After my recent woes sending a parcel with Collect Plus I have gone back to using the Royal Mail. I've never had a problem with them before and the mail always seemed to arrive. Until now that is.

Before Christmas I posted out a brand new Samsung U600 mobile phone. I sent it by recorded delivery as I thought that this would improve the chances of it being received and also I could track the delivery progress. I was wrong.

Like many people I assumed that as a tracking number was issued the parcel was tracked. At the point of sale in the Post Office I was informed of the maximum compensation of £39 and assumed therefore that if it was lost I would be compensated. Wrong on both counts.

Recorded delivery signed for mail is sent with the standard 1st and 2nd class mail. It is not tracked on its journey, but a signature is recorded if it does arrive!

When they do lose mail the Royal Mail will try everything to weazle out of paying compensation, even though they acknowledge they have lost the item. In my case I have intially been given 6 x 1st class stamps, even though it says on the Royal Mail website that the minimum compensation for a lost item is 12 such stamps!

They have made no offer of compensation to replace the lost item, seemingly because I do not have a standard purchase receipt. This is because the phone was a warranty replacement. I have sent them a copy of the delivery note which would suffice as proof of purchase for normal commercial transactions.

It states quite clearly on their website - "if your mail gets lost, we’ll give you a minimum compensation of 12 First Class stamps. However, if there was something of value in your mail, we'll refund the actual loss, up to a maximum value of 100 First Class stamps or up to the market value, whichever is the smaller amount."

Clearly a brand new mobile phone has a value, regardless of how much was paid for it intially, and I now have to pay for it to be replaced. This will cost in excess of the £39 compensation limit. The fact that Royal Mail acknowledge they have lost it but refuse to make good their error speaks volumes for the company and its attitude towards its customers.

I would strongly advise against using the Royal Mail recorded delivery signed for service. I cannot recommend their special delivery service either, as it would appear their attitude to compensation means that attempts to claim for lost items may prove futile. I can only recommend using other couriers for your parcels given the poor service received from the Royal Mail in this instance.