Courier company denying liability

mrgazer

Free Member
Oct 13, 2013
47
0
Hi there, I require a bit of legal advise to see where I stand.

Will cut it as short as possible.

I booked out a courier service in Sep 2018 - not going to mention names, but it is one of the big 4.. The product is to be collected from uk delivering to chile. One month later, the company contacted me saying customer had not had for custom duty and can't deliver the item.

They offered 2 options which was to return to me or dispose. I obviously denied disposing it as product worth £1000. At the same time, buyer opened a ebay case, saying not received, and forced to refund to buyer.

I asked the company to get back to me with a price to return. One month later, they got back to me saying £380 to return to uk inc custom duty at chile.

Despite disagreeing with custom duty, I paid for it anyway in Nov 2018, operator say it will take a few days to action. after 1 week, still no receipt of tracking nor shippment, contacted again, and they suggested it was delivered to the original receiver just 4 days after I paid for the invoice, they said receiver paid for the custom duty locally - Now I do not believe in this being coincidence, the parcel got to chile 3 months ago, and all this time, customer had not paid for customs, and now all of a sudden, the customer paid for the duty and delivered the item to him?

In short, I had lost almost £1000 as well as losing the item, so the customer is keeping a free product basically - ebay decided the case in buyers favour because tracking indeed shown as NOT DELIVERED at the time. No deny about that.

Now, I believe either the company or the courier they use made a mistake, either the company had sent my custom duty to the courier and not giving clear instructions, or the courier in chile just assumed the custom duty is cleared and delivered the item.

Due to the financial loss, I made a claim to the company demanding the £1000 loss as a reimbursement for my financial loss. But they are stating the loss I had occurred is classified as a consequential loss, and their insurance is not going to cover it. Basically denying to admit liability. They advised that requesting to return the item is not guaranteed, I made clear from their previous email they had not mentioned anything regarding it not being guaranteed. They apologised saying they feel I misunderstood....

I wanted to hear from third parties to see where I stand, as I do not believe I had done anything wrong resulted in the item not being returned, instead, this is one of the option they offered, the return postage fee and custom fee was properly paid for. they confirmed it was going to take a few days to action and returned to me. But never did.

Any input from you all would be much appreciated!

Thanks
Gaz.
 
This is a really difficult one. As far as the Courier is concerned, they should either provide a proof of delivery, or refund you the loss. Obviously if the item was not insured, they will pay you their standard liability, which is usually £12 per kg in weight of the item.

With regards to duty being paid by the receiver, duty is payable on any item of value, sent outside the EEC. I know it's not much use now,but your adverts should have contained wording that the receiver "may" be liable for import duty. Duty is usually charged at 8-12% of the value, depending on the Country receiving it.

If you had chosen the option to return it, you would not have had to pay the duties, as the item would not have left Customs.

In summary, if you have paid the duty, the carrier must refund you that. With regards to the missing item, unless they can provide you with a proof of delivery, it must be treated as lost and they must reimburse you. Unless you took out additional insurance, they will only pay their standard liability in the event of loss, which will be around £12/kg.
 
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mrgazer

Free Member
Oct 13, 2013
47
0
Thanks a lot for the advice.

Just to confirm my position. I am not sure whether the proof of delivery would be relevant. my claim is that because they had confirmed shippment is to be returned to the UK to myself, I had allowed ebay to escalate the case to be investigated,and at the end decided in buyers favour. as I assumed the company would arrange delivery back to the Uk despite the charges had been paid for.

And yes they refunded the custom duty and return shipping fees to me.

Where do you think I stand in terms of the claim?

Thanks a million
 
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Mr D

Free Member
Feb 12, 2017
28,915
3,627
Stirling
If they have a proof of delivery,then it has been delivered. If so, take it up with Ebay to get your money, as it has been delivered.

If Ebay do not want to get involved, you could try legal proceedings against the buyer to recover the money, although i am guessing that would be difficult based on where the buyer lives.

A paypal invoice for the full amount the buyer owes can work.
 
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Paul Norman

Free Member
Apr 8, 2010
4,105
1,538
Torrevieja
As I read the opening post, the courier is not liable here.

The buyer is. They have received the goods, and not paid.

Ebay are unlikely to be helpful here - indeed, they have stated their view point on the matter. However, it is worth speaking to them. Speaking, not exchanging messages on their site.

Legally,however, it is the buyer who owes you the money, and it is likely that you need to pursue the buyer for the debt.

How best to do that, given they are in Chile, is harder to say.
 
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