AnyVan Refund Problem – A Warning Story and is a Small Claim Worthwhile?

RiCoops

I booked through AnyVan to do a house move of boxed household items and mattresses to Spain based on a detailed inventory of each box/item by size and weight. I paid a deposit of £600 upfront to AnyVan on credit card and their delivery company (who had given me the impression that they were a large freight company by telling me how many lorry loads his drivers were taking each day) wanted payment upfront by bank transfer so I paid them £1400.



On the day of collection a clapped out Luton van arrived with two guys to collect our belongings. The penny started to drop that I was actually dealing with a one man band that contracts out all the work – these guys had been booked through AnyVan too and had no idea where the stuff was going. Their van was too small to take all the boxes and they were actually delivering it to a freight company in Essex to take it by lorry to Spain. I took the stuff they couldn’t load by car to the depot in Essex. Got there and the freight company wouldn’t take the boxes as they won’t take personal effects and the consignments need to be on pallets – AnyVan’s delivery company had lied saying it was sporting goods on the freight booking!



I paid to get the stuff returned to my home, and AnyVan’s delivery company wouldn’t return calls or emails to pay me back. AnyVan made me jump through hoops to get the £600 deposit back, and were frankly unhelpful taking the delivery company’s side at the start saying that I described the consignment incorrectly. Luckily, the delivery drivers confirmed the true story so they eventually backed down.


AnyVan made it clear that they will do nothing to help me get the £1400 back from the delivery company, so is it worth pursuing a small claim against AnyVan’s delivery company? It transpires that the delivery company is a one man band limited company with a letterbox registered address – the problem is you can’t find out details of who you are booking until you pay your AnyVan deposit which the terms say is non-refundable. If they don’t pay, it will cost me more money to take further action. Any views?



I’m out of pocket for the balance of £1400, plus the costs of getting the boxes back, and a lot of lost time.


Thanks

agrinnall

Sounds like you went cheap and got what you paid for.

I think you will need to at the very least threaten court action, and quite possibly follow through on the threat. I would target both AnyVan and the delivery company. Send each a Letter Before Action giving them a set time to return your money, and if you don't get it start a Small Claim online, cost is £70 for £1400 claim (although I'm not sure if you have to pay twice if the claim is against two companies).

https://www.moneyclaim.gov.uk/web/mcol/welcome

Added: just re-read your OP and noticed that you paid the deposit by credit card, which may mean that a Section 75 claim is possible. I'm not sure if the connection between paying the deposit to one company and the balance to another is close enough for S75 but I expect others will advise accordingly.

RiCoops

Thanks for the reply and advice agrinnall.

I learned a lesson from the whole experience - cheap and expensive with removals do not correlate with the quality of service – it’s finding someone that does not subcontract the delivery and takes responsibility, so a small company with its own transport is the way to go IMHO. Some expensive removers do cut corners with transshipping and sub contracting to so it pays to ask the right questions up front - I didn't the first time around!

All the bids I got back through AnyVan were pretty close together, and I chose the provider based on their AnyVan feedback – problem is, someone else posted a similar experience at the time I booked with negative feedback which I didn’t see until I had my issues. AnyVan do not give you details of the provider prior to booking so your due diligence can only be based on their feedback, some of which is so positive it could almost have been written by the transport provider!

Your up-front deposit is only refundable at AnyVan’s sole discretion, and it's not refundable once they have supplied the contact details of the transport supplier. In the circumstances, I insisted on a refund and not the credit that was originally offered.

I’ll go down the legal route suggested.

I’d also be interested on views of whether a s75 claim will stand. On this website’s s.75 page it says “You're unlikely to be covered when payments are made to a company that isn't the one providing you with the product or service. In these cases, the credit card company usually says it didn't have a direct relationship with the supplier, so isn't equally liable. If you stand your ground, it's possible to argue that the indirect relationship constitutes an arrangement to pay. The Court of Appeal decided this was acceptable in 2006, but it's unlikely to be an easy task.”

I’d be interested to know the court case that this view is based on if anyone knows.

maisie_cat

I am sorry about the problem you've had, but it has made me rethink using anyvan, so thank you

agrinnall

I can find other references to the Court of Appeal case, such as this one on the FOS website, but haven't yet been able to track down the actual case.

http://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/publications/ombudsman-news/62/62-consumer-credit.htm

RiCoops

Thanks for the info. Based on an article in The Independent on Friday 23 September 2011 (sorry, I can’t post links yet as I’m a new member), Angus Elphinstone, the founder of website AnyVan.com uses credit cards to pay for as much as possible. This article mentions the benefit of s.75, but Angus has structured his business so that consumers have a problem getting recourse through credit card legislation when they contract lousy transport suppliers through his website!