Packlink/Hermes parcel delivered with its contents stolen ***Settled in Full***

[Mauro_Shampoo]

Hi guys, first of all I wanted to say that it was great finding you and to see all the people you've helped with similar issues. eBay, Hermes, and Packlink are very difficult to work with and don't have any ombudsman services (or similar resources), so really apprecciate your work!

 

I have read a few threads and feel like my case is a bit different form the traditional damaged / lost parcel, so would love your guidance:

 

• I sold a computer GPU for £290 on eBay and posted it to the buyer using Packlink/Hermes
• I dropped off my parcel (the GPU in its original box wrapped with 2 layers of brown paper) at a Hermes collection point (off licence) on Friday, Aug 20
• On Monday, Aug 23, the parcel was delievered to the buyer but, instead of having the GPU inside, it had an Asos box with a pair of sandals!
• The picture of the parcel delivered on the Hermes website shows that the parcel that was delivered has the same label and brown paper packaging I used, but whereas I had tightly wrapped the GPU box, the one delivered one is very loose and baggy, and you can see the Asos box through it
• So: either at the parcel shop or the Hermes warehouse someone stole the Graphics Card and replaced it with a worthless pair of shoes.
• On Aug 24th I contacted eBay and they told me to fully refund the buyer (which I did) and open a claim with Packlink
• I then opened a claim with Packlink explaining the situation and told them I had reported the theft of the GPU to the Met Police, and sharing the report and crime reference numbers
• On Sept 8th, Packlink messaged me saying "After completing the investigation with the carrier the shipment has been confirmed as lost. I am writing to let you know that the dossier has been transferred to the Claims department for the final evaluation. The Claim Department will now analyse the documents and evidence provided and give you an answer as soon as possible. From this communication we aim to settle to your claim within 30 days."
• Today, Packlink claims messaged me saying they were sending a "Goods Compensation" of £25,00 + "Postage cost refund" of £4,20and that "With this settlement letter, all future legal obligations against us are satisfied."
• I replied to them that "I do not accept this resolution nor that 'With this settlement letter, all future legal obligations against us are satisfied.' This is not a simple case of a parcel that was accidentally lost or damaged, but rather one that had the outer packaging opened and its contents replaced while under your custody, so what I want from Packlink is to be refunded the full value of the product (£290) + postage (£5.78)."

 

I am still waiting for their answer but wanted to share this story here in case someone else had the same happen to them. I'd also like to ask what are my options from here.

 

Thanks!

[BankFodder]

Lots of people have had it to them. No surprises and we are dealing with this very often.

We can probably help you get your money back. Please start off by doing the reading. There are lots of stories on this sub- forum about people who have had similar experiences to you and with our help have made claims which have been successful.

Please read up the story so you understand how it normally goes and also the various arguments and then come back here.

Also monitor this thread for a further reply later

[BankFodder]

Packlink are based in Spain so it's not possible to bring a claim against them. If you end up being the court claim – as you will probably have to do, then you will have to bring against Hermes. If you have done your reading you will understand that Hermes will try to say that you don't have a contract with them. If you have done your reading you will then understand why this argument doesn't work and you enjoy full rights to bring an action against Hermes.

However, we've had one or two surprising results with Packlink suddenly making payments in full as a "gesture of goodwill" so it is possible that you might get this settled without having to go to court.

Please do the reading. It's very important. Also, make a complaint directly to Hermes that one of their employees or contractors of stolen goods and that you want full reimbursement.

They will probably knock you back that in about 10 days time if they have either not you back or if you haven't heard anything then come back here and we will take you through the next stage.

However, please do understand that this is a self-help forum. We will direct you and help you produce your letters and claim forms that you must do the reading other people's experience to see how it all works. That will give you greater confidence for a claim against Hermes and also against anybody else who causes you problems in the future

[Mauro_Shampoo]

@sussexbloke77 I am in a very similar situation myself and just wanted to confirm to which Hermes email address did you complain / send the letter of claim to?
Thanks!

[BankFodder]

We have just received a message from you asking why you can't send private messages.

The answer is you need to have made a certain number of posts before you can use the private messaging system.

This for two reasons:

• We have a big spamming problem and so in order to prevent spamming and protect us and our users, we have a minimum number of posts limit.
• All stories and responses and actions taken are posted on the open forum. This benefits everybody because it means that you are more likely to get responses from many people and also other people will benefit by learning from individual threads on this forum in general.

This is precisely why you managed to find this forum and you are finding it so useful.

Please keep everything on the open forum for your benefit and for the benefit of everyone else.
 

[Mauro_Shampoo]

Hi @BankFodder, thanks for all your help so far!

 

I have been reading up on different stories, yes - and they are indeed very useful. I've done all the steps with Packlink now (got their reply that they won't reimburse me over £25) and just sent this email to Hermes:

 

Quote

 

Dear Hermes team,

 

I sold this item: "PNY GeForce GTX 1660 6GB XLR8 Gaming Overclocked Edition MiniITX Graphics Card" for £290 on eBay and posted it to the buyer using Packlink/Hermes (tracking# H0067A0023139098). The parcel was dropped of at Sammi Stores, 464 Old Ford Road, London E3 5JP12:52 on Friday, Aug 20 and it was delivered to 3 Augustus St Ynysybwl, Pontypridd CF37 3LH at 13:25 on Monday, Aug 23.

 

Between these times and places it was tampered with and the item I posted was stolen and replaced with a worthless pair of sandals, which is what was delivered to the buyer. I have reported the theft of the graphics card to the Met Police, report and crime reference numbers: SP-116513-21-0101-00 / 4224689/21

 

On Aug 24th I opened a claim with Packlink and, on Sept 8th, Packlink messaged me saying "After completing the investigation with the carrier the shipment has been confirmed as lost. I am writing to let you know that the dossier has been transferred to the Claims department for the final evaluation." On Sept 16th, Packlink claims messaged me saying they were sending a "Goods Compensation" of £25,00 + "Postage cost refund" of £4,20.

 

I am contacting you as I do not find this outcome to be satisfactory - the insurance that you offer against your company’s negligence and failure to deliver my parcel is an unfair term under the Consumer Rights Act 2015 and therefore unenforceable.
 
I am requesting a full refund of the item price, £290, as well as the delivery fee, £5.78, totalling £ 266.58 (290 + 5.78 - 29.20 paid by Packlink).

 

Best regards,

Guilherme

 

 

From my understanding of the process, if there is no satisfactory reply to this after 10 days I should send them the Letter of Claim / Particulars of Claim (similar to these), correct?

 

Thanks for clarifying on the direct messages as well.

 

Cheers!

[BankFodder]

Yes that is broadly it.

Start preparing your letter of claim and post a draft of it here so we can check it.

Keep on with your reading.

[Mauro_Shampoo]

Thanks @Droony19, unfortunetely got this message when I emailed the address:
 

Quote

Thank you for your email. If you are replying to an email we have sent you, please be assured that the relevant team will be in touch with a response. If this is a new enquiry and you would like to contact us, we would ask that you visit https://www.myhermes.co.uk/help-and-support/contact-us, select 'get in touch' and follow a short series of questions. This inbox is not monitored and you will not receive a reply.

 

Hermes keeps me in a loop where the webchat tells me to call and the automated call tells me to go through the webchat, so I can't find a way to speak to anyone!

 

Will see if I can find a way to contact them on the forums here

[Mauro_Shampoo]

As a reference to anyone with similar problems, Hermes is making it incerasingly difficult for us to reach Customer support:

 

The following email addresses return an error if you try them directly: [email protected] ; [email protected] ; [email protected] ; [email protected]

 

Dialing 0330 808 5456 only gets you to an automated system that takes tracking# and gives status. It says that if more help is needed, to use webchat.

 

Webchat is also keeps you on this infinite loop of taking a tracking#, giving you order status and advising you to call the number above unless you:
1. Choose option "It's about something else"

2. "Sending"

3. "I need to report damage to my houyse or vehicle"

You can then paste your issue and add photos. This got me an incident# and someone from support to reach out via email.

 

Not ideal, but the only way I was able to get someone to contact me. Hope this helps other users

[Mauro_Shampoo]

Got the following reply from Hermes today (reference IDs/personal info omitted):

 

Quote

Staff Account XX via E-mail 21/09/2021 10.38 AM

Good Morning Guilherme,

Regarding Parcel Number XXXXXX.

Thank you for contacting Hermes.

I am sorry that your parcel was delivered to the recipient with the contents of your parcel missing, and that the a pair of sandals was inside the parcel when the customer received it. I know how frustrating this must be for you and the recipient.

 

Parcels go through several handling and transportation processes and on rare occasions, parcels may be damaged. If a parcel has been damaged, the depot will aim to re-seal or repackage a parcel before sending the parcel out for delivery. Unfortunately the contents of your parcel were lost and the parcel was repackaged with the incorrect contents.

 

While your parcel was sent using the Hermes network, Packlink are regarded as the carrier in this situation as they provided you with the shipping label. This means that any claims go directly through them. We are unable to compensate you directly. I can therefore only advise you to contact Packlink Shipping to discuss the concerns you have regarding compensation.

I am sorry for the inconvenience this has caused you. Should you require any further assistance, please do not hesitate in contacting us.

Kind Regards,

XXXXX
Customer Resolution Team
Hermes Customer Services
A: Hermes 1 Capitol Close Morley Leeds LS27 0WH

 

SHould I send them a letter of claim immediately? I was going to reply with the following:

 

"As stated in my initial email, I have seeked Packlink and they have partially compensated me with £29.20, an amount that I do not find satisfactory.

 

Even though this was purchased via 3rd parties (eBay Packlink), I am pursuing yourselves as I am entitled to do under the Contracts (Rights of Third Parties Act ) 1999).

 

I am requesting a full refund of the item price, £290, as well as the delivery fee, £5.78, totalling £ 266.58 (290 + 5.78 - 29.20 paid by Packlink).

 

If I do not receive a satisfactory response from you, I will issue a Letter of Claim with the intention to initiate proceedings against you in the county court."

 

Thanks!

[lenny100]

more people need to be reporting these cases to the police, even if it only a crime number, the numbers will get to a piont  the police will eventualy see there is a problem with this firm and it staff

 

Edited September 21, 2021 by lenny100

[BankFodder]

Why are you hiding the name of the Hermes person who wrote to you?

 

[Mauro_Shampoo]

I don't think I should be exposing personal information of any individuals and it's irrelevant to the question / process here.

[BankFodder]

No it's not. These are the people who are happily adopting arguments to try and thwart customers with legitimate claims and we don't think that we should be complicit in that.
It's not personal information is simply a person's name and their position in the company.

 

I'm going to add also that you are only one victim of thousands of others. Very few of the victims have been lucky enough to find this forum. The majority of the victims end up suffering their loss either because they accept what they are told by Hermes complaints handling staff or else because they simply give up because they don't know what to do.

Hermes have enlisted a whole staff of people who are prepared to send out messages to victims like yourself which are effectively misleading and are designed simply to protect Hermes. And now you want to protect those people.
Very noble
Bravo

[Mauro_Shampoo]

Hi @BankFodder, as you correctly mentioned, I am luck to have found this chat and this group. You and others are doing a great job here, but I wholeheartedly disagree with your point.

 

You cannot generalise that all Hermes employees are acting on purpose to try and take advantage of victims like myself. These are individuals who most likely are unaware of the legal requirements of the compnay and just trying to make a living working a cusotmer support job, so I will not expose any personal information on them - per GDPR laws, full names are personal information and should be protected.

 

If we were talking about executives who make it purposefully difficult to find supporet or have claims paid, then yes I'd agree they should have their personal information divulged, but just like it is irrelevant for me to know your name (or you mine), so is it that you know the customer support rep's.

 

I think we can all act towards a common goal, which is to help consumers, even with disagreemnts like this, but please feel free to continue to support me on this journey or not. Thanks again

[BankFodder]

Well you're quite wrong. Also you are wrong about GDPR. There are no data protection obligations towards the people. You have misunderstood how GDPR laws work.

Names which have been provided to you as a customer and which are then published on this forum are not part of the data protection regime. This issue has come up before and the information Commissioner supports our position.

We are actually publishers – just like any newspaper. I realise that you didn't know this.

We will continue to help you – but actually you are bringing comfort to Hermes. If their employees became uncomfortable about what they were doing then they will be less likely to feed misinformation to their customers.

Please don't tell me about common goals. We have been operating for 16 years and we have no skin in the game at all. We don't make money. We have nothing to claim for anybody. We do this simply as a matter of goodwill for you. We have a common goal I'm not sure that you are part of it.

 

Quote

Dear XXX

Reference number XXX – Letter of Claim.

Thank you for your letter of the XXX date.

it is disingenuous of you to suggest that the parcel was simply damaged and the contents went missing. It is quite clear that the item I sent was stolen by somebody connected with Hermes.
The important thing is that the parcel was in your care and as I am sure that you know, under the Contracts (Rights of Third Parties) Act 1999 I enjoy all the rights that a direct contracting party has and it is on this basis that I'm proposing to sue you for the declared value of the item plus costs.

 

If I do not have reimbursement in full within 14 days then I shall begin a claim in the County Court to recover all my money plus the court fees and without any further notice.

Incidentally I'm going to some lengths to conceal your identity from being published on social media. I've come under criticism for this but I believe that you don't know what you're doing and you aren't deliberately attempting to deceive me and deprive me of my consumer rights and that you also are simply an innocent victim of Hermes' policy in the way that I and many thousands of your customers are.

Yours sincerely




 

 

Send it or modify it so that it suits your taste

[dx100uk]

time to wise up Mauro_Shampoo

[Mauro_Shampoo]

I sent the Letter of Caim suggested by @BankFodderand got the following response:

 

Quote

 

I am truly sorry to hear that you have had such difficulty with our service. I'm afraid that we are unable to process any claims in which the delivery order was originally placed via eBay / Packlink. We are only able to process claims in which the delivery order was placed directly with ourselves.

 

I'm afraid that we are unable to provide any legal advice here, however, if you would like to discuss this further with our legal department, please send any litigation to the below address:-

 

Hermes Legal Department

Capitol House

1 Capitol Close

Morley

Leeds

LS27 0WH

 

Please accept my sincere apologies again for the inconvenience this may cause. I will now close this enquiry but you can reopen it by responding to this message, please don't hesitate to contact me if you would like to discuss this further.

 

 

Should I send another physical letter to their legal dept or can I proceed with a court claim directly 14 days after the email?

Thanks so much

[dx100uk]

send paploc to sols by royal mail

 

dx

[BankFodder]

If that was a response to the letter of claim then you should go ahead and issue the claim.

 

Post-up the draft particulars here so we can have a look.

 

Have you registered with the county court money claim service yet?

[Mauro_Shampoo]

I have not, will do that today and will post here the particulars of claim. Cheers

[BankFodder]

And you are still protecting these people who are giving you the runaround? And giving the runaround to thousands of others as well.
Bless.

I suppose it's probably Chloe Higgs again.

[Mauro_Shampoo]

Hi, I registered with the new online money claim service and I understand that the Particulars of Claim are what I should in put in this field, correct?

Here's the draft (I assume the reference# is for my support ticket with Hermes, not the tracking):

Quote

The claimant used the courier service provided by the defendant courier company to send a "PNY GeForce GTX 1660 6GB XLR8 Gaming Overclocked Edition MiniITX" graphics card to a third party. Reference number XXX. The defendant company has admitted that the contents of the parcel were lost and the parcel was repackaged with the incorrect contents and refuse to compensate the claimant. 

 

The value of the item sent was £290.00. The delivery fee was £5.78. The claimant was partially reimbursed £29.20 by Packlink.

 

The claimant claims full reimbursement of £266.58 (item value plus delivery fee minus Packlink compensation) plus interest pursuant to section 69, County Courts Act 1984

 

I am also claiming interest from August 26th, with the explanation below as to why I'm claiming from this date: "This is the date I fully refunded the buyer who did not receive the item because of Hermes"

 

Thanks

Screenshot 2021-10-02 at 18.19.17.pdf

[BankFodder]

The reference number is the tracking number.

Is that correct that they admitted that they had repackaged it in the way that you said? Do you have written evidence of this?

[Mauro_Shampoo]

Yes, here's the first email their support sent me (I actually copied the sentence in bold and pasted it onto the plarticulars of claim):

Quote

Thank you for contacting Hermes.

I am sorry that your parcel was delivered to the recipient with the contents of your parcel missing, and that the a pair of sandals was inside the parcel when the customer received it. I know how frustrating this must be for you and the recipient.

 

Parcels go through several handling and transportation processes and on rare occasions, parcels may be damaged. If a parcel has been damaged, the depot will aim to re-seal or repackage a parcel before sending the parcel out for delivery. Unfortunately the contents of your parcel were lost and the parcel was repackaged with the incorrect contents.

 

While your parcel was sent using the Hermes network, Packlink are regarded as the carrier in this situation as they provided you with the shipping label. This means that any claims go directly through them. We are unable to compensate you directly. I can therefore only advise you to contact Packlink Shipping to discuss the concerns you have regarding compensation.

I am sorry for the inconvenience this has caused you. Should you require any further assistance, please do not hesitate in contacting us.

Kind Regards,