Courier forged recipient's signature

glentoran99

What are your rights?


You paid for a parcel to be delivered and it was delivered, Nothing else happened

pinkshoes

I am surprised at the amount of people on here that would be fine sending a £1000 item to have it dumped on a doorstep!

I would write a letter of complaint. The service you received was shoddy.

MyHermes left a £100 item in my porch the other day. I was not aware that a door step had now become a porch!! (I do have a porch but it is locked, so I was a bit worried I had left it unlocked!!)

RFW

campdave wrote: »

What did parcel force say about it when you contacted them?

Police? Don't you think they have better things to do?

I agree, someone not doing their job properly isn't usually a police matter, certainly not involving a box and no loss anywhere.

Complain to Parcelforce, end of story.

Just to add if you're buying Parcelforce service from Post Office you have almost certainly been overcharged. I can't believe their over the counter charges, there are many better deals online and you can still drop off at Post Office and get proof of sending/tracking.

BigSister2008

this happened to us in a private matter ie send many clothing items of value for presents etc via parcelforce and all i did was get a complaint form and send it to them stating the day and time of delivery etc and basically left a complaint about their driver as he dumped in a public doorway (luckily it wasnt stolen) but have not heard anyting back

all i can suggest is to do the same

prowla

glentoran99 wrote: »

What are your rights?


You paid for a parcel to be delivered and it was delivered, Nothing else happened

It was not delivered in accordance with the contracted T&Cs: (a) it was not delivered, but left outside, (b) a signature was not obtained, but forged.

RFW

prowla wrote: »

It was not delivered in accordance with the contracted T&Cs: (a) it was not delivered, but left outside, (b) a signature was not obtained, but forged.

I agree. Although if you take this to a crazy conclusion and the OP sues Parcelforce and it goes to court, a judge would have to quantify loss, I can't see any. There's incompetence and neglect on the part of Parcelforce but no quantifiable loss.
The most the OP could hope for is a refund of the initial postage paid and an apology.

If I was the OP I'd write a letter addressed to The Chairman/CEO of Parcelforce at their head office, outline the details and ask for refund of service and maybe compensation of some kind, for stress and giving the OP a bad name as a seller.
I doubt they'd give the latter, they may cough up for the former.

sportsarb

Was the name on the signature the name of the buyer? If not then it's not a case of forging a signature.

I had Parcel Force leave a parcel on the doorstep recently. I got it fine. The electronic signature was the initials of the driver. I was actually quite happy I did t have to go chasing neighbours for my parcel.

LittleOne

pinkshoes wrote: »

I am surprised at the amount of people on here that would be fine sending a £1000 item to have it dumped on a doorstep!

I agree. I would be furious. IF the item had been stolen, how likely is it the driver who signed for it would admit that he signed it and dumped it? As far as Parcelforce are concerned, if it has a signature then it was delivered...


Definitely make a complaint. They have taken your money for a service you wanted and have failed to offer that service correctly.

Alienna

I've had the same kind of experience... I'm a Receptionist, and sign for all deliveries. There was one particular courier that never asked me to sign for anything... A few weeks later, a parcel had gone missing (turns out internally) and the recipient had proof of delivery. Apparently I had signed for it - definitely not my signature. It seems the courier couldn't be bothered to follow procedures...

I was extremely annoyed then - as technically he was committing fraud. Yodel's customer services are useless and there was no phone number to call. I submitted an online message, to have an e-mail bounce back saying they had resolved and closed the call - 10 minutes later! :eek: Still, something may have worked - he's working for TNT now!

I'd be mad if I'd paid for extra 'protection' and it just ends up on the door step. A complaint does need to be made - it's only really luck the recipient found it - and in a good condition.

Good luck...

theonlywayisup

RHemmings wrote: »

The problem is not a specific problem for this individual seller for this individual package sent to this individual customer.

The problem is: if this can happen, then other packages dumped in the same way may go missing. I.e. this is a general, not a specific problem. And I think it's well worth discussing.

It is true that the sender would have won an INR case in this situation. But, if I was a buyer and an expensive item had not been received and the signature had been faked, then I would be looking into either a card chargeback, or suing the seller in the small claims court. Ebay arbitration is not a final court with no appeal.

I note that in cases where complaints are made to the Financial Ombudsman concerning charges to an account or card that 'examples of the customer's signature' are taken into account. http://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/publications/technical_notes/disputed-transactions.htm If delivery is evidenced by a fake signature, then this may be considered if the FO is involved in making a decision.

Personally this sort of event, non-delivery but with a fake signature so that I might lose an INR case is a concern for me, and it makes me less likely to buy expensive items on ebay unless I can do cash on collection.

The seller agreed to the conditions of carriage set out by the carrier.

I do not expect a carrier to leave a parcel in an insecure location, but that is not to say they can't do it.

However, the signature issue is not up for debate.

3. Delivery to an address
3.1 Parcelforce Worldwide undertakes to deliver to the address specified on the Consignment or in the Despatch Documentation, not to a Recipient, except for International Deliveries in some countries where delivery will be made to a local post office or postal depot.

3.2 In respect of UK deliveries, if delivery cannot be completed at the specified address then:

3.2.1 Parcelforce Worldwide may at its discretion attempt to deliver the Consignment to an alternative address being either:
(i) a neighbouring address; or
(ii) a local Post Office branch, where it can be collected during the next 16 days; and

3.2.2 if the Consignment is delivered to an alternative address, a customer contact card will be left at the specified address which has been completed with sufficient details to enable the Recipient to recover the Consignment; and

3.2.3 the Customer agrees that such delivery shall constitute delivery to the address specified as the delivery address on the Consignment.

3.3 Parcelforce Worldwide does not undertake to intercept a Consignment in transit before delivery has been attempted.

3.4 Parcelforce Worldwide shall not be liable in respect of any Consignment delivered to the delivery address or other address, where any person misrepresents his authority to receive the Consignment on the Recipient’s or Customer’s behalf; or where Parcelforce Worldwide is delivering it in accordance with instructions from, or purporting to be from the Recipient or the Customer.

3.5 When delivering a Consignment, if the particular Service provides for it, Parcelforce Worldwide will request the person who accepts delivery (not necessarily the Recipient in person) to sign an acknowledgment of receipt, which may include signature by electronic means.

3.1 shows they have the condition they will deliver to an address and not the addressee specifically.

3.5 shows, they can take a signature to represent delivery and this does not have to be the addressee/recipient. It is therefore likely and probable they accept a driver's signature as that of one of delivery to a secure location.

Whether this is an acceptable situation for the OP or the buyer is another matter.