Potential issue with courier

20up

Hi,
We booked a courier via a well known courier website, paid the deposit. Courier messaged saying dropoff scheduled for a specifc day. We were not going to be in and did not want to leave cash, so we said they can leave items in a specific place as its secure and covered by CCTV, and would they take bank transfer. They (the courier) agreed and sent a link, of which we paid, screenshotted and put in text chat. They acknowledged. So we paid the courier up front, on the basis that the delivery would be made.

On the day , we were told by the courier via text that delivery can't be made due to vehicle issues. Since then there has been very limited communication, and broken promises of new delivery dates (e.g will arrange to pickup next week). The person appears to be still up and down the country judging by their feedback (of which they have lots of +)

So we are thinking is this person doing a runner with our money. We have asked to cancel and for a refund, and have escalated via the website and yet to hear back. Yep, we know, why pay up front. Well we have used the site many times and others, and have done the same , so had no reason to suspect this would occur, but we learn.

This may come to nothing, and may be resolved following escalation, however I wish to prepare and wanted to check on any rights we have and best approach please.

Edit, they have not picked up the items, they are still at the sellers residence.


Cheers

user1977

Easier if you tell us who the "well known courier website" is, as we don't know what terms you've signed up to or with whom.

Devongardener

This is confusing, was the bank transfer to the courier or the seller? If you were going to be in when the courier delivered were you going to pay the courier for the goods on delivery ? As you booked the courier I can’t see how they could then pass the money back to the seller

20up

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81956861#Comment_81956861

Shipley

20up

Money went to the Courier (it was initially cash on delivery).

A_Geordie

According to their terms and conditions:

This Site operates as an online marketplace to enable Users to post Jobs, and Transport Providers to quote for these Jobs, with a view to entering into a Transaction.

and a "Transaction" is defined as

the agreement entered into between a Transport Provider and a User for the performance of a Job.

So Shipley operates in similar fashion to eBay and Booking.com where they provide the platform but the actual contract for services is between the customer and the service provider. Shipley are not liable for the courier's actions but they may offer something as a goodwill gesture. If you want to pursue it, you'll need to pursue the courier under consumer rights laws because you have no additional rights by paying via bank transfer. Worst case, you will need to decide if it is worth commencing legal proceedings to recover that money back.

That said, in terms of the deposit, there is something about cancelled jobs in the T&Cs, see Clause 7 (Cancellation) https://www.shiply.com/terms . You need to file a cancellation request within 28 days so if you haven't done that already, best do it quickly and see what happens. If the package is still at the seller's address, you could argue the courier has not started the job yet and so Clause 7.1 applies. I guess Shipley might have something to say about that as a means to avoid having to refund you the deposit amount.

20up

Thanks - Lodged cancellation request within that period and after this I have in writing that the items have / were not picked up . The courier in the shiply chat when asked about a refund said (on that chat) send a text to me with bank details. Still no refund as of yet.

Ticket was rasied, and have quoted 7.1 (thanks)

I am aware that Shiply automatically give positive feedback if none is left, so perhaps courier is running down the clock. I have made video snips of the screen (not just images) showing the whole transaction, chats as well, just in case these suddenly go missing………

20up

Okay update, Shipley have agreed to cancel and refund. However the courier is not responding, not answering calls or texts. So they still have our money. I am not confident they are going to do so… Still contemplating if or how to proceed.