Allfreight UK Lost my suitcase

dotlibbydot

Ok I'm not sure if this is were I should be posting but I don't have a clue where to start.

I went traveling in Australia and came back the the UK without my suitcase. I found Allfreight and their price was reasonable about £190 to fly my 30kg suitcase back to the UK door to door shipping. I payed them a £50 deposit and arranged a date from them to collect it from my friends house in OZ. They collected it but 7 days later when I called for an update they said it was marked as return to sender because DHL (the middle man they use in OZ) didn't have the correct paperwork. I called my friend and she said they never returned it. After WEEKS of e-mails and phone calls all Allfreight could tell me is it was signed out and returned to sender, yet DHL had no signature or proof it was received the other end. After 4 months of phone calls and e-mails all I'm being told is it's lost. Brief outline here, everything I own is in that suitcase. 4 cameras, all my traveling films, photos, letters, ALL my clothes and shoes. I only filled in the value of £400 on the form as I didn't want anyone knowing how many cameras I had in there due to their value (over £1000) and of course that was my fall down. Allfreight are saying that max I could ever get claiming is now £400. The manager Richard doesn't seem to care AT ALL about how upset I am and doesn't reply to my e-mails for weeks. He just said sometimes they get lost that's it. It's a huge 30kg suitcase! After rows and tears he finally did something more and made DHL carry out warehouse checks only to find nothing. I don't believe it could disappear, is it possible the delivery driver stole from my case and ditched it? There was no lock on it. And DHL won't talk to me directly because as far as their concerned I'm not the client. Why can't they just look through their files and see the driver who signed it out? Is there anything else I can do? Apart from the fact I have irreplaceable items in that suitcase, how can a company just get away with saying "we lost it" Any help would be appreciated, I don't know what to do.

Thanks

Libby

balmk

Unfortunately items do go missing (hence the option for insurance).

Whilst you may never establish where your items have gone, you can only claim for the declared amount, ie £400 as this is all that you have paid for.

Hermione_Granger

I've had baggage go missing in the past so I know how you feel but you must look at this from the couriers point of view.

What do you think would be the outcome if you bought a car and took out insurance on it, telling the ins company that it was a mini worth £1000 and paying the premium based on this fact.

Then a while later, your car was stolen and when you put in a claim you told the insurers that your car was actually an Audi worth £5000.

System

And also there is the danger that the insurer will reduce the payout because of the under-insurance.

visidigi

!!!!!! wrote: »

And also there is the danger that the insurer will reduce the payout because of the under-insurance.

Err No - there is no danger of that - especially as the warsaw Convention provides a basic minimum compensation based on the higher of either the declared value or warsaw convention amounts.

The shipment is covered for £400 as per All freight documentation, but under Warsaw Convention regulations DHL's minimum liablity is 22 euros per kilo - 418 euros total for 19kg.

You should get all shipping costs and the £400 insurance back from AllFreight.

You should not contact DHL, you have no contract with them. You should do all contact through AllFreight. You have an entitlement to the declared value and the shipping costs, no more.

This is why middlemen are cheap - you can only deal with the middle man and you cannot make them do anything beyond normal operation. The premium you directly pay a carrier to do it themselves is what gives you the ability to deal directly with the carrier.

Unfortunately, you under declared, there is nothing you can do, you can kick, scream, cry or shout but it doesn't change the situation. Im not sure if you were avoiding duties and taxes in the UK for the import, but I can tell you, the idea of not knowing the value of the contents wouldn't have worked either - nearly all freight is xray'ed before dispatch so they would have seen the items within the case.

In saying that, it wouldnt have got that far if it had paperwork issues...

dotlibbydot

I never payed any extra insurance. The guy at All Freight is now telling me DHL have offered him £50 compensation. I know I've messed it up but what's the best that can come of this now? Can I claim the full £400 I stated it's value on the form? Can I claim any extra for them practically ruining my entire year?

visidigi

You need to read my previous post.

DHL are liable for a statutory amount under the warsaw convention, wether you took out extra insurance or not, they are still liable for the weight and value per kilo as specified under the Warsaw Convention.

As for your entire year, no you can't claim consequential loss - unless the specific AllFreight terms and conditions state so.

You need to get a hold of All Freight's T&C's - what DHL will offer his is nothing to do with you, your contract is with All Freight not DHL - check their terms.