I recently sent a bike via Parcel2Go and to no great surprise they were a bit useless. I had however selected their “Delivery Guarantee” option when booking the delivery so when the bike was delivered 4 days late I attempted to make a claim. They basically attempted to deny that they were guaranteed to do anything so I raised a PayPal dispute and asked for my money back there.

Today Parcel2Go have offered me a partial refund, equivalent to the listed Base Price of the delivery,  plus VAT, but lacking the extras I had paid for (insurance, the delivery guarantee and a signature on delivery). From the description of the delivery guarantee that I’ve quoted below, would you say that’s all they’ve committed to doing, or should I keep pushing until they refund the full amount?

With the delivery guarantee, you will be entitled to a full refund of your carriage if your parcel is not delivered by <date>*

*Not valid if the collection or delivery was attempted or impaired.

Parcel2Go’s Ts&Cs do not provide a specific definition of “carriage” that I can see, and no neither the collection nor delivery failed.

**** them.  Full refund.

To be a bit of a pedant, parcel2go are not a courier company, they are a parcel delivery comparison website. It was not them that messed up your delivery but the provider you selected through them. Which one was it?

It seems likely that Parcel2Go screwed up by not actually telling their subcontractor courier company (in this case MyHermes) to collect my parcel. But seeing as I bought a service from Parcel2Go and paid for a delivery guarantee that they were offering on their web site, I think it’s up to them to deal with any subcontractors who they think failed them.

I’d go with full carriage being the cost of shipment, which is to say the base price. The delivery guarantee is an extra service – insurance essentially – and not actually part of the carriage. Ditto the signatute and insurance, if they were included it would be the full price of your service.

On the other hand, push for more, hiding behind that sort of thing is crap and deserves to be punished also you’ve nothing to loose at all and frankly it’s not worth their pratting about with it for long.

I’m reading that as, you paid extra for guaranteed delivery on a certain date, so you’re entitled to the extra amount that it cost over standard delivery.

But if they’re trying to shaft you then **** em.

I give the best recommendations ever btw

It sort of seems like their default attitude of shafting me has at least partially been abandoned as soon as I got PayPal involved. This is the something that annoys me about the world works, companies find it easy to brush off complaints from consumers and it requires the backing of a bigger beast (currently PayPal) for them to actually fulfill their promises.

I do apologise, i misread the OP.

i though you had bought something and were awaiting delivery, but you were actually sending an item.

My mistake, please ignore me.

Apart from the **** em bit, i stand by that entirely.

I would have read that superficially as complete refund.  Technically it may not, but I think to be a fair contract term it should make clear what is included- e.g. I’d expect the guarantee to be repayable as well and I think the signature is part of the carriage service.  To me the bit that might not be repayable would be the insurance.

I’d agree with their interpretation

Yep, so do I.  The insurance etc, are not part of carriage.  I would say having a late delivery with MyHermes is quite a good outcome compared to their normal tricks…

I can see that point, but I can also see that “carriage” is not defined on the page where the delivery guarantee is offered, nor in their Ts&Cs. In addition the price breakdown on the order page lists base price, cover (insurance), signature on delivery, delivery guarantee and VAT. Wouldn’t it have been much clearer to state that it was a refund of the base price plus its VAT? Almost like Parcel2Go were trying to make it sound like a full refund of the complete cost while leaving wiggle room to avoid that if anyone managed to claim it.

kerley – I was aware of the reputation of MyHermes, hence why I paid for the guarantee!

It seems likely that Parcel2Go screwed up by not actually telling their subcontractor courier company (in this case MyHermes) to collect my parcel. But seeing as I bought a service from Parcel2Go and paid for a delivery guarantee that they were offering on their web site, I think it’s up to them to deal with any subcontractors who they think failed them.

Parcel2Go.com, based in Bolton, Greater Manchester is the UK’s leading parcel delivery comparison website, offering a surprisingly cheap alternative to the Post Office to consumers and small eBay sellers/businesses. Our website enables you to send anything, from a small packet to a large parcel, to destinations throughout the UK and internationally, and all for a surprisingly cheap price.

Now the UK’s top parcel brokers, our business has grown quickly, and we have over 10 years experience in the industry meaning you know you can trust us with your parcel. We were even ranked in the top 100 fastest growing technology companies in 2011 (Sunday Times Tech Track 100).

Over time our range of services has expanded and we’re delighted to be able to offer a full range of national and international destinations, same day, next day and economy services, collection from your door or drop at one of over 10,000 shops; as well as integration with eBay, Amazon and other marketplace websites.

The website is fully integrated with the supplier base. This means that whether you choose to enter the address details manually, or link to an eBay auction, your order goes straight to the courier you’ve chosen and you can even print out the label in your own home. As the transfer is done via an automatic process, you can rest assured that the courier has received your collection request for the day you’ve specified; and if you’re using a drop off service you can even take your parcel to your local shop the same day!

Unlike most comparison sites, Parcel2Go are here to help after the order has been booked. When you place your order, your contract and payment is with Parcel2Go and our customer services team is available until 11 p.m. every day to resolve any issues you may have. This means that instead of having to use multiple processes, you can take advantage of using Parcel2Go for everything from collection through to tracking your delivery; regardless of the service you use.

It would be interesting to know what the relationship with the couriers is in the strickest legal sense. They (above) describe themselves as a comparison website and as a broker. You however describe the courier as subcontractors which is different I think. If I buy car insurnance through a broker, even if the broker’s front end deal with all the data entry and take my money I believe by relationship is with the insurance company and they are not a mere subcontractor.

As an aside, what percentage of what you paid was the base price? I am amazed that signed for delivery is an extra – I can’t remember the last time I had a delivery that was not signed for.

The bit in the last paragraph, “your contract and payment is with Parcel2Go” seems pretty relevant.

The base price (including VAT) was about 55% of the total cost. The cover/insurance was most of the rest, the guarantee cost about £3.40 and the signature £1. Presumably Parcel2Go are following the budget airline model of making the initial price as tempting as possible, then making things that most people would expect to be included, such as a signature on delivery, into optional extras.

Presumably Parcel2Go are following the budget airline model of making the initial price as tempting as possible, then making things that most people would expect to be included, such as a signature on delivery, into optional extras.

But if you were a courier and ever other parcel you delivered was with a signature would you not get one for a packed booked through P2G? In a way the signature protects them as much as it does the consumer.

In the end PayPal sided with me and I got a full refund.

I am amazed that signed for delivery is an extra – I can’t remember the last time I had a delivery that was not signed for.

Nothing I get from Amazon is signed for. Hermes is usually unsigned for too.