In January I returned my daughter's Christmas present to the shop to be exchanged.

I booked using Parcel2go and they in turn used myHermes as the courier. T

he parcel was lost.

My problem is this...I dropped the parcel at a drop off shop.

I returned to the shop and they looked on the CCTV for me and it clearly shows my parcel being collected by the myHermes courier.

The parcel was never scanned in not once.

Parcel2go claim that they they have no liability due to their t's & c's.

My understanding is that if the t's and c's are unreasonable then they can be held liable?

They have offered me a refund to the value of the insurance that I took out (which is less than the true value).

I am claiming the full value of the goods that they lost

- this is purely because I know that the courier never once scanned the item.

Had they followed their own procedure and still lost the item I would have accepted the insurance money.

Surely they can't just do what they want with people's parcels and never be accountable?

Advice please,

I have sent a letter before action and they haven't moved so next stop is court action.

Thanks in advance for helpful comments

There are numerous threads about the dreadful customer service of My Hermes. At the end of the day they have a duty of care to look after items in their care whether you took out their worthless 'insurance' or not.

They are prevaricating hoping you will just give up and forget the whole thing. The majority of those who suffer losses at their hands tend to give up thinking it is not worthwhile taking them on. You will find if you stick to your guns they will give up and you will get what you are claiming.

Anyway have a read of this thread - much useful information about how to deal with these cowboys:

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?456708-Hermes-Extra-Charges-but-lost-Item

Good luck if you decide to take them on - be prepared for a long haul unless you are lucky and they decide cough up early.

I think that the main question you are asking here is whether you should be suing Hermes or Parcel2Go.

On the basis that you made the booking through Parcel2go, you paid them and the contract was with them, then you should certainly be suing Parcel2go.

It's a standard kind of trick for Parcel2go to try and fob off onto Hermes. If you tried to attack Hermes, they would simply say that it was not their liability and that you should be suing Parcel2go. In other words you would be Piggy-in-the-Middle.

You haven't told us what the value of this item is all the costs involved with sending it.

Also, you haven't told us how long ago you sent the letter before action.

I have to say that I get a bit concerned when people start banging off letters before action and then come to us and ask us what they should do.

By the time you send off a letter before action, you should be very certain of the step you're taking and what the steps are after that. A letter before action sets a deadline for action and at the end of that deadline, the action should be taken. People who send letters before action and then don't follow them up lose all credibility.

When you send an LBA, you must intend to take the action you are threatening. It's not worth bluffing.

Please can you tell us more about the LBA and what you said.

Hi, thank you both for your replies-most helpful. I've only just found this website, or else I'd have definitely enquired before.

My friend put me on to you after talking about this problem over the weekend.

The value of the items is just under £800.

I insured for £200 ( foolish I now know but I've never had a problem before) and like I said I would have taken it on the chin if I believed that all procedure had been followed but now I've found out that the parcel was never scanned this seems to me to be a gross lack of care with my parcel.

The letter before action was sent last week and responded to on Thursday (so just short of a week ago).

Saying that they won't offer anything more than the amount insured.

The cost of postage and insurance was about £17.

Many thanks for your help.

Well it's now up to you to decide if you want to go ahead. From the evidence you have, it seems to me that you have an excellent argument. Have you got the evidence written down nor have you got copy of the video? This is very important.

You can't simply going to court and say you saw this blah blah or you heard someone say this blah blah or a shop agree with you blah blah.

You need to have it down in black and white – and once again, this should all be prepared before sending off LBA.

If you sue Parcel2go, I expect that eventually their defence will simply be that you took out the insurance that you underinsured and therefore that they are only limited to the extent of the insurance.

This is the standard position of most courier companies. I'd be very grateful if you could link as to the terms and conditions of their insurance. I'd like to know how it is expressed?

However, my feeling about this has long been that if you pay someone to do a job, then you expect that job to be done. If they fail to do it then they should pay you for the losses that you have suffered as a result.

I find it extraordinary that the courier/delivery industry has effectively managed to develop a culture where you must pay for a job to be done and then you must go on to pay some extra insurance to protect you in case the job is not done. There are not many industries that have managed to pull off this trick. It is essentially like getting an extended warranty and it is the equivalent of selling you duplicate rights.

I'm quite clear in my mind that it is Parcel2go who should take out insurance against the failure of the delivery. It is they who should be insured against negligence or failure of their systems. As far as I'm concerned when you pay hundred percent of your purchase price, then you are entitled to hundred percent of the service. You shouldn't have to pay 110% – the extra 10% just to make sure that the job is done properly and to cover you if it isn't.

Breach of contract damages are intended to put you into the position that you would have been if the contract had been properly carried out. You don't have to pay extra insurance for this.

If you want to take this case forward then we will be very happy to help you. I think that there is a point which needs to be made here and maybe you are the person to help make it for us.

On the other hand, it is entirely possible that Parcel2go might put their hands up once the court papers are issued – but you can't sure of this.

I'm not sure of the cost of issuing this claim for about £800 plus any expenses but it might well be about £150 or so. After that, if Parcel2go decide to brave it out then you would have to pay a hearing fee which is about £300. If you win the case and of course you will get all of these fees back. However, you need to be aware of the financial risk.

You will have to provide some evidence of the contents of the lost packet and also evidence of the value of those contents.

If you want to go ahead then let us know and of course the first thing you will have to do is register with the County Court website – money claim. You can draft your claim there – but don't click anything off until you let us know what you are putting so that we can advise you as to whether we think it needs any changes.

Please will you post up your letter before action here having redacted it for identifiers please

Hi, thanks again for your response. I'm able to provide evidence in the form of receipts etc for the items in the parcel and I already have a letter from the shop stating that the items were never received. Please see below my redacted letter before action that was sent last week. I'm ok with risking the court costs as I feel that the way that this business is being run is unethical. We have businesses ourselves and have to insure against mistakes (public, product, employer liability). Like you say, how the courier companies have got away with putting the onus on the consumer to accept this risk I don't understand. Surely this 'untouchable' philosophy allows a culture of unaccountability to develop within the workforce. Would anyone know if I could be liable for the legal costs of the respondent if I were to lose the case? That's my main concern.

Managing Director

Head Office

Parcel2go

The Cube

Coe Street

Bolton

BL3 6BU

10th April 2017

Ref number:

Claim ref:

LETTER BEFORE ACTION

Dear Sir/Madam,

As it has not been possible to resolve this matter amicably, and it is apparent that court action may be necessary, I write in compliance with the Practice Direction on Pre-Action Conduct.

On the 31st January 2017 my parcel was dropped off at a ‘One Stop Shop’ for delivery by myHermes using Parcel2go as the intermediary company through whom the service was booked. This same parcel was collected approximately 45 minutes later by the myHermes courier. This is clearly seen on the CCTV footage from the day. It is also clearly seen that not one of the parcels that this courier collected was scanned. In fact, there is no handheld scanner to be seen. Subsequently my parcel has been lost and I am now substantially financially disadvantaged and have spent a lot of time trying to locate the parcel and find out information from parcel2go.

The parcel that was lost included two Christmas presents that I was returning to the shop for my daughter. Ironically, one of them we loved but couldn’t afford so we were sending it back to ask for the cheaper version. The cost of these riding hats was £470 and £199. These were going back to the shop to be refunded. I am also out of pocket for the cost of the service that Parcel2go clearly didn’t provide. This cost was £17.32.

I paid for separate insurance of £200. Due to your employee’s negligence, I am requesting that you make up the shortfall in my loss. Had I not had any insurance I would be requesting that Parcel2go paid the full amount. To be clear, I do not accept Parcel2go’s offer of £169.02. I am also requesting that the cost of the service that was not be provided to me be refunded, this is £17.32.

I find that your service has been negligent and that you have not taken a reasonable amount of care with my items. This is clearly evidenced on the CCTV footage of the collection.

I do not believe that it is fair that I am substantially out of pocket (and time) due to your company not following its own procedure. By failing to scan the items upon collection you have not ensured a reasonable amount of care is taken with your customers’ items. Indeed, questions should be asked of the employee who collected the parcel from the One Stop Shop as to why the parcel wasn’t scanned and also why the parcel wasn’t scanned on arrival at the depot. Either the parcel never arrived at the depot, or your company has failed during at least two points along the procedural chain. If the former is the case, then could this be a matter for the police to investigate?

At this point I am not charging you for my time. If this case continues then I will have no option but to pursue this through the small claims court. This will then incur costs to me that will be passed onto yourselves in my claim. I would be surprised if your other customers would be pleased to know that this is the way their parcels and customers are treated.

I can confirm that I would be agreeable to mediation and would consider any other system of Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) in order to avoid the need for this matter to be resolved by the courts. I would invite you to put forward any proposals in this regard.

During a web chat with you employee your terms and conditions were brought to my attention. The clause states that "If we are liable to you for any reason, we shall (subject always to clause 7) only be liable to refund to you the cost paid for the Service(s), unless you have purchased compensation cover for your Consignment from us". However, I find this clause in your terms and conditions to be unfair. This is saying that you can do whatever you want with a customer’s parcel and you will not be liable to provide any compensation. I believe this ‘causes a significant imbalance between the rights of the retailer and consumer to the detriment of the consumer’ as stated in the consumer rights Act 2015.

In conclusion, I reject Parcel2go’s offer of £169.02 and from Parcel2go I am claiming that the full amount of the value of the goods (£470+£199) and services (£17.32), be reimbursed to me which equates to £686.32.

Listed below are the documents that I wish to rely on which have already been provided to Parcel2go on your website.

Receipt for hat to the value of £199

Receipt for hat to the value of £470

Letter from recipient stating that the items were not received

Copy of receipt given when parcel was handed over at the ‘One Stop Shop’

This list is not exhaustive and I reserve the right to add to this as necessary.

In closing, I would draw your attention to paragraphs 15 and 16 of the Practice Direction which gives the courts the power to impose sanctions on the parties if they fail to comply with the direction including failing to respond to this letter before claim.

I await an acknowledgment of this letter within 14 days and a full response within 30 days of the date of this letter. Should I not receive a response to my letter within this time frame, then I anticipate that court action will be commenced with no further reference to you.

Yours faithfully,

Thank you.

It's a bit verbose but it will do. It probably could have been done in about three or four lines.

I'm afraid that you won't be able to reclaim the expenses for your time. This kind of thing is not normally recoverable in a small claims action.

You seem to have given them 30 days before you will take action. This was not necessary. It won't make any difference to them. It simply draws out. A normal letter before action gives 14 days and in fact this is all which is required by the pre-action protocol.

Have you registered with MoneyClaim yet?

You should do this straightaway and start typing up a draft claim. You can save your work and you don't need to fire it off until you are ready and also the deadline has expired. You may as well start getting ready now.

Copy what you do on to this thread so we can see and advise you as to any changes.

You will be able to claim for the value of the lost items, the cost of the service and also any other verifiable expenses as long as they were reasonable – phone calls, travel et cetera.

If these ancillary losses are not significant then frankly to save complicating the issue I would simply stick with the value of the items and the cost of the service. However, it's up to you.

At the end you will make a claim for interest on the total.

You say that these were your daughter's gifts. That means that it has nothing to do with your business – I hope.

If you claim as a business then the case will be heard at the local court of the defendant. This would put you at a disadvantage.

If you are claiming as an individual then as a litigant in person against business, the claim will be heard at your local court which will add an extra level of complication for your defendant – which is no bad thing. However, be aware that if you lose, then there reasonable costs of travel might be added to the costs that you would have to pay.

Thank you. No it was my daughter's Christmas present, we don't sell to the public. I'll get on with the MoneyClaim then. Thanks again, it's a bit daunting so I admit I was hesitating about going to court despite feeling that it wasn't fair....but with yours and aburobert's advice I'll get on with it. Will keep you updated.

I suggest that you don't do anything or send anything without checking with us first.

Now that you have come to us for advice, you may as well follow it