Evri - Third party rights issue ***Settled before Trial***

[Johnas]

Happy holidays everyone,

 

Thank you for all the information on this forum, it has been extremely helpful over the years!

 

My recent issue is pretty much identical to 

, however I’m reaching the small claims stage and would like to clarify some things before I go ahead and start the claim tomorrow.

 

Some details about my situation, on 3/11/2022 I sold an item on eBay for £99.99, used Packlink/Evri to get it sent off to the buyer.

 

On 7th Nov the parcel gets at Evri’s depot and the label is reprinted, tracking history gets a “24h Delay” and since then no more tracking changes.

 

On 11th Nov I notice all this, I immediately refund the buyer, try to get in touch with Evri but fail, as expected, and get through to Packlink which confirm (a few days later) the parcel has been lost and issue a refund for the postage and the £25 standard compensation.

 

On 29th of Nov I send an email to all the Evri/Herms addresses I could find, no response as expected.

 

On 13th of December I send a Letter of claim to the same addresses. Next day I get a call from Evri which explain to me that it’s Packlink who I should be dealing with however they also offer me £20 as a goodwill gesture. I respectfully declined their £20 as I’m owed £68.10.

 

As I’ve got no other contact since then and tomorrow is the 15th day since my letter of claim has been sent I have prepared my small claims case ready to be put through tomorrow.

 

Have added in a similar (but shorter) timeline as the one above and drafted this explanation:

Quote

 

I used the defendant's courier service to deliver a router/base station for surveillance cameras worth £99.99 to a UK address. Reference number Hxxxxxx.

 

I am claiming as a beneficial third-party within the meaning of the Contracts (Rights of Third Parties) Act 1999.

 

The parcel never arrived at the destination and the defendant's courier service has confirmed its loss.

 

The defendants have refused to reimburse me for the router/base station on the basis that I did not purchase their additional insurance cover.

 

The defendant's requirement that the customer should protect themselves against the negligence or criminality of their employees is unfair within the meaning of the Consumer Rights Act 2015 and therefore unenforceable.

 

 

Would appreciate any suggestions on the above, also should I put anything in the evidence section at this point?

 

 

Thanks!

[BankFodder]

If you have done your reading then you will know the answer to who you should hold liable .

 

To whom did you address your letter of claim? 

 

Please will you post it up here .

 

Also I should say that if you are on the verge of day 15 then you should have been well prepared by now and you don't appear to be.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Johnas]

Sure, I sent my letter of claim to the following email addresses:

Quote

EvriSupport@evri.com, Martijn.deLange@EVRi-europe.co.uk, [email protected], myhermessupport@evri-europe.co.uk, chris.ashworth@EVRi-europe.co.uk, chris.ashworth@evri-europe.co.uk

 

and here is the letter of claim I have sent:

 

Quote

 

LETTER OF CLAIM

Parcel reference number Hxxxx

Dear Sir/Madam,
 

On 03/11/2022 I used your service to send a parcel under the above reference number.

The package never arrived at the destination and I am assuming that it has been stolen.

The label was purchased via a 3rd party (eBay Packlink) but I am pursuing yourselves as I am entitled to do under the (Contracts (Rights of Third Parties Act ) 1999).

 

Value of sold item = £99.99

eBay fees = £2.56 (now refunded)

Postage cost = £4.33

Packlink compensation =  £4.33 + £25 (standard compensation)

Total loss to me (amount of claim) = £68.10

 

You have so far declined to respond or reimburse me and I am therefore informing you that I'm proposing to begin a county court claim against you within 14 days and without any further notice unless you reimburse me in full before that date.

 

Kind regards,

 

me

 

 

As I mentioned this letter got a response from Evri almost immediately, as this was sent at 10PM on the 13th and they called me first thing in the morning, sadly nothing in writing but not sure if that would have made a difference to this process?

 

As for who to hold liable, this is what I have put down as the defendant's details:

Name: H-e-r-m-e-s Parcelnet Ltd trading as Evri

Address: EVRI

CAPITOL HOUSE,

1, CAPITOL CLOSE

LEEDS

LS27 0WH

Email: EvriSupport@evri.com

Phone number: 02038300040

 

As I said not entirely sure if my evidence, which is marked as 'optional', is something that would help if I add in now or if it can wait, I'm thinking to leave that out for now.

 

 

Edited December 27, 2022 by Johnas
Company name + Trading name

[BankFodder]

Ok. So far so good .

 

Can you post up the text of what you are using as your particulars of claim.

 

I agree that there is probably no need to put up any evidence at this point .

However in the particulars you should probably say that the defendant is fully aware

 

Let's see what you are going to put up

 

 

 

[Johnas]

Here is what I have drafted so far:

 

Why you believe you're owed the money:

Quote

I used the defendant's courier service to deliver a router/base station for surveillance cameras worth £99.99 to a UK address. Reference number Hxxxxxx.

 

I am claiming as a beneficial third-party within the meaning of the Contracts (Rights of Third Parties) Act 1999.

 

The parcel never arrived at the destination and the defendant's courier service has confirmed its loss.

 

The defendants have refused to reimburse me for the router/base station on the basis that I did not purchase their additional insurance cover.

 

The defendant's requirement that the customer should protect themselves against the negligence or criminality of their employees is unfair within the meaning of the Consumer Rights Act 2015 and therefore unenforceable.

 

Timeline of what happened:

Quote

3 November 2022

- Purchased Evri label with reference number Hxxxxx for the item sold on eBay. This was purchased via Packlink.

4 November 2022

- Dropped off Parcel at ParcelShop.

11 November 2022

- I notice the label has been reprinted on the 7th of November and parcel delayed since then (shown in the tracking history), I try to contact Evri but no reply, notify and refund the buyer and wait for updates.

17 November 2022

- I try to start a claim for the loss with Evri but I am redirected to Packlink, so I go ahead and process the claim through them.

21 November 2022

- Parcel is declared lost by Evri following an investigation.

29 November 2022

- Packlink refunds the postage fee and £25 which is the standard Evri payment for a lost parcel. Same day I try again to contact Evri to make a claim under The Contract (Rights of Third Parties) Act 1999 but I get no response.

13 December 2022

- I send a letter of claim to Evri, clearly stating that I would issue a county court claim against them in 14 days and without any further notice unless they reimburse me in full before that date.

14 December 2022

- I get a call from Evri, they offer me £20 as a goodwill gesture which I decline.

28 December 2022

- 14 days have elapsed without any further communications or payments from EVRi.

 

[BankFodder]

Point out that the payment from pack link was made unilaterally without your agreement and is unacceptable and that you have always made that clear.

[Johnas]

They have never given me a choice but have mentioned refusing it on the call with Evri, if that makes any difference.

 

Amended the timeline as follows:

Quote

 

....

29 November 2022

- Packlink refunds the postage fee and £25 which is the standard Evri payment for a lost parcel , however this is done so unilaterally without my agreement. Same day I try again to contact Evri to make a claim under The Contract (Rights of Third Parties) Act 1999 but I get no response.

.....

14 December 2022

- I get a call from Evri, they offer me £20 as a goodwill gesture which I decline. I also clarified that I have never agreed to or accepted Packlink's partial refund of £25.

 

 

Hope this would be sufficient?

 

LE: Also, just realised that as my email was sent on 13th of December at 10PM, does it mean that tomorrow would count as day 14 and maybe I should submit this on the 29th?

Edited December 27, 2022 by Johnas

[BankFodder]

Yes, that's fine and yes issue it on the 29th

[Johnas]

Thank you very much BankFodder, will do!

[dx100uk]

how this going?

 

dx

 

[Johnas]

Still waiting but thanks for checking, got the following on the 9th:

 

Quote

Her-mes Parcelnet Ltd trading as EVRi has been given an extra 14 days to respond to your claim. 

They need to respond to your claim before 4pm on 31 January 2023.

 

Which I assume was expected.

[dx100uk]

so mcol status is they have filed acknowledgement of service (aos)?

if so. they have a total of 33days from the date on your claimform to file a defence

 

 

[Johnas]

I believe that is what it means, not sure.

They have also responded now, as expected, I will attach their response to this message.

Evri_case_response.pdf

[dx100uk]

have you done your dq n180?

 

what is the status of the claim on mcol please?

 

dx

 

 

[Johnas]

I haven't done that, no, it doesn't seem to be mentioned anywhere like I've seen in other posts though?

All that seems to be required now from me is to complete a simple form on the moneyclaims portal (see screenshot) with my details and whether I agree to a free mediation.

 

Also, there is no specific "status" anywhere I can see on the portal, all I have is this which was sent via email:

Quote

EVRi Parcelnet Ltd trading as EVRi has rejected your claim.

They’ve suggested you both use the free mediation service. You need to respond to their suggestion before 4pm on 5 March 2023.

 

Screenshot 2023-01-31 at 14.04.43.pdf

[AndyOrch]

Complete 2/3/4 and submit ...that's how you submit your DQ on this new type of claim.

 

State your local county court ...you are the litigant.

 

 

.

[Johnas]

Thanks for clarifying @Andyorch, realised there's something different at this point but didn't know if I'm doing something wrong.

Will do some reading to refresh my memory a bit about what's potentially coming next and then complete and submit.

Edited January 31, 2023 by Johnas

[AndyOrch]

Don't leave it too long it will be time sensative the defendants completed theirs by the date shown on your upload. 

[dx100uk]

sorry didnt realise you were on the new online system.

 

that's the std defence from evri, duplicated here many times.

 

await mediation, stick by your guns, 9/10 they DO eventually settle for your full claimed amount during that process .

 

dx

 

 

[Johnas]

Submitted yesterday, today I got the mediation booked on the 13th.

 

However, I'm trying to figure out what to do next, here is what it says on the email I just received:

Quote

Please read the following statements - mediation is only available if you can answer yes to all 3:

1. I am willing to negotiate on the amount of the claim and I will consider a compromise.
2. I have enough information about the claim to enter into negotiations and do not require any further evidence from the other party before starting mediation.
3. I’m available for the entire time slot on the date of my appointment.

 

Not really willing to negotiate,

 

I'm actually sorry I didn't tick the box for interest to be added as well, do you think I should let me know or go through with the mediation?

 

I understand everywhere it's suggested that you should say 'yes' to mediation, but at this point I'd rather lose the £100 than let them go even with 1p out of this,

 

am I being unreasonable or is this unlikely to win if it gets to a hearing?

[AndyOrch]

Well you are compromising as you have not requested interest at 8% therefore you want the full amount claimined inc fees for issuing the claim

[Johnas]

Mediation done, their final offer was £80 but came back after that to say that they might be able to improve on that offer if I can provide them with proof of value as they don't know anything about this claim.

Tried to send this just now but the mediator has provided an email address which doesn't exist, however I've added the email from the response to my money claims as CC and that seems to have worked.

 

This is the first time I've been through mediation, I expected to be pressured into accepting pretty much any offer they make and that's exactly what happened.

 

I assume it will be months before anything else happens with the case, not sure if there's anything I need to do going forward though? Just wait for the court date?

 

[Santorini]

@Johnashow much are you claiming?

Can you give more on what happened at mediation as mine will be coming up "soon". Thanks

[Johnas]

@Santorini Total amount of claim is £103.10.

 

 

As for mediation it was pretty simple for me:

 

- mediator explained what he knows and whether something has changed or needs further clarification

 

- he then called someone from Evri and came back with an offer of £50 (which was pretty much explained, in other words, as a goodwill gesture),

 

I declined explaining briefly why (in my case they actually offered £20 over the phone before which would have put me in a better position in comparison),

 

then asked me what figure I had in mind to which I said the full amount

 

 (he wasn't pleased, told me that it will most likely go to court then, it's not in the spirit of mediation and that in the 16 years he's been doing this he never saw a successful mediation which settled for the full amount)

 

- again they improved their offer, this time to to £80, which he mentioned at every sentence that is final and if this falls through it will go to court in the summer most likely and take more time, increased costs, etc., 

 

increasing the pressure, my reply was that I already compromised on the interest (which he contested, saying that I didn't claim the interest in the first place , how can that be a compromise?)

 

and made them a final offer of my own (in "the spirit of mediation") of £100, he seemed very annoyed saying that I'm only "dropping my claim by only 3 pounds and 10 pence?", but gave them one last call

 

- finally they said that they can't accept that as the contract wasn't with Evri but Packlink and also they don't know anything about this claim anyway,

 

however if I provide some "proof of value" they might be able to improve on that final offer (which I sent after the call)

 

Hope that makes some sense, all the back and forth took about 35 minutes or so.

 

[BankFodder]

Thanks for the summary. Are you able to provide proof of value ?

It is reasonable to provide it for after that I would stick to your guns.

If it goes to court on the issue of third party rights then it will be wonderful.

On the basis that you win this- as you surely will -, it will be another serious blow against the courier business, especially EVRi