Stolen Coins - Help!

[timsk]

Finally, having ordered The Britannia 2023 UK Two-Coin Silver Proof Set on the 8th March - it was due for delivery yesterday. Well, yesterday came and went and no delivery. To my surprise and delight, a Royal Mail van turned up just now with my parcel. Except that all he had was a torn apart cardboard box held together with an elastic band, containing nothing more than a Royal Mint delivery note. I refused to accept the parcel, which the (helpful and friendly) driver duly noted and gave me his name and suggested I took a photo of the 'parcel' - which I duly did.

Has anyone had this happen to them and, if so, do you have any suggestions as to what I should - or should not - do now? Obviously, I'll message the Royal Mint to inform them of what's happened, not sure what else I can do? My big concern is that if a tea leaf working at Royal Mail has clocked my address and knows that I collect precious metals - then this could happen again or, worse still, burglars could come to my house!!! Should I contact the Police, or just see what the Royals Mail & Mint have to say? Ideas and suggestions please!

Thanks in advance.

[Stacktastic]

Bet they could not believe thier luck.
Are the RM packages distinguishable from others as its a time when lots of charles coins will be being bought! 
I would not worry too much about being robbed, but its worth bearing in mind. 

At least it is the Royal Mint and they have insurance for this- should be fine.  

[modofantasma]

4 minutes ago, timsk said:

Ideas and suggestions please!

Safe deposit box. Any property might be burgled at random. I feel safer having coins off site 

[Pete]

Contact the Royal Mint and supply them with all the information.
They should have full insurance so let them sort it out.
I haven't ordered from them lately but it used to be annoying that the outside label stated in small print the contents were precious metals or something like that.

I once had a package ripped apart in the Royal Mail sorting depot and the contents surprising disappeared but as I was the shipper I made a claim and obtained full compensation from the Royal Mail but it took a fair bit of form filling etc.

[TheShinyStuff]

6 hours ago, modofantasma said:

Safe deposit box. Any property might be burgled at random. I feel safer having coins off site 

Exactly this. I got one a few months ago and sleep much, much better knowing that I don't have much more than a few hundred quid worth of silver at home, all the good stuff is safe and sound. Probably the best £200 I've spent...

[CazLikesCoins]

Seconded and thirded. Safe deposit box. No exception. Also make sure your contents insurance is up to date for the soft furnishings and kids x-boxs ect. No house is safe in todays society regardless of tealeaves clocking your interests in pms.

[CazLikesCoins]

13 minutes ago, TheShinyStuff said:

Exactly this. I got one a few months ago and sleep much, much better knowing that I don't have much more than a few hundred quid worth of silver at home, all the good stuff is safe and sound. Probably the best £200 I've spent...

It's also a bit of a day out  Take a flask wait your turn and marvel at your stack big or small. Just don't talk to it. The staff will think you're potty  

Edited April 30, 2023 by CazLikesCoins

[Petra]

Safe deposit box or safe are both great, however, unfortunately they have to get to you first before they can be put away!🤔😮

[CazLikesCoins]

13 minutes ago, Petra said:

Safe deposit box or safe are both great, however, unfortunately they have to get to you first before they can be put away!🤔😮

Always a hassle. I want my next treat delivered like this ...

 

[pricha]

Was the item tracked ? The parcel should have been placed in a damage bag  A sealed plastic bag with information what to do.  The postman should have not tried to deliver it in that condition.  More the fool them. The company posting will just claim insurance. Probably not stolen. Contents fall from damaged/ poorly wrapped parcels all the time. Amazon are incredibly bad at packing.  

[DrKarlMoneys]

Unfortunately safety deposit boxes aren't as fool proof as they should be-there have been cases in the UK of contents going missing and the bank shrugging their shoulders.

Then there's incompetence on the part of the bank.

[Aldebaran]

10 hours ago, timsk said:

Finally, having ordered The Britannia 2023 UK Two-Coin Silver Proof Set on the 8th March - it was due for delivery yesterday. Well, yesterday came and went and no delivery. To my surprise and delight, a Royal Mail van turned up just now with my parcel. Except that all he had was a torn apart cardboard box held together with an elastic band, containing nothing more than a Royal Mint delivery note. I refused to accept the parcel, which the (helpful and friendly) driver duly noted and gave me his name and suggested I took a photo of the 'parcel' - which I duly did.

Has anyone had this happen to them and, if so, do you have any suggestions as to what I should - or should not - do now? Obviously, I'll message the Royal Mint to inform them of what's happened, not sure what else I can do? My big concern is that if a tea leaf working at Royal Mail has clocked my address and knows that I collect precious metals - then this could happen again or, worse still, burglars could come to my house!!! Should I contact the Police, or just see what the Royals Mail & Mint have to say? Ideas and suggestions please!

Thanks in advance.

Sorry to hear of your problems, it is worrying.
In future you can always arrange for the package to be delivered to a local Post Office, once you have the tracking number.

[Zeuk]

I received a package that was opened this week, fortunately everything was in there but it was pretty suspect.  Looked like it had been opened deliberately to me

[timsk]

Thanks everyone for your replies - much appreciated.

I've spoken to the Royal Mint (RM) - on a Sunday bank holiday weekend no less! - and they've launched a 'Postal Loss Investigation' and will be in touch later in the week with their findings. The woman I spoke to was of the opinion that the most likely explanation is that the parcel got damaged in transit and then someone saw the contents and decided to help themselves. In other words, it was opportunistic theft - rather than anything more sinister. Personally, I'm not convinced. RM's faults are discussed at length on here and elsewhere, but it's rare to see anyone criticising their packaging. IMO, it's very good, so I fear the thief knew - or at least had a good idea - what was in the parcel. RM does use another carrier besides Royal Mail, and they've marked my account so that future purchases go via the alternative carrier instead of Royal Mail.

I'm struck by the number of you recommending safety deposit boxes. The nearest firm to me is about 30 miles away and their smallest box is 51mm x 127mm x 610mm, costing £150 p/a. Obviously, the issue of security affects all stackers and collectors and it's not something that worries me greatly unless ne'er-do-wells know who I am and where I live. In that circumstance, having valuables off-site is a slight advantage but, if criminals turn up at my home, are they really going to apologise for disturbing me and go away empty handed just because I tell them there's nothing here and that my coin collection is stored off-site at a secure location? I can't see it somehow, but perhaps I'm being a tad paranoid and my imagination is getting carried away with plots from Hollywood movies!

[pricha]

New system soon where postman have to attempt 3 times to deliver an item then leave item in office for instructions . In my opinion this will only encourage postman to leave the item  or sign it themselves and post it. Trouble ahead I think. 

Edited May 1, 2023 by pricha

[Petra]

19 minutes ago, pricha said:

New system soon where postman have to attempt 3 times to deliver an item then leave item in office for instructions . In my opinion this will only encourage postman to leave the item  or sign it themselves and post it. Trouble ahead I think. 

Special delivery is taken back to the local post office for you to collect on the day they try and fail one attempted delivery 

[Petra]

3 hours ago, timsk said:

Thanks everyone for your replies - much appreciated.

I've spoken to the Royal Mint (RM) - on a Sunday bank holiday weekend no less! - and they've launched a 'Postal Loss Investigation' and will be in touch later in the week with their findings. The woman I spoke to was of the opinion that the most likely explanation is that the parcel got damaged in transit and then someone saw the contents and decided to help themselves. In other words, it was opportunistic theft - rather than anything more sinister. Personally, I'm not convinced. RM's faults are discussed at length on here and elsewhere, but it's rare to see anyone criticising their packaging. IMO, it's very good, so I fear the thief knew - or at least had a good idea - what was in the parcel. RM does use another carrier besides Royal Mail, and they've marked my account so that future purchases go via the alternative carrier instead of Royal Mail.

I'm struck by the number of you recommending safety deposit boxes. The nearest firm to me is about 30 miles away and their smallest box is 51mm x 127mm x 610mm, costing £150 p/a. Obviously, the issue of security affects all stackers and collectors and it's not something that worries me greatly unless ne'er-do-wells know who I am and where I live. In that circumstance, having valuables off-site is a slight advantage but, if criminals turn up at my home, are they really going to apologise for disturbing me and go away empty handed just because I tell them there's nothing here and that my coin collection is stored off-site at a secure location? I can't see it somehow, but perhaps I'm being a tad paranoid and my imagination is getting carried away with plots from Hollywood movies!

Safety deposit boxes are great, however, you still have to first receive the items from the mint etc.🤔

[HonestMoneyGoldSilver]

15 minutes ago, pricha said:

New system soon where postman have to attempt 3 times to deliver an item then leave item in office for instructions . In my opinion this will only encourage postman to leave the item  or sign it themselves and post it. Trouble ahead I think. 

The postman signing himself and leaving it in the garage is how my mail arrives most of the time. They even have the cheek to text me with a picture of the forged signature as proof of delivery ..... "handed to resident" ..... umm no, it wasn't and you know it wasn't

I've only ever had stuff go missing once (SD) and when I phoned RM they told me that every member of staff in the chain of custody for SD packs is known and on camera. RM should be able to pinpoint who was in custody of the package when it went missing/got damaged. The SD packs tend to be weighed at various points and always before they go on a plane (a lot of SD takes a plane on part of the journey). After I phoned and RM investigated, my pack showed up 2 days later with a stamp from a different point of origin than I was expecting. I'm not suspicious at all, it totally wasn't £3K worth of coins and my "Guaranteed 1pm special delivery" didn't take 10 days to arrive ....

It's sad that so many of us have stories like this about RM. I hear ParcelForce are worse though. Thoughts and prayers @timsk

[flyingveepixie]

So far I've never had a SD package or the contents go missing.  I have however had SD items simply popped through the letterbox, and that seems to be the growing trend I find.  I rarely get asked to sign for them. There is only one of several posties who deliver here who always asks for a signature. The rest don't bother.   I've also had a couple of SD items take 48 hours to arrive rather than the promised next day by 1pm.

For the short time I was purchasing directly from the Royal Mint I never had a package go missing or arriving damaged and I honestly can't fault their service.

I couldn't imagine shelling out for a safety deposit box to the tune of hundreds of pounds for however many years I would need the thing, but then I do have several crossbows and a multitude of other collectable pointy and extremely sharp edged items of a certain type here at home which any burglars would find most inconvenient to be confronted with..🤔 The whole family is also well practiced in their usage...

Edited May 1, 2023 by flyingveepixie

[dicker]

Totally agree with respect to SD boxes.  It’s the safest way to store outside of having access to a bank vault.  

Banks used to be ok with people keeping things in their strong rooms but this practice died out some time ago.

 

 

[GoldDiggerDave]

SD boxes are the way to go, don’t forget some bullion suppliers also offer vaulted storage. 
 

 

[TheShinyStuff]

1 hour ago, flyingveepixie said:

So far I've never had a SD package or the contents go missing.  I have however had SD items simply popped through the letterbox, and that seems to be the growing trend I find.  I rarely get asked to sign for them. There is only one of several posties who deliver here who always asks for a signature. The rest don't bother.   I've also had a couple of SD items take 48 hours to arrive rather than the promised next day by 1pm.

For the short time I was purchasing directly from the Royal Mint I never had a package go missing or arriving damaged and I honestly can't fault their service.

I couldn't imagine shelling out for a safety deposit box to the tune of hundreds of pounds for however many years I would need the thing, but then I do have several crossbows and a multitude of other collectable pointy and extremely sharp edged items of a certain type here at home which any burglars would find most inconvenient to be confronted with..🤔 The whole family is also well practiced in their usage...

The fact of the matter though is that you are far more likely to have your house ransacked when you are not at home. All the bravado and weapons in the world won't help if you ain't there... but offsite shiny storage will.

[pricha]

5 hours ago, Petra said:

Special delivery is taken back to the local post office for you to collect on the day they try and fail one attempted delivery 

Tracked items 3 attempts

[pricha]

Special Delivery needs to be signed for by the customer.  If youre not happy because the postman signed it then simply say it never arrived.  Its as simple as that. My guess is people are happy to have them sign as they probably weren't in and would be a hassle to collect it . Its up to Royal Mail to prove the customer signed it. I can bet you it would never happen again.. Anyway its the sender who has paid for the service and requires the signature.  It is them that have have to chase if things go wrong. 

[CazLikesCoins]

20 hours ago, DrKarlMoneys said:

Unfortunately safety deposit boxes aren't as fool proof as they should be-there have been cases in the UK of contents going missing and the bank shrugging their shoulders.

Then there's incompetence on the part of the bank.

Safe deposit box insurance. It does get a bit silly safeguarding the safeguards but better than the nicknacks going walkies.