Holding parcel delivery companies accountable

mattyprice4004

moshop said:

Thanks. I'm not sure that this 'voting with your feet' works with small retailers or eBay sellers. Couldn't they simply refuse to lodge the complaint since the buyer got the item they paid for? Why would the seller bother pursuing this when most buyers simply accept and pay for a poor service? The seller gets nothing out of it.

The analogy of a hotel cleaning company or Openreach is a little misleading, as the parcel delivery company deals directly with us once the parcel gets to them, the seller is pretty much out of the equation at that point. Hence why the parcel delivery companies very much get away with it, they deal directly with us via their tracking website/email/phone, and when they fail to deliver the service they ask us to get the seller to lodge the complaint. Most buyers won't do this simply out of politeness and even if they do I can't see why most sellers would bother going through the hassle of the complaints process when they have no stake in the outcome.

That doesn't change the fact that the contract is between you and the retailer - not the courier. 
It's not the best sometimes, but it's how it is.  

Sandtree

moshop said:

Surely if we pay for a particular service we should expect this service? Currently they take our money for a premium service and then respond with excuses. And how many sellers are then going to pursue a refund claim for a parcel that arrived intact but far later than was promised by what we paid for? The buyer certainly can't force them to make the complaint, so the companies will nearly always get away with providing a poor service.

Yes, and your expectation is with the person you paid not who they subcontracted to.

You have no idea what percentage of retailers make claims against their couriers and which take it on the chin themselves. Similarly you dont know what commercial arrangements are, some retailers will accept a notable discount on all services in exchange for not raising the humdrum minor issues that inevitably happen when you are sending thousands of parcels a day/week. 

TripleH

I sent a picture by courier.

The picture arrived fine but the frame was broken.

It was through ebay's courier broker partnership at the time. When I complained they kept reverting to Italian in their emails to fob me off. Lesson learnt.

I go through the couriers direct. It may be slightly more expensive but if things go wrong it's easier to deal with.

When I sell I also try and pack the items well as I can to minimise damage. Amazon have helped a lot in this in terms of ideas and boxes.

moshop

TripleH said:

I sent a picture by courier.

The picture arrived fine but the frame was broken.

It was through ebay's courier broker partnership at the time. When I complained they kept reverting to Italian in their emails to fob me off. Lesson learnt.

I go through the couriers direct. It may be slightly more expensive but if things go wrong it's easier to deal with.

When I sell I also try and pack the items well as I can to minimise damage. Amazon have helped a lot in this in terms of ideas and boxes.

When you say you go through the courier directly, do you mean that when you buy something you then arrange the courier collection/delivery yourself? Can the seller refuse given that it requires them providing their address? I would prefer to do this rather than relying on the seller to care about the quality of the parcel delivery service

Sandtree

moshop said:

TripleH said:

I sent a picture by courier.

The picture arrived fine but the frame was broken.

It was through ebay's courier broker partnership at the time. When I complained they kept reverting to Italian in their emails to fob me off. Lesson learnt.

I go through the couriers direct. It may be slightly more expensive but if things go wrong it's easier to deal with.

When I sell I also try and pack the items well as I can to minimise damage. Amazon have helped a lot in this in terms of ideas and boxes.

When you say you go through the courier directly, do you mean that when you buy something you then arrange the courier collection/delivery yourself? Can the seller refuse given that it requires them providing their address? I would prefer to do this rather than relying on the seller to care about the quality of the parcel delivery service

No, they mean when they sell something on eBay etc they prefer to book with the courier (DHL, Hermes etc) directly rather than using an agent like ParcelMonkey.

With smaller companies it sometimes is possible to arrange for your own courier to collect your purchase but the sellers liability for delivery ends the second they give it to your courier and its likely to be much more expensive for you. Larger companies with automated logistics systems etc won't entertain the idea of trying to pull a parcel out of the process and have some random person collect it from the warehouse be that you or your courier.