Advice please: I sent a returns parcel to the wrong company by mistake, Evri have lost it.

A_Geordie

I'm going to suggest that you may have acted a bit prematurely here.

You already did the right thing by reaching out to Company B and asking them to forward on the parcel, but I don't think you should have done anything just yet.

Evri are well known to lose or fail to deliver parcels to their required destination and the longer the parcel sits with them, the greater chance they will come back and say that the parcel is likely to have been lost. If that indeed turns out to be the case then the fact you selected Company B as the delivery destination is no longer relevant. You would then be entitled to reach out to the seller and ask for your refund and in turn they need to recover that amount from Evri since they contracted with them.

If the parcel is delivered to Company B, they become a voluntary bailee of the goods (in temporary possession of someone else's goods). So if they failed to send it on or it was somehow lost in their possession, you would be entitled to pursue Company B for your loss - that is dependant on you having the appetite to do that, and the value of the return is worth pursuing.

I would be surprised that Evri will come back to you and tell you that they are able to intercept the parcel, because most couriers say that once it is in the system, you have to let the parcel run its course.

PHK

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82102371#Comment_82102371

Is that correct? The OP selected Company B on the returns portal, so it's Company B's label that was printed and Company B will pay the "postage". So the contract to deliver the parcel is between Evri and Company B.

Company A can't claim for the lost parcel as they didn't pay for the parcel to be returned. They simply registered with Evri's returns service as they will have done with returns service of the Post Office and other couriers.

A_Geordie

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82102469#Comment_82102469

The label might show Company B and perhaps your right that the contract is between Company B and Evri as a result of the OP's selection, but that is a separate and distinct issue where Evri loses the parcel.

Company A would have a claim under the tort of conversion via TIGA 1977. Tort claims do not require a contract to be in place, and under TIGA, to have a valid claim, you either need to be the owner of the goods or have the right to immediate possession of the goods. The law does not care if Evri did not know the true owner of the goods, they would still be held liable so long as Company A can satisfy the criteria. It's essentially a strict liability and you do not need to prove fault.

Regarding the Evri contract, it's clearly a mistake and under the laws of mistake, the court has the power of rectification i.e. to re-write the contract as the intention of the OP was to return the goods to Company A as the rightful owner. That wouldn't really be necessary since TIGA ought to be sufficient to claim against the loss.

born_again

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82102141#Comment_82102141

No S75 for user error sorry to say. Compounded by the fact you did not pay for postage.

TELLIT01

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82102469#Comment_82102469

I can't see Company A having any interest in chasing the package. They have been paid for the item and the OP has sent it to a random 3rd party. Company B can't be expected to keep a constant look out for a rogue package.

MyRealNameToo

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82102371#Comment_82102371

But Company A hasnt contracted with Evri, in relation to this parcel, because the OP opted for a return to company B

A_Geordie

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82102823#Comment_82102823

I'm not sure what point you're trying to make as I already gave an explanation on the contract point. If there's any part of what I said that you would like me to clarify then I'm happy to.

mta999

For me I would concentrate on Evri not yet delivering the parcel to company B as there is no point in mixing it all up by describing the story of company A

In any case there is no way on earth Evri are going to redirect a parcel on the say so of someone on the phone or email. On the other hand they may agree to return to sender assuming you put the return address on the parcel

Complain they have not delivered your parcel to company B

TELLIT01

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82103759#Comment_82103759

Good point about the return address. Is there one on or in the package?

GDB2222

I had a look at the Evri return portal and I was surprised to find that there are no data checks. It allowed me to schedule a return to H and M with a fictitious order number and email address.

I imagine that what has happened is that the OP scheduled his return, took it to the parcel shop and it was picked up by evri. Some time later Company B looked at the return and noticed the order number was not correct, so they refused to pay for the shipping.

So, neither company a or b has anything to do with it, and evri is the involuntary bailee?