Taking a courier to Small Claims Court.

rustmonster_2

I recently arranged delivery through Parcel2Go to send a package to the States.

It's valued at £125 and insurance was purchased to that value.

The parcel was collected from me by Hermes. When the courier arrived the postage label with the barcode and tracking info which had been supplied to me via Parcel2Go wasn't recognised by his barcode scanner. The courier stuck a new label on the parcel scanned it and took it away. The courier left no proof of collection.

As a result all the original tracking data never worked.

As of right now, three weeks later, the parcel has not arrived. I filed a claim for loss of parcel and according to the Parcel2Go tracking system as the original barcode was never scanned, and the courier never left me proof of collection, they believe me to still have the parcel and I can't prove otherwise.

I have no way of contacting Hermes directly, but according to Parcel2Go they interviewed the courier who has stated to them that he never came and collected the parcel and Hermes themselves have stated that it's against policy to change barcodes on packages.

Now these are both lies, but as I'm being denied the ability to speak to Hermes directly and getting the same stock response from Parcel2Go "without proof of collection we can't do anything", I'm not entirely sure what my other options are.

Either by starting criminal charges or taking it to small claims court I'm certain I can prove via local CCTV that the courier came and collected the parcel.

Is this the best course of action or is there some other option I've missed?

wealdroam

rustmonster wrote: »

...I'm certain I can prove via local CCTV that the courier came and collected the parcel.

Is this the best course of action or is there some other option I've missed?

Without any other proof of collection, that looks like your only hope to me.

mattyprice4004

Without proof you're probably stuffed - Small Claims is based on the balance of probability, and if Hermes say it's against their policy, you have no proof of collection and the courier denies it, you're probably not going to get far.

As for the CCTV, the driver could just say he came to collect and the parcel wasn't available for collection - case closed.

rustmonster_2

I've tried contacting MyHermes directly and they refuse to speak regarding 3rd party orders.

Parcel2Go just tell me they've spoken to Hermes and relay they information they have but I've no way of knowing how genuine any of it is and they also won't allow me to speak to Hermes directly.

I live in a flat in the middle of London and I know the shop on the ground floor has CCTV which covers our entrance. I'll check with them and see how far back their records go, but that should record the courier arriving and then leaving with the parcel.

mattyprice4004

rustmonster wrote: »

I've tried contacting MyHermes directly and they refuse to speak regarding 3rd party orders.

Parcel2Go just tell me they've spoken to Hermes and relay they information they have but I've no way of knowing how genuine any of it is and they also won't allow me to speak to Hermes directly.

I live in a flat in the middle of London and I know the shop on the ground floor has CCTV which covers our entrance. I'll check with them and see how far back their records go, but that should record the courier arriving and then leaving with the parcel.

Ah, I thought you meant CCTV at the end of the road or something. If you have footage of his actually leaving with the parcel, that would be very handy.

Spicy_McHaggis

mattyprice4004 wrote: »

Ah, I thought you meant CCTV at the end of the road or something. If you have footage of his actually leaving with the parcel, that would be very handy.

Proving its the parcel they lost is however another matter.

CoolHotCold

I don't see how you could take Hermes to court. You have no contract with them, only Parcel2Go.

I also doubt the shop would release CCTV to yourself, there is a whole raft of DPA issues. You could ask them to check it and get verbal confirmation the courier left with a parcel.

agrinnall

CoolHotCold wrote: »

I also doubt the shop would release CCTV to yourself, there is a whole raft of DPA issues. You could ask them to check it and get verbal confirmation the courier left with a parcel.

Yep, see this thread for a recent debate on whether CCTV can be made available.

rustmonster_2

Hopefully I won't have to deal with actually requesting, submitting and finding out if CCTV footage is admissible.

Having badgered them all morning via phone, email and social medias and by mentioning that I was looking into pursuing a small claims action against them, their responses have changed from "Without proof of collection we can't do anything" to "If you can submit proof of value and proof of non-delivery we will continue to look into your claim".

So that's something. Just waiting for the recipient to send me a signed email to that end and hopefully will get a different response from Parcel2Go.

I just can't believe I have to work so hard and receive so many blanket denials from them before they will attempt to do anything.

But I appreciate all the advice from you guys. Good to have a better idea of where I stand on this.

CoolHotCold

agrinnall wrote: »

Yep, see this thread for a recent debate on whether CCTV can be made available.

Except he isn't asking for CCTV of himself, but of someone else.


The company that owns the CCTV is under no obligation to release, SAR don't apply here.

1) The OP is requesting CCTV of someone else, not himself.
2) The incident has nothing to do with the owner of the CCTV.
3) Only a warrant or police request can the owner of the CCTV be forced to hand it over.

SimonSays

£125 item and you went cheap on the shipping.....

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