Before Christmas my husband used eBay to sell two toys, and went on the site to book the parcels firm Evri to deliver them. The problem is that they didn’t arrive. In the past we have been able to claim whenever a parcel got lost but not this time.
We have tried logging on via the website, chat, or the customer service phone line but to no avail. Whenever we give Evri the tracking number of our parcels, the company says they cannot be found and to follow “our protocols” for lost parcels.
Nowhere does an option exist allowing us to actually claim back the value. The situation is made worse by the fact that it is impossible to talk to a human. It’s essentially “computer says no” and we are left with no recourse.
Ultimately, it is not even the money we lost that is grating but rather the fact that Evri can just ignore us.
SA, Colchester
Evri, or Hermes as it used to be called, doesn’t have the best reputation when it comes to delivering parcels but in this case the story was a little more complicated.
It seems that if you book an Evri delivery using the eBay platform, you are actually signing up with a firm called Packlink, which, in this case, hired Evri to carry out the delivery.
This (sort of) explains why your reference numbers were not recognised by the Evri website when you tried to claim.
Fortunately for you, and after I asked the company to explain, Evri has now resolved the case behind the scenes.
You have been refunded for the loss by Packlink, as you should have been, and a £30 “goodwill gesture” has been paid, which you have generously donated to the Guardian.
The moral of the tale for other eBay customers in this boat: contact eBay or Packlink rather than the end courier.
This probably needs to be made clearer.
We welcome letters but cannot answer individually. Email us at consumer.champions@theguardian.com or write to Consumer Champions, Money, the Guardian, 90 York Way, London N1 9GU. Please include a daytime phone number. Submission and publication of all letters is subject to our terms and conditions
