Is it worth checking 'Yes' to mediation? I have read BankFodder's post on mediation in small claims and it seems as though it is not favourable.

Today courts expect all parties to participate in mediation as its away forward to resolve matters without further costs and using Courts resources......in fact any party failing to participate can be penalised when it comes to deciding costs and have sanctions imposed.

Just because your agreeing to mediation does not mean ( from a claimants perspective ) you are showing weakness or prepared to accept less than the value of your claim.

To proceed without will mean further costs (Hearing fee) your time and expense and possible loss of earnings etc etc...so for arguments sake you could agree the debt amount only net of any interest (sec69) and save on hearings fees and expense as stated....if they are prepared to settle...but you would never know unless you participated ?

Andy

Yes, it seems reasonable to give it a go and see what happens. I don't have to settle if they want to fob me off with a bad offer. I would very happily accept the debt amount minus interest plus court fee.

Cheers

Following with interest to see if the judge would bite the "extra cover insurance" rubbish.

I always thought that it's unfair for a courier to be liable for postage costs only.

One could start a dodgy business charging very little for delivery and extortionate price for "insurance".

Customers would be lured in by the cheap price and don't bother with insurance.

Then the company could keep all parcels and refund postage costs.

Surely if i pay a courier to deliver a parcel and they don't, they're liable for consequential losses.

Obviously there must be a limit on what value items can be sent, but £0 seems a bit low.

Even then, what happened broke their own T&Cs as the courier did not use 'reasonable care and skill'.

On the first delivery attempt the courier left a note saying 'unsafe to leave parcel'.

Then when they delivered it, they just left it in the front garden which is pretty blatantly not carefully or skillfully.

Well, the update is that I will have a mediation with Parcel2Go on the 4th of April.

I'm optimistic of the outcome, however if they do not offer the cost of the laptop back to me it will go to court.

I still don't think they will let it go that far - ie they'll settle the claim. But lets see what happens!

Thanks for all the help,

Nick

I have just finished the Mediation appointment of which the result has been that they are going to pay me back £240 which is the worth of the laptop that I sold.

I stuck to my guns and declined Parcel2Go's offer of £160 and then £200.

This just shows to any others out there dealing with this issue is that these courier companies are not willing to go to court.

I was willing, because I had the evidence and was confident in my case. So it's a game of bluffing.

I probably could have got my £25 court fee back but I just forgot to mention that when the mediator asked me what I was willing to accept.

All in all, I am very happy and hope this victory can encourage others.

Thanks to all those that helped me navigate this rather intimidating process!

Nick

Well done Wastie345...see mediation can be productive

Thread title amended to reflect the outcome.

Regards

Andy

Very well done.

I have no confidence in mediation for these kind of things because they are generally used by companies to try and force their customers to compromise when in fact no compromise should be necessary. I suppose Parcel2go waterway feeling smug that they managed to get away with the £25 court fee. It certainly shows that they are prepared to give in when cornered. I wonder how much Parcel2go spent on trying to deprive you of your rights? A lot more than it was worth, I'm quite sure.

I think the advice to people who go to mediation in the future – and I really don't recommend it – is to make a checklist of things that they want so they don't forget the court fee.

I'm glad you succeeded. On another level I'm sorry that they weren't taken to court and that they had a judgement against them which would encourage others even more.