Courier Damage

[Theblip]

If you pay a UK courier firm to transport a costly item from one part of Britain to another and they damage it so badly it’s beyond repair, and the response from their Customer Services Dept is wholly inadequate, who do you turn to / what do you do next?

[1ozzy]

Did you take out insurance?
If not, you're stuffed.

[emmie]

i would seek help from the management of the company, ask for senior advisor, not just the customer service. There must be ombudsman who you can go to, Buenchico/Chris is good on this sort of problem. see if he is about

[emmie]

not sure if this is of help, but perhaps worth a look.

https://www.ombudsman-services.org/

[emmie]

https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/consumer/get-more-help/report-to-trading-standards/

[johnk]

Write to the CEO of the company.

[murraymints]

I'd check the small print in your agreement /invoice there may be a clue there how to progress.. sometimes couriers offer insurance as part of your contract, but will often be limited

[bobbinwales]

What was the item and circumstances. If its a pottery vase and you don't pack it properly and it breaks then they'll say it's your fault. If it's a picture and it's left on the doorstep in the rain as noones in and gets water damaged they'll say not there fault

[emmie]

i would check out the two links i have given, they might be of some value/help?

[murraymints]

bobbin it looks like it was damaged in transit..but adequate packaging will be a moot point

[barry1010]

emmie, the link you provided for the ombudsman is for complaints against energy and telephone companies

[emmie]

i can't find the right one, CAB is a good place to start.

[murraymints]

I would check all your fine print just to make sure what your case is..then bypass customer services and aim to find the CEO name and contact info..I did this with a problem I had with EE and ended up getting free broadband and calls for 3 months, like you customer services was of no help to me and their inadequacy was pointed out to the person at the top which helped I think

[barry1010]

This can help
https://consumerarbitration.co.uk/courier-complaints-how-to-complain-about-a-delivery-courier/

[bobbinwales]

Maybe worth a try Barry but there a private company and there's a £10 fee so the lip has to weigh it up

[barry1010]

bob, may be private but they are approved under the Alternative Dispute Resolution for Consumer Disputes (Competent Authorities and Information) Regulations 2015, by the Civil Aviation Authority, Chartered Trading Standards Institute and Ofcom.
So they're not rip off merchants and the £10 fee is more to weed out time wasters.

[bobbinwales]

Cheers Barry...looks worth ago then although I'd try the ceo first and mention ADR. Peter pedant may know whether it's better just to threaten/ go to small claims court next though for £10 this adr looks ok

[barry1010]

Yep, I always email the CEO first, doesn't always work.

Theblip, did you insure it? Have you got photos of the damage?

[Theblip]

Plenty of damning photos of the damage. Also photos of it in fine condition before being properly wrapped and sent. Not insured, but that doesn’t permit the couriers to damage it beyond repair