I lost TWO sewing machines in the post - what are my rights?

Moneywise columnist Hannah Nemeth helps a reader get a refund for their lost parcel

A reader has had problems with deliveries twice when trying to send a sewing machine for repairs.

In June 2018, LK used MyHermes to send her sewing machine to a shop in Birmingham to be repaired. It was worth £399 but she did not take out insurance so when her machine was lost, she only received £20 back.

Anxious not to be caught out again, when she sent another sewing machine to the same repairs shop in October 2019, she took out insurance cover this time.

The parcel was sent via Parcel2Go, a parcel comparison site that offers customers a choice of couriers, and the courier was MyHermes.

Contacting Fight for your Rights for help, LK says: “What a surprise! MyHermes has confirmed that this parcel has also been lost. What bothers me is that the same depot lost the same package twice. How can a large box containing a sewing machine just vanish?”

As the parcel was sent via Parcel2Go, the customer services team at MyHermes directed her to them for her compensation claim.

LK has been chasing Parcel2Go for compensation, but there is no phone number or email (read our feature on missing parcels on page 46), and she has been led a merry dance by Parcel2Go’s online chat team.

She finally received a message to say that Parcel2Go had rejected her claim, saying that she was covered for loss only, not damage. However, her sewing machine had been lost so this explanation did not make sense.

While LK had given up hope of getting any more money back for the first missing sewing machine, she did pay insurance for the second one and asked for Moneywise’s help.

When I finally got a phone number for Parcel2Go’s operations team – which took several attempts including being asked to write in by snail mail – it was quick to look into LK’s case and told me her claim had been rejected in error.

While the machine was insured for £345, it offered to pay a gesture of goodwill payment of £54, paying her £399 in total.

A spokesperson for Parcel2Go says: “Unlike other comparison sites, if something goes wrong with your chosen courier, we will help our customer resolve the issue. In this instance, our operator did not deliver the very highest standards that we aspire to. The original claim was rejected in error and this mistake has now been corrected.”

It also reviewed my webchat with the customer services team asking for a contact in head office and said that the operator should have escalated my request to a supervisor.

While LK has accepted the £399 payment, she says: “It has taken nearly two months to get to this point and it was a bit stressful. I will never use Parcel2Go or MyHermes again. 

“If there is a problem, you cannot call them and that makes it more frustrating than it should be.” 

OUTCOME:

£345 refund plus £54