Customers Courier Damaged Item

[robertbrownuk]

Hi all

Not sure if im posting in the right section..
Sorry!

Basically, I have sold several items to a customer over the last 8 weeks, and they have been happy with all of the items and paid 50% prior to shipment, and the remaining 50% after receipt of delivery.

My issue is on my last shipment, they have received the item damaged.. They used their own courier (TNT) and are refusing to put in an insurance claim against TNT. Instead they are stating that it is 100% my fault for improper packaging, and have now offered to pay me 10% instead of the remaining 50% that they owe me, to cover the damages.

They are refusing to pay any more than the 10%, and have said if i want my item back, i have to pay them any money they have already paid, plus the carraige cost, plus the time that they have wasted in checking the order.

My problem here is if i do pay all this, i will be paying them for a damaged item which i cannot claim for at any point.

I do not have goods in transit insurance, and even if i did im not entirely sure id be covered as they used their own courier.



The courier (TNT) have stated to me that there is no reason my customer wouldnt claim for insurance, and that the packaging material i have used is more than sufficient, the likely cause is that somewhere alone the timeline of leaving me and arriving at the customer, the courier must have dropped the box.

I am lost as to who is responsible now, as they are adamant that i am not getting my item back unless i pay more for it than they bought it off me, and they are also adamant they are not going to pay the full price!

Please help!

Kind regards

Rob

 

[Newchodge]

What kind of value are you talking about?

 

[robertbrownuk]

The order was £545 They have paid £300 so far, and are only offering to pay me £55 instead of The £245 outstanding.

I am clueless as to why they will not claim from their courier, as the courier have told me there is no reason why they would not process the claim for the customer based on all the facts i have told them.

I am a small time person, and £190 is a big hit for me!

Kind regards

Rob

 

[MikeJ]

Legally, you can tell them to take a running jump. It's the courier's problem.

Professionally, you have to decide if you want to upset a repeat customer. How much more business might you get from them. How long would it take to recoup the £190. How have they decided that £190 is a reasonable amount to withhold?

 

[robertbrownuk]

They are a one off customer,

The items i got were from liquidation stock and are not normally my line of business.

I did however try and offer them several options, the first being £50 off, and ill wait until the courier refunds them/re insurance payment, for the remaining £140

They turned this down and said they are refusing to, its my fault.

Then when things started to get a bit nasty i was fair and offered them £100 off as a final offer, to which they point blank refused and had the cheek to say they are not going to take the hit, just to help me out if its my fault in the first place.


Their argument is that the way i packaged it wasnt sufficient enough, I thought this would be down to the insurance company to depict not myself. It is their choice that they decided to use a courier which would be taking the box to a hub and then reloading etc at several points.

The courier is even agreeing with me, the only problem is, it isnt sent on my account so i cannot make any claim.

And as i normally provide services (web design etc) i am not insured for this sort of thing.

 

[robertbrownuk]

I say one off.

I have dealt with them several times over the last 8 weeks, however i am now out of items to sell to them, therefore there will be no future business relationship there.

I had actually come to favour the company i am dealing with, because they were so quick to pay and collect and hadnt had any problems with them.

How wrong was i!

 

[Newchodge]

Write a formal letter before action, and if they don't pay up in full issue a money claim on line.

 

[robertbrownuk]

Okay thank you for your advice,

Can you point me in the direction of a free proffesional template that would suit my requirements?

I dont expect you to find the exact doc, but not entirely sure what it is that i am looking for.

Kind regards

Rob

 

[deadgoodundies]

Chances are the reason why the aren't claiming on the insurance is that they skimped on it to save a bit of money.
If you got to site like parcel2go and book a courier they only cover upto £50 automatically and you have to pay for insuring for the full amount.

 

[robertbrownuk]

They didnt Insure additionally,

BUT with TNT (I used to deal with them on a regular basis)

There is automatically a £15 per kilo cover, and with the item weighing over 50 kilos, it is more than insured.

Kind regards

Rob Brown

​

 

[roydmoorian]

They are a one off customer,

The items i got were from liquidation stock and are not normally my line of business.


The courier is even agreeing with me, the only problem is, it isnt sent on my account so i cannot make any claim.

I would suspect that TNT insurance will want to know a WHOLESALE value the damaged goods and also implement an excess, were a claim to actually be made.

I would like you to prove me wrong though.

 

[robertbrownuk]

Although you may expect that,

I have just done a claim via another company (I own my own company i run part time / and work at another full time)

And the insurance value depends on the person claiming,

If the seller is claiming, then they will refund you at the landed purchase price if lost, with no excess (which means you lose the profit, but at least you get your money back) then you can rebuy the item and reinvoice the customer (therefore getting your profit back)

Or if it is damaged but can be repaired, they will again refund you the exact value it would cost to repair the goods to their sellable state, which means you can still sell it and not lose any profit

If it is damaged beyond repair they refund you the landed purchase price (landed purchase price for the previous claim including the shipping cost from China!)


On the other hand as a buyer, you will be insured for the amount that you have lost, for example, if you pay £500 and use your courier, then your purchase price is £500 regardless of what the seller paid for it. And they will refund you in full and not charge you for the shipping (why should they, you never received it!)

And again with damage, it is the cost for you to repair or replace the item


This is why i cannot understand why they are refusing to claim.

Kind regards

Rob Brown

 

[Socio South West]

This is why i cannot understand why they are refusing to claim.

My guess would be that somebody at their end happily signed the delivery docket, forgetting that they were not only signing for the delivery, but that it was also in GOOD CONDITION and as a result, in true TNT fashion, TNT are having nothing to do with a claim.