I sold an item on Etsy sent with myhermes and my customer didn’t receive it. The item was posted on December 11th but the buyer didn’t inform me they had not received until January 15th. I informed myhermes who said that they could not locate the parcel but would not pay compensation as I informed them after 28 days. The item is worth £20 so within the standard compensation rate.

their terms state:

You must notify us in writing of any claim for Loss or Damage or Late Delivery within 28 days of the date of the relevant Order. If you fail to do so, we will not be liable to you for it, except where you are able to prove that it was not possible for you to notify us of your claim in writing within this time limit.

I offered as proof that I could not notify them as my buyer had not informed me of the loss. They have refused this as proof stating that proof is only where the sender has been hospitalised?! IÂ’ve asked them to clarify the proof term and direct me to where this is written in their terms but they canÂ’t provide this.

IÂ’d appreciate some help with moving forward with this please.

Are they within their rights to refuse compensation and put a 28 day limit on informing them of a lost parcel?

Can they refuse as proof the fact that I was not informed of the loss by my customer before the 28 day period?

More rubbish from Hermes.

No they aren't within their rights to impose time limits for reporting a breach of contract. The action they are taking is unfair and of course it is unenforceable.

You have six years from the date of any breach to bring a court action and I suggest that this is what you should do.

Our usual experience of Hermes is that when you stand up to them they eventually cave in – although you might need to issue the court papers. However, you might have somebody who is really stupid in control of the case at their end and they might even decide to go to court and to defend their corner. There is scarcely a chance that they might win. However you should be prepared to do this if necessary.

Somebody really ought to report Hermes to Trading Standards because this is also an example of unfair trading and frankly I have the impression that they do it far too often.

If you are prepared to take firm action against them – which includes threatening legal proceedings, possibly issuing legal proceedings – and then if they don't back down going to court – then we will help you.

As I say, there is scarcely any chance that they will want to spend the kind of money that they would need to in order to defend against this case if you decided to bring it.

Please can you tell us the full value of your losses and this means the value of the item and the cost of delivery. Also, the cost of packaging. Also tell us if this is caused you any inconvenience.

You say that you you send this item to a customer. That suggest to me that you are a trader and so the only downside for you is that if it went to court you would have to attend their local court because in all likelihood that is where it would be transferred to it.

Do you have a Hermes branch very close to you?

What was it that you sent?

Thank you for your reply. That’s great to hear that they can’t impose this 28 day limit.

It was a cushion total worth including postage cost and packaging was £23.60. I don’t feel it’s worth my time and energy to take this to court but I will give Citizens advice a call and see if they will report to trading standards. I don’t have a branch close to me.

I will send them a strongly worded complaint, see what happens and report back.

There are so many people affected by the unfair tactics of this company that if you are prepared to take a slightly larger view, then it is certainly worth taking to court. Believe me.

As I say, the chances of them wanting to defend this are vanishingly remote. We can help you start up a claim using MoneyClaim online. It would mean that you have to spend £25 on the claim fee – but you will get it back.

Of course it's up to you because you understand your priorities better than anybody else. However, every time they are allowed to get away with it – other people suffer. As for informing citizens advice and then trading standards – there will be zero effect.

So????

Just received compensation this week. I escalated to a formal complaint, received an appology and the refund was sorted in days.

There is no point arguing the point with the first port of call staff, their job seemed to be to fob me off in any way they could. I argued that they were violating my consumer rights under the 2015 act with the 28 day claim period. Also, that if they couldn’t provide me with written terms to define what constitutes proof then my offered proof was reasonable and sufficient.

I also said I was moving my business to another courier until the matter was resolved. Because of this I’ve found that the post office drop and go service is much more convenient than it was when I had to queue, and will be using them for all my smaller packages. Frustrating that I had to argue this at all and long-term its not been a great business decision for them.

Well done – and thank you very much indeed for updating us.