Parcel Monkey charging additional cost for a parcel which I know was the correct size

Tunstallstoven

I too thought it might be a typo or similar mistake, but they won't hear a word of it...

Trading Standards - strangely, when I looked last week I came across a .gov site which said they have ceased to exist. Today I cannot find that page, and have actually found that they still seem to exist but are more regional. SO I am going to write to their department at my local council....

Brooker_Dave

Dispute the payment.

You will get nowhere with trading standards.

RFW

Seagull27 wrote: »

I too thought it might be a typo or similar mistake, but they won't hear a word of it...

Trading Standards - strangely, when I looked last week I came across a .gov site which said they have ceased to exist. Today I cannot find that page, and have actually found that they still seem to exist but are more regional. SO I am going to write to their department at my local council....

They only work on a local level but have a network. You contact them via your local council. They have powers to arrest and prosecute and advise consumers. They probably won't be too useful here.

lovinituk

Trading Standards do exist, I was speaking to my local office yesterday!

ParcelMonkey have become a joke. I stopped using them recently as their system causes problems and their customer service is abysmal.

ParcelFarce don't help when they are added to the equation. DHL and ParcelForce have caused more problems than all the others put together in my experience.

Try using Transglobal Express in the future. Works out a little more expensive for European destinations but they use far better couriers and their customer services can actually be contacted by phone. They are a lot cheaper for non-European destinations too (than ParcelMonkey).

Old_Jack

I've recently used this company to send a parcel to Australia, very successfully ,no damage and swift delivery. It's the couriers who cause the problems, Parcel Monkey is just an agency. Now this is where my problem start...an additional charge claiming my parcel was 0.79Kg over my stated weight of 3.6Kg. I know my scales are pretty accurate when I compare them with airport scales so I know this is rubbish. The money is taken from your card and the courier makes additional profit multiplied by thousands of parcels then he's in clover. It is not possible to arrive at a weight by volume.

Tunstallstoven

Hi all

Just thought I would chime in with an update....

Santander were unable to/unwilling to help. No explanation or anything, just a letter stating "On reviewing the information provided I regret that we are unable to progress your claim within the dispute resolution process. Therefore no further action will be taken."

Thanks Santander. At least an explanation as to why they cannot help might have made me feel a bit better about the situation.

So my only option now other than forgetting the whole thing is to continue with Trading Standards. I am half tempted, but it seems like such a long and convoluted path. The last email they sent me was excellent, but it left me scratching my head a few times and regretting not having done a degree in law.

I feel really annoyed about the situation and don't want to let it go. But I don't now if it is worth the time and stress.

I guess I'm not really asking anything, just letting off some steam.

Thanks to everyone who participated in the thread and helped me.

slimfandango

If they know it aint oversized and they charge you as if it were, this is a pretty serious criminal offence, I'd ask them for their proof and let them know you're considering going to the police.
I use Hermes a lot and may have been a teeny over weight a couple of times, obviously they didn't mention it. I wouldn't push it, I would never test their good will, but they don't test my goodwill either, and I have sent a hundred parcels with them without a hitch or a blink. If anything, they're getting faster, 2 or 3 days door to door now.
I LOVE them. Just my honest opinion. Used both Parcelmonkey and citylink in the past. PMonkey were cheap, but prices shot up, citylink ok too but kind of grimy, ended up not liking them.
It's the final destination courier that often puts up the fuss 'I'm being paid to carry 1kg and this is 1.5', they send a bill, the courier passes it on. Then the courier company switches drivers lol. No hassle from Hermes so far. Royal Mail would screw you though.

lovinituk

What do you think the police would do? There is no hard evidence and it would be for the OP to prove the 'crime'. In any case the police won't be interested as its a civil matter.

slimfandango

lovinituk wrote: »

What do you think the police would do? There is no hard evidence and it would be for the OP to prove the 'crime'. In any case the police won't be interested as its a civil matter.

It's not really a civil matter, there are specific laws that tackle this kind of thing and make it a crime. The parcel is out of the OP's hands and on the way to the customer, making it harder for the OP to verify the courier's claim that it was too big and there is a legitimate reason to pursue money. However, there are ways for the OP to prove that the courier has no right to demand extra money. Also, the courier can be asked to demonstrate
1) What means they use to test the package for oversize
2) How often they pass such a bill on to the cusomer
3) If it's suspected to be a scam/routine, further checks can be made and paperwork checked/parcels can be checked on the other end.
Just to be clear, to send the customer a demand (not saying necessarily the case here) for payment for excess size/weight when you do not believe that this is necessarily supported by evidence is a criminal offence as well as a civil wrong. You are attempting to obtain a pecuniary advantage by deception.

RFW

slimfandango wrote: »

It's not really a civil matter, there are specific laws that tackle this kind of thing and make it a crime.

There are but the police aren't the ones to go to, Trading Standards would be the ones to prosecute.

Give your local Trading Standards office a call and ask for their help/intervention. They can make a call and possibly get a refund, if they do end up prosecuting (whether they would or not, I don't know) you probably wouldn't get any money back until after a successful prosecution.

If you went to the police with this, the best you'd get is a crime number.

If you are going to contact Trading Standards, you should be aware that they would only intervene if you were/are a consumer and not a business. So if I send a parcel to someone in Denmark as a gift or a private sale and there is a problem they could intervene, if I send a parcel as part of a business transaction they could not. I am of course not suggesting you mislead Trading Standards.