Delivery disclaimer

koolkat66

Dear all,

I am in a quandery. I need to purchase some material from a company based in France. They are the only ones that can supply this kind of material. They were previously based in Uk and I had worked with them before with no issues whatsever. I was just about to purchase the material (decorative material for a Christmas display, for my very small business) when I saw this disclaimer on their website 'DELIVERY
'Any Goods you buy from us will be despatched to you in the way you have selected on the Site. Although we do our best to use reputable delivery companies, due to reasons outside our control, we cannot guarantee any quoted delivery time. You will own the Goods and the risk in them as soon as we have passed them to the delivery service'. I am now feeling  quite uneasy as if the material disappear it would i be my loss, and I have no control over this. A friend who does lots of online sales told me that since the covid situation this has been more and more the norm and I just have to accept it. The payment is bank transfer, with my debit card, and I feel I am completely exposed here, and yet I really need this material to carry out the work. It is quite a large payment, about £5000, and I am not sure how to cover myself. It may not be the remit of this group but if someone has any idea or point me in the right direction it would be very appreciated

 

Thanks

Cris

Sandtree

Is one of the delivery options an insured delivery therefore if something does happen you're at least covered?

koolkat66

I am not buying through their website but directly from them via email, therefore I cannot see any delivery options. Their invoice refer to the T&C on the website. Perhaps that could be an option worth investigating but it would be on their side as they would be the ones making the claim, isn't that the case?

bris

The terms of the contract are all you can really go on. 
Soon as the items leave their possession you own them so the risk is yours even though you have no contract with the delivery company.

The only way I see round this is if you arrange your own delivery and organise an insurance for the items that you can claim on if anything goes wrong.

Sandtree

koolkat66 said:

Perhaps that could be an option worth investigating but it would be on their side as they would be the ones making the claim, isn't that the case?

They would be the beneficiaries of the insurance as they'd have been the one that booked the courier however the terms state " will be despatched to you in the way you have selected" so it would imply there are multiple options and they would have to be fairly disingenuous to give you the option to upgrade to an insured delivery but then keep the benefit of the insurance themselves.

If it is an option then maybe get them to confirm what occurs in the event of a claim needing to be made or as suggested, potentially arrange your own delivery so that you are the direct beneficiary. 

martindow

It is quite possible that your deliveries when they were a UK company were also uninsured.  B2B transactions don't have the legal protections that normal consumer ones do.  You probably didn't read the small print then (I know I probably would not have).

J_B

As long as they don't use Hermes, you should be OK!!

koolkat66

martindow said:

It is quite possible that your deliveries when they were a UK company were also uninsured.  B2B transactions don't have the legal protections that normal consumer ones do.  You probably didn't read the small print then (I know I probably would not have).

I did not know that! Thank you, I'll make sure I get adequate insurance

martindow

koolkat66 said:

I did not know that! Thank you, I'll make sure I get adequate insurance

Or not bother.  I don't pay extra for insurance on items I send  as losses are very rare and the extra payments on each shipment add up to a tidy sum that more than pays for the occasional loss of 1 in 1000 maybe.

MalMonroe

J_B said:

As long as they don't use Hermes, you should be OK!!

I don't use Hermes myself but all my deliveries from Hermes have been absolutely fine, especially during covid.  I know you're joking (hopefully) but you are maligning a company that has some good qualities and staff, which isn't really fair.

MalMonroe

koolkat66 said:

I am not buying through their website but directly from them via email, therefore I cannot see any delivery options. Their invoice refer to the T&C on the website. Perhaps that could be an option worth investigating but it would be on their side as they would be the ones making the claim, isn't that the case?

Yes but if the parcel went missing and they had paid insurance, they would be reimbursed which would mean they would have the money to reimburse you. In theory. 

I would definitely want some kind of insurance if I were buying goods worth £5,000. That is a LOT of money to lose if the parcel goes missing. You'd have peace of mind, too. And surely they would agree to some insurance as you are such a very good customer, still buying from them although they've moved to another country.