Morning all,

I have an interesting but perhaps a rather open and shut case with TNT Direct aka Parcel2Go.

Purchased courier service to transport a PC from my home to a close friend in the USA. Paid £68.46 on 15/11/2018 for collection on 19/11/2018. Delivery within 1 - 3 days but confirmed for 22/11/2018.

Customs paperwork and FCC 740 form was completed and provided.

There is very little information out there on how to complete the FCC 740 form but after finding the example version on the FedEx website I completed it and attached with the parcel.

19/11/2018 TNT arrived to collect Parcel and it was handed over.

22/11/2018 comes and no updates on the tracking information.

I contacted TNT Direct / P2G via webchat and was told they were missing the FCC 740 form and the parcel was being held in their depot.

I explained to them that I had already included the FCC 740 with the customs paperwork as per the instructions.

Nevertheless they requested duplicates and I provided those the same day in good faith.

23/11/2018 TNT bring the parcel back to my home address.

I was in but as I was not expecting any callers I did not answer the door.

So the parcel was taken back to the depot.

I contacted TNT and explained what had happened, they advised me it would be resolved and the parcel delivered.

27/11/2018 still no updates on tracking so contacted by webchat again.

Was told they did send over the duplicate forms and contacted the depot but this was not followed through correctly.

29/11/2018 Parcel Delivered - But tracking information not showing this and P2G / TNT completely unaware of this also!

03/12/2018 still no tracking updates so another web chat.

This time they opened an investigation.

But this time I was told "Good afternoon, Order number This is in transit now"

06/12/2018 again no tracking updates so contacted them again and was told an investigation would be opened again and they would contact me within 1 - 2 working days.

11/12/2018 still no updates so I contact them again and begin to lose patience and this is where things started to get a little interesting.

I was told: "Consignment showing as Delivered by FedEx 29/11/2018" I had already mentioned and was advised on delivery that a refund would be "looked into" because of the lengthy delay for delivery. But nevertheless the agent I spoke with used just about every excuse under the sun to blame me for the late delivery and said a refund was not possible.

When I didn't take no for an answer he then tried to change the date the parcel was sent to the 27/11/2018 so delivery was made within the 1 - 3 days.

I wasn't having that either.

I then used the example of public transport and that a service is not guaranteed to arrive at the time advertised in the timetable.

But if there is a delay the operator will compensate (obviously I know there are exclusions to this, but the principle remains the same) the passenger for late arrival.

The agent then tried to say that a service guarantee was not purchased, but this was never offered on the website in the first instance.

But go and look at the TNT Direct website for this nice little extract on parcels to the USA:

https://direct.tnt.co.uk/services/parcel-delivery-to-usa

So a guaranteed service is not a guaranteed service it seems...

But the absolute icing on the cake are the terms and conditions on the TNT Direct website: https://direct.tnt.co.uk/legal/terms-and-conditions

But the agent seemed to think that the terms and conditions I agreed to are these, on a completely different website: https://www.parcel2go.com/content/about-terms.aspx

When I advised the agent they had contradicted themselves they tried to blame the delay for delivery was because of the address used and not because of the paperwork.

I had the PC sent to my friends work address, which is a small bank branch in the USA which has a mailroom on site.

They use PO Boxes for each staff member, But the mailroom is small enough that staff would know who a parcel should go, even if the PO Box was not put on the label.

But nevertheless this is a moot point as they still accepted the order and carried out the contract in a rather amateurish manner.

But it just goes to show how they tried to use every excuse available to avoid being responsible.

I'm going to take this on as I am satisfied I did not receive the service I paid for, which was delivery within 1 - 3 working days.

If they offered a 50% refund at the time of conversation, I would probably have accepted that as they still provided part of the service paid for.

Now I most likely will not and am going to look into doing a chargeback for the service.

I'm reasonably comfortable with handling this without too much input.

But I wanted to document this in case anyone else has the same problem with TNT Direct / P2G.

Is it worth writing a formal complaint to the executive office for this or should I just do a chargeback and see what happens?

Oh and the tracking website still has the parcel in Liege Euro Hub... So I have no actual proof of delivery, just their agents say so...

Just an update here. I decided to try the "Lets be nice" approach again and spoke with TNT Direct again today. I pointed out how their website stated about keeping to a delivery guarantee and I was given a full refund as a gesture of goodwill.

I was told about using PO Boxes and explained this was an error on my part and that "Employee Box" should've been used instead. I did counter this and re-enforce that as TNT accepted the address given that it did not waive them of their obligations under contract because they still choose to accept the contract. But I also said I would not use the service for PO Boxes in future.

Refund in 5 - 7 working days and will update once received.

Refund received. This can be marked as resolved

ofcourse