normal and private channels by my senders). The An Post helpline managed to give as much information as it reached Riga in Latvia. Apparently the only way international packages can be traced by different companies is via written enquiry and every time Slovenian Post send one to An Post it comes back to Slovenia saying it's sitting in Dublin. As they won't get the necessary info off us they won't admit it's missing or lost and won't do anything. I rang An Post and they accept absolutely no responsibility for the package and accept no resonsibility for the fact that they not giving the correct information to Slovenian Post. He won't resolve it, said it's the International Dept. who can only be contacted via writing. We just started going in circles from there and he seemed annoyed I was involved as if I stepped over the inefficient malfunctioning bureaucratic process. Anyone know what I can do?

[John83]

Escallate. Ring someone high up in an Post. Find a name and a direct number (to his secretary anyway), and ask for him by name. Decline to speak to someone else. Explain your problem. Be polite. Explain the channels you've gone through. If you get hold of someone high enough, and he tells someone to get it sorted, it'll get done quickly.

[Aberdonian Stu]

Also get on to your county councillor.

[wws]

asuuming its not drugs

two words

JOE DUFFY

[Poor Student]

I rang An Post, asked for a manager and was told "This is a call centre, there's no manager here". This is starting to become a cliché. I had the same problem with Dell, they would absolute not get a hold of management under any circumstances and insisted no such communication is possible. I got back onto postage, told the new guy my story, he nearly bit the head off me because he insists they've sent the Slovenes the proper information. I believe him too as he read out the inquiry reply and gave me a number. There's a breakdown in communication or they've just got a sh1t system over there. Anyone ever read Gogol's 'The Overcoat'? I feel like that.

[dahamsta]

In the long term, the Ombudsman and ComReg is where complaints should go, although I'll tell you here and now that you'd be wasting your time with ComReg. (File a complaint for the look of it, file their response in the bin.) Neither will get you your parcel back, but it's good policy to file complaints, particularly about the "no manager here" kind of thing. Lies like that is why tenure is a bad thing.

adam