@evri - empty box for Samsung S21 Phone - court claim issues *** Settlement pre hearing***

[BankFodder]

Quote

The defendant in this case is EVRi Parcelnet Limited trading as EVRI.
The claimant used the defendant's courier service to deliver a mobile phone value – £440 to a
UK address. Reference number xxxxx.
The defendant breached the contract by damaging the parcel and losing the item.  The
defendant photographed the damaged parcel at the time of delivery on 18th February 2022.
The defendant refuses to reimburse the claimant to the full value of item.
The defendant's requirement that they must be made aware of an issue within 28 days of their
service against the defendant’s own negligence or the criminality of its employees is unfair
within the meaning of the Consumer Rights Act 2015 and is designed to deprive their customers of their statutory rights and therefore unenforceable.
The claimant seeks the value of the item of £440 plus delivery fee of £9.50, plus interest
pursuant to section 69 of the County Courts act 1984.

 

[Downsway]

@BankFodderThanks, I have completed the money claim form now and await for it to be issued to EVRi.

 

Will keep you updated.

[Downsway]

11/05/22 - Claim issued to Evri by Money Claim

[Downsway]

Evri / Herm es have filed an an acknowledgment of service. Stating they will defend all of the claim.

 

They now have until 13/06/22 to file their defence.

[BankFodder]

Post up the defence in PDF format when you receive it.

[Downsway]

@BankFodder

Deadline for Evri is coming up on Monday. 

 

Just wanted to check if I've missed anything in terms of providing evidence by this date as in a criminal court this would be considered an anticipate Non-Guilty plea. 

 

Evri have until this Monday 13th June as they have stated they wish to defend the entire claim. As yet I have not received any correspondence/defence from Evri. 

 

So far I have issued the claim and provided the summary of key evidence however have not produced any evidence I. E. photos etc. I take it this is provided if or once Evri provide their defence? 

 

I have the photos now ready to go. My key evidence is the delivery photo they took at time of delivery aswell as photos taken from each side of item being sent and received. 

 

My plan is to request a judgement should this still be the case on Monday where I suspect I can then provide the photos? 

 

 

[BankFodder]

Firstly I don't know what you are referring to when you start referring to a "criminal court".

Secondly, hang tight. They never miss a deadline but if something exceptional happens and they don't file a defence on time then it is up to you to go to your money claim account and to request judgement immediately. Don't let a minute pass after the expiry of the deadline if you have an receive the defence.

If you apply the judgement then you won't need any photos or anything else at all.

However, it seems to me that you haven't done your reading of the stories on this sub- forum. If you had then you would know that they always file at the last moment and you would then know that the next step would be to post up the defence in PDF format and then to wait for the directions questionnaire.

 

[Downsway]

Thanks @BankFodder.

 

In a criminal court, where defendant enters a non guilty plea you are required to provide evidence whether key, non-key, rebuttable presumptions etc. This is my area of expertise but civil proceedings is new to me. 

 

Well aware of the Evri antics, they appear to wait until the last minute each time from the multiple stories I've read of the last few months. Like I say, just wanted to make sure. 

 

I'll post it up as soon as received for your direction. 

 

I shall request a judgement on Monday first thing should I not receive a response. 

 

[Downsway]

EVRi filed their defence this morning (on a Sunday! ) via email which appears to be a fairly standard response with the £20 item value.

 

@BankFodder

HermDef1.pdf

[BankFodder]

They say that when you sent the item, you declared the value at only £20.

We haven't heard about this before. What would you like to say about it?

[Downsway]

The value of the item automatically applies a level of insurance at a premium. 

 

To send a parcel undamaged and expect it to arrive in the same condition is a reasonable expectation. Their delivery photo shows this to the contrary. 

 

To state the value and consequent cost for insurance is only insuring the company against themselves losing or stealing the item. 

 

I have paid them for a service to deliver a parcel from a to b. They have failed to complete this by their own evidence and therefore the terms of contract and insurance clauses are irrelevant. 

 

 

[BankFodder]

I do wish you wouldn't talk gobbledygook all the time. You aren't in a court room here and even if you were, you would have to explain things in a way that everybody would understand.

The basic question is – was the value of the item correctly declared? In their defence they very clearly say that you declared the item at £20

[Downsway]

No, the item value was £440 not £20.

 

 

[BankFodder]

As long as they don't have evidence that you declare the value of £20 then you are fine. However, if they do then your chances of success are probably remote.

You will certainly have to rebut what they say in the defence. I don't think I've seen a defence worded in that way. That will have to be at the top of your witness statement/skeleton argument.

They will also emphasise that point in the mediation proceedings. Did you take any screenshots of the booking and the value et cetera?

[Downsway]

Mediation booked for 20/7

 

No screenshots of booking. Have item value on eBay item summary with tracking ref and delivery address.

[BankFodder]

Ok. Make sure that you are familiar with all of the likely arguments and be prepared to stand your ground to the very last. Penny .

Making very clear that if they don't want to settle your claim in full then you are happy to go to court .

 

Be aware that you may come undo pressure from the mediator to compromise. You should tell the mediator that you consider that they are acting out of turn as they are simply there to carry messages for one side to the other

 

 

[Downsway]

Mediation Today

 

1st Call - Gave brief outline of the claim and confirmed I was happy with mediation.

 

Mediator is going back to EVRi.

 

 

2nd Call - Stated I didn't take out compensation, value of the claim. £24.95 max they would offer.

 

I stated the item was sold the day before which i have item information including the tracking ref, delivery address etc. and that the photo taken by them clearly shows it damaged and ultimately opened/empty. Happy for judge to make a decision. Happy to avoid costs for them not to go to court.

 

 

3rd Call - Offered £300 as this is their maximum they would offer due to their policy?? So in total £304.96

 

Amount declined. Going to court.

 

 

 

They had already stated they were not available until December, sounds like another tactic to make you settle. Will update with the court date.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[andycorleone]

This is just myu opinion. But I personally would have taken the £300. Is very clear that by mistake or foolishness you declare the value as £20 they should have some way to prof that in court if they want to and stick to it.  

 

Arrogance blinds people sometimes, When I made a mistake I accept it and learn from it instead of blaming others.   Now you will have to continue with this painfull journey and wait weeks if not months for a resolution. 

 

I wish you the best but me would try to get in touch with the legal department and take the offer of £304.96 ( at leat lossing £140 will make me  more carefull in the future )  otherwise you will keep hitting the same rock over and over again.  

 

 

[FTMDave]

Open.

[Downsway]

Back in October last year, the case was transferred to my small claims court and scheduled for late January 2023. Mainly because EVRi stated they were not available for several months.

 

A new legal rep emailed me (Judy Cobbett) asking to settle out of court but only offering £24.95..

 

At first I ignored their message, more out of principle as I wanted them to have the expense of court. I responded a few weeks later stating I would only settling for the full amount. 

 

So they wanted proof of the item value. This was contested at the early stage as I did not opt for insurance or state an item value. I used the ebay item page that included the item value, delivery address and tracking reference.

 

They immediately offered me the full amount.

 

They kept to their word and have now paid. IN FULL.

 

 

 

All in all and for anyone having a similar case, this all took around 11 months to settle. I sold the phone back in mid-feb 2022 and after the warnings to EVRi took out the MoneyClaim in May.

 

Things generally go abit quiet after this until mediation a couple of months later, which didn't work in my case. I read there can be pressure from the mediator to settle but i didn't have any of this in my case despite not budging on the settlement amount, I did waive the interest fee. 

 

As the mediation 'failed' the case was sent to a track hearing which was moved to my local civil court where they request dates of your availability to attend. EVRi basically put they were not available for several months. 

 

But I stayed with it, at this point the money was not important but the principle of them getting away with losing or stealing my parcel. Eventually they paid up but avoided potentially losing in court. 

 

 

Thanks to @BankFodder for his excellent assistance and at times, blunt advice . Donation sent.

 

 

 

Good luck to whoever goes through this process (i'm sure there will be many) but the biggest challenge is not giving in as they will drag their heels as much as possible.

 

 

 

 

 

[FTMDave]

Well done on your victory! 

[Santorini]

Well done for holding out for your rights and what you deserve. Fingers crossed for mine.