Tricky situation with return - what to do next?

JamieSavEx

Hi there,

Basically I bought an item through eBay for £89 and decided I wanted to return it. I arranged a courier via parcelmonkey.co.uk and they collected it and I thought great - that was easy. I paid £13 (I paid an extra pound for insurance)

....3 weeks later the item was delivered back to me, the box completely damaged, the item partially damaged and now not returnable for a refund. So they failed to deliver and all of a sudden I have a damaged item which I am trying to claim a refund on which now due to the time elapsed I don't think I can even if it wasn't damaged.

I have tried to used the parcel monkey claims process and provided all the information requested however I misread the request for photos, I uploaded the photo's however it was 2 days after the deadline - if I realised this I would have done it sooner. Anyway I have uploaded the photo's but they have already closed the case and are not bothering with it. They havn't even tried to chase it up with me, coming to think about it they didn't even contact me to let me know the parcel couldn't be delivered for whatever reason and that I would be receiving it back.

So now I am £102 out of pocket and wondering what the next step for me is, I can't return it to the seller - it would be unfair on them as they have done nothing wrong here and the fault lies with parcelmonkeys service.

The only thing that I'm sure of is that I wont be using parcel monkey again.

unholyangel

What was the time limit?

I'm on my phone at the moment so can't check but I believe this may be covered under unfair contract terms (google "unfair contract terms guidance oft, it should be a pdf then search the document for the section regarding "time limit on claims").

From memory it says something like they're unfair as it has the effect of allowing the supplier to be negligent and that they (oft) have no objections to saying claims must be made as soon as reasonably possible but that they cannot be used to deter legitimate claims. Could be mistaken but my memory is usually pretty good at remembering things like this.

JamieSavEx

Thankyou for the quick response.


Initially they asked me to fill in claim form with a 7 day time limit, which I filled in straight away. They sent a second message asking for other details which through their support system I completely missed as the way its displayed in the ticket system put it below my response with the filled in form, so I completely missed it. I was too quick this time.

I chased them up a few days later to see what was going on and they told me they were still awaiting evidence, which confused me. I looked back over the thread to make sure I had done every as per protocol and realised they wanted some additional info and spotted the ticket post which I hadn't seen before. They didn't specify any particular timescale at this time when asking for this information, no rush I thought - I'll get all the bits together when I have a day off and upload it. (photos/invoices etc) I provided the information 6 days later from that point (being today - my first day off since the last correspondence).

I admit I was a little slow and naive however it put's my submitted evidence a couple of days outside of '7 days' for which they didn't stress the the need for. Ironically if I made the claim a couple of days later it would of been fine. Which is frustrating. I don't think they were anywhere near clear enough with their requests. Maybe it's just me being a bit slow.

I found the oft guidelines on time limits in, however I have just discovered I cant post the link but it was easy enough to find.

I have pointed this out to them and I'm awaiting a response from them to see if they will sort out my claim or flat out refuse it. Incredibly frustrating the amount of energy I am using to deal with this! Thank you again for your reply. I would never have known about those guidelines otherwise!

marlot

I guess you could sue parcelmonkey using moneyclaim online

unholyangel

Let us know how you get on/if you need any further help.

JamieSavEx

They are refusing to help, conveniently they have no contact number to contact them on. No address, the only address I could find was by looking up who registered the domain name. Stumped at the moment.

JamieSavEx

Is it worth using money claim online for £102? could it not end up costing me more?

unholyangel

JamieSavEx wrote: »

Is it worth using money claim online for £102? could it not end up costing me more?

£25 to file online and £30 hearing fee (if memory serves) if it gets that far - although if you win, other side should be liable for these costs also.

We can tell you what we think your chances are etc but ultimately, it comes down to what a DJ will think and whether you're willing/able to pay out for filing and hearing.

Try sending an LBA by "signed for" delivery and see if that yields any results first.