Delivery after 34 days

lisa2505

Would really need some help here. I do apologise in advance for the long post that follows.

I am self employed and I am based between Greece and Edinburgh. On 8th October, I traveled to Edinburgh where I stayed for 3 weeks. On 4th October, I sent a parcel from Greece to Edinburgh which included all my essential belongings such as clothes and underwear for these 3 weeks. It also included essential contents for me to do my job while I was there. The reason I didn't carry a suitcase with me is because there are no direct flights from Greece to Edinburgh and I had to spend 6 hours at an airport between the 2 flights.

The courier company I hired, is called Eurosender. Eurosender is a company that provides postal, courier and freight forwarding services. The company was founded in 2014 and finds its headquarters in Luxembourg. Basically, Eurosender hires other courier companies to transfer parcels. In my occasion, they hired GLS to transfer the parcel to the United Kingdom and Parcelforce was the one who was responsible to deliver the parcel to Edinburgh. It's worth mentioning that on the confirmation of order email I received from Eurosender, they stated that the delivery would take approximately 6 days.

During the time the parcel was in transit I checked regularly their tracking webpage and at some point and for a few days the tracking was stuck to 9th October, stating that the parcel is in Hungary. I contacted their Customer Service several times but no one could tell me what was going on. The only answer I got every time I contacted them was that they'll look into it and get back to me. No one ever did, I kept calling myself and each time they were telling me something different (it would either be that the parcel is in Germany, or the parcel is in Denmark...). However the tracking wasn't updated.

On 16th Oct, I received an email from Eurosender's Customer Support saying:
"The courier service provider GLS, which is responsible for transporting your shipment, informed us that they are trying to locate the parcel in their depots.
Please note that at this point the parcel is not considered lost.
In order to help the courier company locating your shipment promptly, please provide us with the following information:
• 1. Description of the parcel: method of packaging, dimensions, weight, color, does it have any logos, brands, or special tape that may help to identify the parcel quicker?
• 2. Content
• 3. Value "

We're on day 12 so far.... So I got back to them giving a detailed description. It was a black fabric suitcase, wrapped in shrink wrap, and I also gave the exact sizes of the suitcase. They then got back to me saying that it can take up to 10 working days to receive an updated on my misplaced parcel. After numerous calls I made so to get an update, they kept telling me that GLS has until 31st October to give us an update (not sure what kind of rule/deadline that is, probably their rule!).

Long story short, the parcel was located in Hungary on 4th November and was delivered in Edinburgh on the 7th. However and as mentioned above, by the time, I had left Edinburgh and have come back to Greece. A friend of mine received the parcel and now he will send it back to me. Cost for sending the parcel to Edinburgh was £75 and cost to send it back to Greece will be £30. So I will spend £105 in total for nothing. Plus, all the inconvenience this has caused. I couldn't work while I was there (3 weeks) and literally had no clothes to wear!

I have carefully read MSE's delivery guide but it only refers to parcels delivery for shopping online. Not sure if that's my case. I have also downloaded the Delivery Compensation template but I am not too sure this template is ok to use in my case. So I have the following questions:

1. Can I claim compensation?
2. If so, what kind of compensation should I claim and how much? Will the compensation be for the inconvenience, will it be for the late delivery (34 days in total), or will it be for both?
3. Can I say that I incurred loss due to breach of contract since, under the Consumer Contracts Regulations, delivery only needs to be "within a reasonable time", which is normally up to 30 days?
4. The company (Eurosender) is not based in the UK, their headquarters are in Luxembourg. Does this have anything to do with claiming compensation?
5. On their Ts&Cs they say: "All delivery times are approximate and are not guaranteed. With the acceptance of these Terms and Conditions, the customer is aware and agrees that many external circumstances may cause delays in the pick-up or delivery of the shipment." Does this mean that they can deliver whenever they want so I can't claim compensation?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance,
Lisa

Hermione_Granger

When you agreed for them to make the delivery, you were also agreeing to their terms and conditions, one of which is:

8. Delays and responsibility in case of delays
All delivery times are approximate and are not guaranteed. With the acceptance of these Terms and Conditions, the customer is aware and agrees that many external circumstances may cause delays in the pick-up or delivery of the shipment.

In case of delays, in no case will Eurosender be liable for damages caused by the delay, and shall not be liable to solve or settle the obligations or expenses related to the delay. Eurosender is not obliged to compensate the customer for delays, neither is required to reimburse any related cost.

lisa2505 wrote: »

Plus, all the inconvenience this has caused. I couldn't work while I was there (3 weeks) and literally had no clothes to wear!

Surely you could have purchased at least one set of clothing to enable you to work for those 3 weeks.

If you did decide to take legal action against Eurosender, it's worth remembering that they are based in Slovenia and Luxembourg so any contract will be under one of those countries laws.

Caz3121

Laws of Luxembourg apply
terms and conditions here - https://www.eurosender.com/en/terms-conditions#delivery-dates

lisa2505

Hermione_Granger wrote: »

When you agreed for them to make the delivery, you were also agreeing to their terms and conditions, one of which is:

8. Delays and responsibility in case of delays
All delivery times are approximate and are not guaranteed. With the acceptance of these Terms and Conditions, the customer is aware and agrees that many external circumstances may cause delays in the pick-up or delivery of the shipment.

Does this disregard the Consumer Contracts Regulations, which state that delivery only needs to be "within a reasonable time", which is normally up to 30 days?

Hermione_Granger wrote: »

Surely you could have purchased at least one set of clothing to enable you to work for those 3 weeks.

You probably misunderstood. It's not the clothes that prevented me to do my job. I had notes and very important paperwork in there as well as a monitor to do my job. The clothes were for personal use. Which I still think it's an inconvenience having to buy new clothes to wear.

Hermione_Granger

lisa2505 wrote: »

Does this disregard the Consumer Contracts Regulations, which state that delivery only needs to be "within a reasonable time", which is normally up to 30 days?

The Consumer rights act applies to contracts formed between consumers and businesses in the UK. Eurosender are not a UK company and from what I can see, don't have any physical presence in the UK so the CRA wouldn't cover the problem.

shaun_from_Africa

Being self employed and sending work related items with the courier, it might be the case that using the delivery company classed as a business to business transaction which would be another reason for the Consumer rights not not to apply.

lisa2505

Hermione_Granger wrote: »

The Consumer rights act applies to contracts formed between consumers and businesses in the UK. Eurosender are not a UK company and from what I can see, don't have any physical presence in the UK so the CRA wouldn't cover the problem.

Sorry, my fault, I was actually refering to European Law:

If you don't collect your purchase straight away or have ordered it for delivery at home the trader should deliver it to you within 30 days – unless you specifically agreed on a different delivery time.

Found at:
https://europa.eu/youreurope/citizens/consumers/shopping/shipping-delivery/index_en.htm

As far as I know, all countries involved (Greece, UK, Luxembourg and Slovenia) are all members of the EU.

So again, my question is, do their Ts&Cs disregard European Laws?

Thanks again!

lisa2505

shaun_from_Africa wrote: »

Being self employed and sending work related items with the courier, it might be the case that using the delivery company classed as a business to business transaction which would be another reason for the Consumer rights not not to apply.

I don't think that it has anything to do with that. Not having clothes to wear for a month alone, is an inconvenience based on the Delivery Guide of MSE. On this guide, even not receiving a dress to wear for a wedding is considered an inconvenience.

shaun_from_Africa

lisa2505 wrote: »

I don't think that it has anything to do with that. Not having clothes to wear for a month alone, is an inconvenience based on the Delivery Guide of MSE. On this guide, even not receiving a dress to wear for a wedding is considered an inconvenience.

But you clearly stated that you were sending work related papers and a monitor and because these didn't turn up, you were unable to do your job and it's this fact that may make it a business to business contract.
I'm not saying that it will, simply that it might.

lisa2505

shaun_from_Africa wrote: »

But you clearly stated that you were sending work related papers and a monitor and because these didn't turn up, you were unable to do your job and it's this fact that may make it a business to business contract.
I'm not saying that it will, simply that it might.

What I am trying to say is that my parcel was delivered later than 30 days. I don't think I should explain myself to them why I needed the contents of the parcel earlier. I would have already mentioned it to them. I am referring to late delivery, not to failed delivery of business items.

However I had to tell the whole story here for people to understand the situation and get the relevant help/response. Hope this makes sense.

MH1927

The legislation you quote covers goods that have been purchased for delivery, not service agreements such as a courier transporting goods you already own