Royal Mail has apologised and compensated one of its Bromley customers after weeks of disputing a blunder over the delivery of some AirPods.

As reported in the News Shopper, Katie Harris left her AirPods in an Uber at the beginning of February.

The driver posted them back using Royal Mail’s special delivery service which guarantees arrival before 1pm the next day.

Despite the tracking site saying the item had been delivered with a signature on February 5, Katie says she was not at her Bromley home to sign for the package and could not find it when she returned.

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Katie began a dispute with Royal Mail who initially refused compensation for the “missing parcel” - despite the service offering insurance up to a value of £500.

Katie appealed the refusal of compensation and had been waiting for weeks while a Postal Review Panel looked at her case.

She said she was “seriously disappointed” by the way it was being dealt with, addind that she did not have any “trust in Royal Mail at all” – despite having previously regarded it as a more premium service.

Now, after sending a mere £6.85 in compensation on March 2, Royal Mail has “eventually” agreed to pay for Katie’s replacement AirPods as well as offering compensation for her troubles.

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It comes as the Postal Review Panel have concluded the case and instructed the company to offer reimbursement.

Katie told the News Shopper: “Royal Mail emailed me and they will be reimbursing me.

“They said they recognise that the parcel should have been hand delivered and it was the post person’s failing and as such will refund the cost of the AirPods I had bought as a replacement.

“This was £109, and they also added £50 for compensation of dealing with the issue.

“Every penny counts these days and Royal Mail do deserve praise now considering they did eventually come through with it.”

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A spokesperson for Royal Mail apologised to Katie in the email and assured her that the company is not “complacent about the quality of service”.

They also acknowledged that the person posting the parcel should have “waited for someone to accept it before marking it as delivered”.

They said that the item should have been returned to the Delivery Office to await collection or further instruction.

Before being compensated, Katie threatened to make “as much noise about this as possible” – having considered reaching out to Martin Lewis, the Money Saving Expert, for help.

@fooddiariezzz

A series of unfortunate events with @uber and @royalmail

♬ cho meo - VĂN KHẢI ✅

She had also made a TikTok video about her experience with Royal Mail which received more than 10,000 views and 500 comments.

A signature reading “XPI”, and beneath it “Signed for by: KATIE” showed up on the Royal Mail “proof of delivery” site – but Katie had claimed this signature was not hers.

The AirPods inside the package were worth £250, according to Katie.

A Royal Mail spokesperson said: “We are sorry that this customer had cause to complain to Royal Mail, and are pleased to have now resolved matters to her satisfaction.

“Every item we handle is important to us and we always strive to provide the best possible service to all of our customers.

“Our postmen and women work extremely hard to deliver to mail to customers across the country, six days a week, in all weathers.

“Thankfully the vast majority of items are securely delivered to customers.”

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