Hi, I have fallen prey to royal mail and their amazing ability to lose letters! GRRRR!

I was having an ebay clear out a few weeks ago and sold a couple of things.  One item, a top, was quite small and fitted into a CD sized padded envelope and I didn't send it recorded delivery - which is quite unusual for me.  Anyway it was posted 10 days ago and has not arrived.  I've looked at the royal mail website and they do not even look into lost mail until at least 15 days after it was posted.

I have had a look on ebay but can't find what I am meant to do and if any refund involves me refunding the person and waiting for royal mail compensation or if paypal covers it.  Does anyone have any idea?  Thanks in advance.

I'm presuming that even though you didn't send the item recorded delivery, you did get proof of posting.  If so, you can send this to the buyer and they can make a claim.  If you didn't get proof of posting, you're in a difficult position and might have to refund your buyer.

no idea what to do about it but for future ref apparently recorded delivery does nothing for you only tells you at which point the mail dissapeared

Wrong again, recorded delivery only tells you it was delivered, it's not tracked at all

I buy and sell a lot on ebay and have had this happen to me from both sides.  As a seller I refund if it's not arrived within 10 working days and then claim back from Royal Mail myself, as the contract is between me and Royal Mail I never send the CoP to the buyer for them to chase up.  It's lazy and unprofessional.  If they paid via PayPal then simply refund using the refund tab - that way no fees are payable on the refund.

Yes, it's irritating and yes you can't ever be 100% certain that your buyer is telling you the truth but as a buyer I've got a lot more respect for a seller who sorts things quickly than for one who passes the buck and drags their heels waiting for Royal Mail to refund (which can take weeks).

If you got proof of posting then you are covered, if not and the purchase was by paypal then you will have to give a full refund to the buyer.
If you do not give a refund paypal will do it for you.
I recently sold something on ebay and did not get proof of posting and had to refund £15.

Unfortunately, you will find that most people on ebay will send the proof of posting to the buyer to chase up.  I don't personally sell on ebay, but if you check listings, this is what sellers do!

Yes that happened to me when something I bought never turned up.  The seller sent me the proof of posting, so then it was up to me to claim - but you can only claim the actual cost of the item, it doesn't cover any postage cost you've paid. 

You need to refund your buyer and then claim from Royal Mail for the loss....if you have proof of posting (doesn't have to be recorded delivery) you will be covered for up to about £32.  If you don't have proof of postage then I'm afraid you're not entitled to anything back from Royal Mail.  I'm not aware of any means of claiming through Paypal either.

Of course, there is always the chance that the buyer is pulling a fast one...has seen that you didn't send by trackable means and is saying that that haven't received it knowing that you will have to refund.  Unfortunately, this sort of thing happens a lot and even more so now that sellers can't leave negative feedback for buyers...even when the buyer turns out to be a complete con artist!

Thanks everyone for the tips so far.  One of my friends suggested that it might have been delayed by a backlog of fathers day mail but surely the mail cannot be that far behind?  I will refund the buyer through paypal and then claim through royal mail.  Thanks to everyone for their advice.