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‘I’m adamant that someone has stolen it’
A woman has been left “fuming” after Royal Mail “lost” two of her diamond bracelets, costing £15,000 in total.
Nikoo Tayebi visited her local post office in Hampstead, London, last December to return the jewellery after the clasp on one of her diamond bracelets broke. The £6,500 bangle had been a gift from her hotelier husband, Andrew, who she says saved for five years to afford it.
Hoping to have the bracelet repaired, Nikoo sent it via Special Delivery Guaranteed by 1pm to a jeweller in Hatton Garden, along with a second diamond bracelet costing £8,500. This second piece of jewellery had been passed down to her from her mother, and was included to show how the clasp should look once fixed.
However, the parcel never arrived at its destination and was instead redirected to Royal Mail’s National Return Centre (NRC) in Belfast.
Panicked, after realising she had not paid for insurance, Nikoo said she began tracking the parcel “like a hawk”. But the 47-year-old claims that once it reached the NRC in mid-December, tracking updates “ceased”.
During this time, the housewife says she contacted Royal Mail on “multiple occasions” seeking updates and claims she was repeatedly reassured the parcel would be returned to her home address. Her concerns escalated on January 6, when she received a notification stating the parcel had been “returned to sender” – despite it never being delivered.
Nikoo is now going “back and forth” with Royal Mail to establish where her missing jewellery is – and believes the bracelets have been “stolen at the NRC”.
“The entire ordeal has completely consumed me,” she said. “I trusted Royal Mail with my most prized possessions and they are yet to take responsibility.
“I’ve been left out to dry multiple times and they way they have handled the situation has been a complete joke.”
The case has since been escalated to the Postal Review Panel (PRP) and is being investigated by the Metropolitan Police as alleged theft.
A Met Police spokesperson said: “We received a report of mail theft on Monday, 26 January, with the victim stating that a parcel containing two high-value bracelets had gone missing in the postal system. We are in touch with the victim and our enquiries continue.”
The mum-of-two said: “I’ve not slept well since I sent those bracelets off. It’s not even just the money – they both meant so much to me and are basically irreplaceable.
“If there was some at the centre who opened my parcel and saw two diamond bracelets, it’s an easy steal,” she added. “When I told Royal Mail that it had not been delivered, they said it may take up to two weeks.
“Two weeks later, I still hadn’t received my parcel and I was becoming hysterical. I’m adamant that someone has stolen it.”
According to Royal Mail, if there’s no return address on a parcel, it will get sent to National Returns Centre (NRC). They will then open the item to try and find the sender’s address to return the parcel – and it was at this point, Nikoo claimed her tracking had “stopped.”
A Royal Mail spokesperson said: “We understand how upsetting this situation has been for the customer. Our investigation found there was an addressing error at the point of posting, and the parcel was sent to our National Return Centre where it was later recovered.”
They continued: “An attempt was then made to return the item to the customer, but after leaving the centre on 6 January it has not been located.
“We are treating this very seriously and, in line with our procedures, the case has been escalated to the Postal Review Panel, which is working directly with the customer to reach a resolution.
“Customers are always advised to select a compensation level appropriate to the value of the item they are sending.”
Despite “many further attempts” to contact Royal Mail, Nikoo still didn’t have an answer as to where her bracelets were. On January 6, she received a tracking update on her phone claiming that her parcel had been “returned to sender” – without it being delivered.
“I just want this to be over,” Nikoo explained. “Those bracelets meant to much to me – and I was excited to have passed one down to my daughter. I’m shocked at the way my complaint has been handled. Now I may have to kiss £15,000 worth of jewellery goodbye.”
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