Some update news: After the judgement was issued on 27/09/2017 I received a letter from the court confirming the judgement had been issued, I waited two weeks to see if myHermes would pay up on their own accord, they didn't. On 17/10/2017 I submitted an online ticket to myHermes stating the details of the judgement and requesting their payment, and on 26/10/2017 I got the following response: Thank you for contacting myHermes. Further to your enquiry, we apologise for the inconvenience and frustration caused to you. Unfortunately, as previously advised we are unable to compensate any further for this item due to the item been excluded. If we can be of any further assistance please do not hesitate to contact us. Kind regards, So on 26/10/2017 I requested a warrant through MCOL The warrant was issued on 27/10/2017 The final return (result) for the warrant was received on 07/11/2017. I couldn't find details on MCOL as to whether this meant the bailiffs had collected any money or not, so I contacted Leeds County Court and they confirmed that myHermes have settled the warrant in full, and I will receive a check when the court does the next payment run. Thank you to everyone that helped me with this. Perseverance certainly paid off!

According to MCOL my judgement has been issued. Your judgment against Hermes Parcelnet Ltd was issued on 27/09/2017 at 19:23:14 Does that mean Hermes now have to pay? I'm struggling to find information about what happens next.

Thank you BankFodder, Request for Judgment submitted today

Sorry I haven't updated in a while, the birth of my daughter came 4 weeks early so I've been a bit pressed for time! My County Court Claim was submitted on 03/09/2017, and was issued on 04/09/2017. I take it this means it was deemed as Served on 09/09/2017 (5 days after issued) On 12/09/2017 I received the below email from myHermes responding to my Letter Before Action. They erroneously refer to my item being broken rather than lost, and have refunded the £12.49 Shipping and Insurance fee. Response By E-mail (Karen) (12/09/2017 09.00 AM) Dear Alex, Regarding parcel number: XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX Thank you for contacting myHermes via letter. My name is Karen Murphy and I work within the Customer Relations Department at myHermes. I apologise for the delay in response; this is due to an unprecedented increase in queries and we are working to assist with all enquiries as soon as possible. I am sorry that your coffee machine was damaged in transit. Our services use a varied network of service provider's, depots, and sorting facilities. Throughout our operational process there are a number of occasions where the parcels will leave the care of our service provider's/handlers and instead will be handled through sorting machinery and conveyor belts. As such, any instructions on the parcel e.g. Fragile/This Way Up cannot be followed directly. For this reason, we communicate on our site a comprehensive list of both restricted and prohibited items, as we cannot guarantee safe transit during this process. Please refer to: myhermes.co.uk/help/carry-guide.html Excluded items We have listed below Excluded Items. Excluded items are goods which Hermes will carry but, are sent at your own risk. Hermes will not compensate you for loss, damage or late delivery of Excluded Items. Kitchen Appliances - White goods/coffee machines/microwaves However, as a gesture of goodwill, I have refunded your postage costs of £12.49 back to the original payment method. Please allow 3-5 working days for this to be processed. Though Hermes Parcelnet Limited is not regulated in the same way as Royal Mail, it is through Ofcom, specifically, The Postal Redress Service (POSTRS) that complaints can be escalated if you feel we have not satisfied your enquiry through our complaints process. To clarify, POSTRS, is an independent body whose role is to resolve disputes between regulated postal operators and their customers. Alternatively, you may wish to contact your Local Trading Standards Authority to further assist you. We sympathise with any frustration and inconvenience you feel has been caused as a result of this matter. Hermes strives to provide outstanding delivery and customer service and we understand that on this occasion we have not met your expectations. Thank you for your feedback throughout. Kind regards Karen Murphy Customer Relations Advisor myHermes Customer Relations Department As 14 days have now passed since the Court Claim was Served, and there has not been a response to the court claim I believe I can now request judgement for the figure minus the £12.49 I have been refunded but adding on the interest accrued. Is this correct? If so I shall go ahead with judgement.

On the claim form it said to claim interest from the date the money became owed. So I used the date Hermes confirmed the item had been lost as the start date.

Thank you for the confirmation BankFodder. The statement came from one of your posts in another thread, so thanks again for your help! County Court claim has been submitted today.

Unsurprisingly myHermes have not responded to my LBA within the 14 days. I am now going through the process of submitting a County Court Claim. For the short statement I am going to include the following: The defendants are a parcel delivery company. On 07/08/2017 the defendants agreed to deliver the claimant's parcel containing a coffee machine, value £200, to an address in the UK. The delivery fee was £12.49 which was paid by the claimant. Reference no. XXXXXXXXXXXX The defendants failed to deliver the parcel and have subsequently reported it as lost. The defendants refuse to refund the value of the coffee machine and the delivery fee. The claimant seeks £200.00 - value of Coffee Machine £12.49 wasted delivery fee Total: £212.49 Is there any other information I should submit at this time? I have included interest which brings the total claimed to £213.47, but I don't think I need to include that in the statement as there are other fields for that. Thanks for the help.

Thanks for the help, LBA went off today. I'll post an update when I get a response or when I submit the county court paperwork.

Thank you so much for your advice! Yes, thankfully I do have evidence that I told them in advance that it was a coffee machine, I'll include that with my letter. I've updated the value be sought, added in the section about materially affecting risk, and that they knew ahead of time the contents. Thanks again for your help. Name & Address of Customer 16th August 2017 Letter before Action Dear Sirs Reference Number of Parcel and value As I have already informed you via your online chat on 12/08/2017, on 07/08/2017 you contracted to transport my parcel and to deliver it to (insert address of recipient). In breach of the contract you have failed to do this as you have since informed me that the parcel is lost. I informed you at the time of booking the delivery that the content of the parcel was a coffee machine, the fact that the parcel was a coffee machine did not materially affect the risk of the parcel being lost, unless you are able to demonstrate otherwise. I enclose documentary evidence of the value of the parcel, and that I declared the contents to be a coffee machine valued at £200.00. I require repayment of that sum in full and the wasted delivery fee, which amounts to £212.49. If I do not receive reimbursement in full within 14 days then I shall begin a small claim in the county court to recover the money, plus interest and without any further notice. Yours faithfully

In Brief: I sold a coffee machine on eBay, and sent the parcel via myHermes. They have since lost the parcel and have refused to pay compensation on the coffee machine as it appears on their extensive list of ‘excluded’ items. Having read through a similar case /showthread.php?456708-Hermes-Extra-Charges-but-lost-Item I feel I have a good chance to take this to the small claims court to get compensation. I’ve not had to do this before so if I could get some advice on the letter before action before I send it, I would really appreciate it. In Detail: 06/08/2017 The coffee machine sold on ebay for £215.00 +£9.50p&p, the coffee machine was brand new (an unwanted gift) and still in the original shipping packaging. 07/08/2017 Via the myHermes website I purchased shipping which cost £6.79, I also took out insurance for the coffee machine at an additional £5.70. At the time of purchasing I told them that the parcel contained a coffee machine. I securely attached the shipping notification and dropped the parcel off at my local myHermes ParcelShop. Later that day the parcel shows as received on myHermes online tracking. Somethings to note: I clicked on the link to the list of prohibited and excluded items (myhermes.co.uk/help/carry-guide.html#helppage), however I didn’t see the full list of excluded items below which explicitly lists coffee machines as being excluded. I also mistakenly entered the value of the coffee machine as £200.00 instead of the full £215.00 08/08/2017 Parcel shows as being at national hub 09/08/2017 Parcel shows as being at receivers local hub and out for delivery. Unfortunately the tracking does not get updated beyond ‘out for delivery’. 12/08/2017 Buyer contacts me to let me know parcel hasn’t arrived and myHermes will not update him. I contact myHermes online chat and they tell me they will look for my parcel and update me by Monday 14/08/2017. (full chat log can be provided if required) 13/08/2017 myHermes email me to ask for the following details of the parcel to help find it: (full email can be provided if required) 1. Contents of the parcel 2. Description of the outer packaging of the parcel. 3. Size of the parcel. 4. Weight of the parcel. I responded to the email giving them the details, and also included pictures of the parcel I had taken before posting. 14/08/2017 myHermes email me to let me know they can not locate the parcel and that I should submit a claim for compensation. (full email can be provided if required) I submitted an online claim which didn’t ask for the value being claimed but asked for details of the ebay listing to prove the value of the Coffee Machine. I received an automated email acknowledging receipt of the claim. (full email can be provided if required) 15/08/2017 myHermes email me to inform me: We have assessed your claim and on this occasion we are unable to offer you a settlement; the contents of the parcel are excluded from compensation for Loss. (full email can be provided if required) I regretfully replied to the email while being very angry. I asked how they can have an extensive list of excluded items which essentially gives their staff impunity to steal items off that list, and are they not going to even offer to refund the delivery cost. (full email can be provided if required). As yet they have not replied to that email. The buyer requested a refund, and as per eBay rules as the parcel has been in transit for over 7 days I will need to refund the buyer. Draft Letter Before Action Name & Address of Customer 16th August 2017 Letter before Action Dear Sirs Reference Number of Parcel and value As I have already informed you via your online chat on 12/08/2017, on 07/08/2017 you contracted to transport my parcel and to deliver it to (insert address of recipient). In breach of the contract you have failed to do this as you have since informed me that the parcel is lost. The content of the parcel was a coffee machine and I enclose documentary evidence of the value of the parcel. I require repayment of that sum in full and the wasted delivery fee, which amounts to £227.49. If I do not receive reimbursement in full within 14 days then I shall begin a small claim in the county court to recover the money, plus interest and without any further notice. Yours faithfully Do I need to put the full £227.49 in the title? I will include a printout of the completed eBay listing, and the myHermes invoice as proof of value. I don’t need to include anything else at this stage do I? Any help provided would be greatly received.