The courier, a missing phone ...and a flock of flying pigs

A.O. writes: I sent a mobile phone to my cousin in Norfolk, using the Evri courier service. Two days later he received an email from Evri to say the parcel had been damaged beyond repair and could not be delivered.

I spoke to Evri and asked it to deliver the damaged phone, which was in the manufacturer’s original packaging, or send a photograph of it. It did neither.

The firm then sent me a claim form, asking me for an image of the damaged parcel, which was exactly what I had been asking it for.

YOU were right to ask Evri for evidence such as a photograph showing the damaged phone, or even to return the phone itself, which was worth £175. Evri’s response was to tell you: ‘The contents of your parcel have been damaged to an extent where we are unable to return it to you. The parcels go through several handling and transportation processes, and on rare occasions this may happen.’

You complained, and this time Evri replied: ‘We are so sorry that despite an extensive investigation, we have not been able to locate your parcel.’ This was strange in itself. If Evri could not even find your parcel, how did it know that it and the contents were damaged beyond repair?

It was at this point that you contacted me, and I pressed Evri for some better answers. The company – which was called Hermes until it changed its name following mounting customer complaints – then told you: ‘Unfortunately, due to the time that has elapsed we are unable to investigate as items and data are not kept within our network for this period of time.’

What a load of nonsense! Evri knew within 48 hours that something was badly wrong. First it said the phone was damaged beyond repair. Then it said it could not locate it. And finally it shrugged its shoulders and blamed the passage of time.

Evri gave me a statement, apologising for the inconvenience to you, and adding that it provided guidance on packaging and financial cover to customers sending high value items. Fair enough, but this almost suggested that your packaging was at fault. So I pressed Evri again. How long are items and data kept? What is the time limit for an investigation? And most important of all, please hand over a photo of the phone that was damaged beyond repair.

Evri finally admitted that it could not let me have a photo of the phone because when the packaging had been damaged the contents had become dislodged and were missing.

So, the package was ripped open, and the phone had just fallen out and then vanished. It was never damaged beyond repair. It has simply disappeared. As explanations go, this one had me looking out of the window in search of flying pigs, which seemed just as likely.

The one thing that Evri did get right was to decide that even though it insisted you had sent the phone at your own risk, it would send you £175 ‘as a goodwill gesture’.

You have accepted this, and you have donated it to a charity looking after very sick children, providing respite and end of life care. Well done.