same, i have 3 claims in at the moment, and i know sweet FA will happen
Its laughable mate... wait 14 days and put in a claim... they then send you a letter saying they have 90 days to investigate... 90 days pass and they then have no idea what claim your talking about!!
Luckily the thing they lost from me was only worth £20, but at the end of the day I had to refund the person who didn't get the item, and £20 is still £20!
Seriously if the company I worked for did things like this we would be out of business. The sad truth is though there isn't really any other choice other than couriers and its dubious if these have any more accountablity than RM
With regard to the above case though I wouldn't risk anything of that value RM 1st class and would defo be sending it special delivery for the sake of £5 and just pass the cost on to the buyer/build it in to the asking price.
Hopefully you have more luck than me Lump... but I wouldn't hold my breath, and if you can for the duration required a career in free diving maybe worth persuing