Ask the Complainer: Caught between the retailer and courier

Ask The Complainer  is our segment for consumer queries on complex questions. Each month, Jasper Griegson, aka The Complainer, picks one submission to respond to.

If you could do with some expert advice on a tricky situation, Ask The Complainer now

Last month, Jasper responded to Ian – who was ghosted by the garage that was supposed to carry out repairs on his vehicle.

This month, in conjunction with our Resolver Stories feature on Evri, Jasper responds to Paul, who wanted some further clarification on what he can do to get a refund from AliExpress for an undelivered parcel.

This is Paul’s question…

Dear Jasper,

Just been reading the Resolver newsletter on Evri and I am still baffled as to how the law helps the consumer speak to Evri. 

The nature of my own complaint is that I ordered a number of products from AliExpress and diverted my order to a parcel shop drop off, as I was on holiday. I had an alert to says it had been delivered, but when I went to collect it, it wasn’t there and according to the parcel shop location, they said that they had a problem as they scanned in some products, but when opening the bag of parcels, the products in the bag did not reconcile with the scanned list of products.

I challenged Evri by raising a Resolver complaint. I had the reply I expected from them – which is “call this number” etc. But, of course, no one ever responds apart from automated messages. I also wrote to the executive board, who again passed me on to customer services, who just don’t respond with “human written emails” or requests for a call back.

After I got nowhere with Evri, I raised the issue with AliExpress – as I understand that the retailer should be refunding me. They said they could only refund me if I got a certificate from Evri to confirm the non-delivery of my parcel. But, Evri just didn’t respond to this request. They referred me back to AliExpress… so around and around in circles I go. 

The kicker is that AliExpress use the Evri system which apparently shows the delivery status as delivered, so without the certificate of non-delivery, I have no way of getting my refund! 

My point is that, I tried AliExpress, who were actually good, but they use the evidence provided by Evri, and Evri just don’t reply. So is there a difference of responsibility when it’s the courier company not acting responsibly?

Paul

Dear Paul,

Thank you for raising with us the problem that you have encountered with the courier company Evri. I very much sympathise with your dilemma – and Evri is certainly not the only courier company guilty of delivering dreadful customer service.

Your first port of call should be AliExpress. You contracted to buy goods from them and they have not delivered them via their delivery agents Evri. It is not good enough from them to demand certificates of non-delivery or anything else. You should demand a refund from them in any event since you have not received what they contracted to supply. Try to get personal contact of someone senior at AliExpress and explain that because Evri is hopeless, it is impossible to get the certificate they demand.

The problem with Evri is that you are battling with the faceless and impenetrable world of digital communications. They fob you off with computer-generated automatic responses and this is deeply frustrating. Again I would say that if you can voice your grievance to a named individual at Evri (by searching online for the email address or postal address of someone with authority) that may assist.

Failing all of the above, if you paid by credit card, you have the right to demand a refund for the failure of AliExpress from your credit card company under Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act, if the goods in question exceed £100 in value.
Good luck in pursuing this complaint.

Best regards,

Jasper Griegson
The Complainer

Having trouble with Evri or another company? Open a free case with Resolver today.

At Resolver, we’re aiming to help you through resolution. However, we’re also fully aware that not all companies make it easy for you.

That’s why we created a series of tools to help you get the resolution you deserve:

• Know your rights with our Rights’ Guides.
• Share your story and help us raise awareness of consumer issues with Resolver Stories.
• Facing a tricky consumer issue? Every month, The Complainer will choose one question to answer. Ask yours here.
• Learn more about Consumer Claims, these collective lawsuits and claims that can bring £1,000s back to those eligible!
• Join Resolver Community and receive all the latest consumer news, claims and updates in your inbox!

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