DHL Parcel mislabeled during customs clearance and sent to the wrong address

[BankFodder]

Well at the moment because everything is alleged, we shouldn't disclose identities on this open forum. I have just sent you some information by email. And we probably need to do a bit of that. We can also use the private message system on this forum.

However, I think eventually you should make it clear to him that you are fully aware that the parcel was delivered to his address and that he has signed for it and that you have written evidence of this. I think you should make it clear that you understand where he works and what his function is and that he is in a position of trust.
I think that you should tell him that you believe you have sufficient information to bring an action against him for trespass to your goods and that if he forces you to do this then you are prepared to travel to Newcastle for any hearing where you will produce evidence to a judge that there may be an element of dishonesty involved.

Tell him that if the judge agrees with you and gives you the judgement then in addition to recovering your property and also compensation for the trespass, you will publish the judgement on social media and provide a copy to his employers.

I suggest that you draft a letter and let me see a copy privately. You will be quite right that we need to exercise caution but if everything is kept simply between you and him and if what you say in your letter is based on an honest belief then I don't foresee any problem.

In any event, send the SAR to DHL because you may get confirmation of his home address. It would certainly be better to serve proceedings on its home address and I suggest that you continue some research on this matter.

 

I would also tell him that once you obtain a successful judgement in the County Court in Newcastle, if the judge indicates that he is satisfied that there is an element of dishonesty, you will also forward the information to the police. Tell him that in view of his position of trust, you consider that there is a public interest in this.

 

There seems to be a number of people with that surname in that Newcastle area. I wonder if this is a particularly north-eastern surname

[NPLondon]

Btw for the SAR does it make sense to send it to the data protection officer (there is an email listed) or post to the data controller which only has an address? I know it says the latter but just checking if I can speed things up

[BankFodder]

In fact looking at the photos compared to his LinkedIn one – I see that there are lots of similarities. He is older in the LinkedIn one and has lost more hair but he still got the same sideburns.

 

Also – a bit concerning that they are selling off bits and pieces both him and his partner. - TVs, furniture, shoes – could be WMF cutlery next

 

Once again, he may well have more than one Facebook account

 

I would send the SAR to both. One by email and confirmation by letter. Don't forget, it may not turn up the goods – but it's worth a punt

 

Of course you could get someone on your behalf to express interest in the shoes and get a full address that way.

[BankFodder]

By the way, do you realise that you can put in an eBay search and localise it within X miles of a certain postcode. This should cut down the problem of having to search hundreds of advertisements every day.

At the moment, a search for WMF cutlery within 50 miles of the postcode only produces six hits. Very manageable

[NPLondon]

1 minute ago, BankFodder said:

By the way, do you realise that you can put in an eBay search and localise it within X miles of a certain postcode

 

yes I did that, not much auction only stuff but I will check from time to time

[BankFodder]

Do you have any images of the WMF items? If you do then you could post them on this site.

[BankFodder]

Okay, I gather that you think you have identified a street address and a house number.

I would suggest that your next step is to visit the land registry, do a web search and see who the owner of that property is. Of course it may be rented which will tell you nothing – but if it is owned by the recipient then you have the information you need. The search will cost you £10 – I think.

 

https://eservices.landregistry.gov.uk/eservices/FindAProperty/view/MapEnquiryInit.do

[NPLondon]

Ok I've got the title from the land registry with the correct name and the address I identified.

 

The person who signed for the parcel is resident at that address

 

Btw it's only £3

Edited January 22, 2020 by NPLondon

[BankFodder]

You say they are resident – but the fact that they are on the land registry database, means that they are the owner. This is excellent because it means you have identified their place of residence – but also that they have an asset.

You have sent me the copy of an email which you have received from DHL. I suggest that you put it up here on the forum for everybody to see – you can redact it for your own identifiers but I suggest that you keep the DHL identifiers in.

Don't forget that this is an information resource and everybody who visits here learns from other people's experience – even if they don't contribute to the discussions

[NPLondon]

Email from DHL operations:

 

 

Quote

 

Thankyou for your email this morning and I am sorry I didn’t come back to you last night , investigations were on going yesterday late into the night and therefore I didn’t have time to update you. Both the driver and our location manager have been trying extremely hard to retrieve your item from the address that it was delivered but they have not been able to do so. The householder is denying having had any such item delivered and knows nothing about the delivery therefore we are sorry to inform you that your item has gone missing.

 

We appreciate that we would be unable to replace the sentimental value to this gift that was send to you as this is impossible for us to do but could I please ask if you can put a value to the items that were contained in the parcel to allow us to suggest how we can compensate you for these.

 

As I informed you in my previous email it was human error that caused the mislabel and the operator who did this is being dealt with through our internal disciplinary process and retraining . 

 

I know how upsetting this news will be to you but we would like to resolve this as quickly as possible for you. We are all extremely sorry for what has happened , these incidents are extremely rare and we always use them to help us get better at what we do. 

 

Look forward to hearing from you            

             

 

Richard Wenham

Head of Operational Support  

DHL Parcel UK Ltd
Express House 
Hillman Way

Ryton-on-Dunsmore

Coventry

CV8 3ED

 

 

[BankFodder]

Thank you. Before we decide what to do – can you tell me a bit more about the sentimental value. Why are these items important to you and why are they worth more than the replacement value?

Maybe you can tell us what they actually were

[NPLondon]

I've known this person for 35 years and they sent this cutlery that they inherited from their late step-mother as a reminder of when I lived in Germany. For the same reason she sends me marzipan and other products from time to time. 

 

I can't believe these people signed for the parcel in their own name and then pointedly denied ever having received it - despite the satellite photo of the delivery with a pin dropped directly above their house and the land registry title for the address matching their surname.

[BankFodder]

Yes, but they didn't imagine that you would come to the Consumer Action Group. I expect they thought that you would simply go for help to Resolver or to Citizens Advice 

I think the final thing we need to do is to see if we can get a statement from the driver – or at least a confirmation in some way that they did actually go to that address and whether they handed the parcel to a man or a woman.

So this means that at the moment, we send a very friendly nonthreatening message to DHL

 

Quote

Dear Richard,

As you can imagine I'm extremely distressed at the loss of my parcel. It's not so much the consumables but it is the box of WMF cutlery which I inherited many years ago and which was a fond keepsake souvenir of an old lady who was very close to me until she died.

I'm anxious to try and recover the parcel and so I would be grateful if you would help me by speaking to your driver and asking him/her to confirm that they did visit that address at XX X Rd XXX postcode – and whether the person who signed for the parcel was a man or a woman. Any other description would be helpful.

I'd be grateful if you would let me know straight away if you can do this. I expect that you could probably telephone your driver and get the information verbally and then I would like simply to obtain some written confirmation.

I think time is of the essence here because having done a bit of research, I notice that the people at that address seem regularly to sell items on Facebook and on eBay.

Sincerely

 

[NPLondon]

Ok sent with a few minor adjustments

[BankFodder]

He may be at lunch at the moment but I suggest that in about an hour, you give them a gentle reminder on the basis that you are anxious to pre-empt the disposal of your goods

[NPLondon]

Latest reply from DHL

 

Quote

 

We are doing everything we can to try and resolve this for you , our head of security is now taking a look at what options we have with the address that the item was shipped to. Can you please give us a little time to try and get the result we all would like to see.

 

Thankyou for your understanding    

 

Richard Wenham

Head of Operational Support  

 

 

[BankFodder]

Quote

Dear Richard,

Thank you for this message.

I'm afraid I'm not prepared to fit into your procedures or your timeline. This is an extremely serious matter for me. I have already indicated that the actual recipient in addition to his full-time job, seems to operate a sales function in which they and their partner sell off bits and pieces and so I'm extremely anxious that the items which you have negligently delivered to them may be disposed of and not recoverable.
I can give you full details of the recipient and partner – and place of work if you wish.

I don't see any problem in obtaining a verbal statement from your driver in order to confirm that he did indeed deliver the items to XXX address and whether they were signed for by a man or a woman. Furthermore, I would remind you that the signature which you have provided to me shows clearly that your driver handed my valuable property over to somebody who was not even named as the addressee.

Once again, I want the verbal confirmation and information which I'm seeking. There should be no difficulty about this and if I do not receive them then I will assume that DHL is deliberately withholding this information from me and this will inform the way I go on to deal with this problem.

Your staff development problems with your drivers is your problem and have nothing to do with me. I'm not interested in human error. People pay for a service to be properly conducted and it is your responsibility as a manager to make sure this is done.   

If by your delay in providing me with the information I require, I am unable to take advantage of the slight window of opportunity which I have to recover my goods, then DHL will be held fully responsible and this exchange will be shown to the court if needs be. For the avoidance of doubt you should also tell your legal department that no correspondence whatsoever will be received without prejudice. Our entire exchange is at large and may be shown to a court. 
 

At the present time I'm prepared to accept that this whole episode has happened by accident and not to attach any blame or improper motive either to DHL or to the actual recipient. However, this will be conditional on the recovery of my property with your assistance.

Sincerely

 

 

This may be too aggressive for your taste

[NPLondon]

18 minutes ago, BankFodder said:

This may be too aggressive for your taste

 

I added the address and a few minor tweaks but otherwise sent as is, Dankeschön

[BankFodder]

If they don't or won't provide you with the statements you require then I think that you probably need to start writing to the recipient – and in a hurry.

We should work out a form of words. However, I would suggest that you send the letter to the recipient by first class recorded delivery – and one to his partner – but addressed to him and marked on the envelope "confidential".

We may decide to send similar letters to his place of work – once again marked "confidential".

Have you filed a police report?

[BankFodder]

Quote

Dear XXX (first name)

I'm writing to you because I have learnt from DHL that they accidentally delivered a parcel to your address – and signed by you – but which in fact was intended for me.

The contents of this parcel – in particular a set of WMF silverplated cutlery, is especially precious to me because it is a gift from my mother-in-law who died 35 years ago. The set has sentimental value and cannot be replaced.

I understand that DHL have approached you and you have told them that you don't know anything about this parcel. However, they have a receipt signed with your name and the delivery driver remembers going to your address. We have yet to speak to the delivery driver personally but when we do, he will tell us who he handed the parcel to.

I would like to solve this amicably and without attaching any blame – and I'm sure that there is simply some error. I would be very pleased to recover my property and I would be happy to reimburse you all the costs of sending the box of cutlery to my London address by insured and tracked delivery. I'm happy to pay you in advance for this.

I'm not completely certain of this letter reaching you and so I hope that you won't mind that I may send copies of it to other addresses which are associated with if I feel that you have not received this one which has been addressed directly to you.

 I understand that in your position and occupying the kind of role that you do, as a XXXX at XXXX (role and place of work), that you hold a position of trust. I therefore have confidence that you will respond to me and let me know how much it will cost to send this consignment on to me.

If for some reason or other the other items in the parcel have become damaged or are otherwise not available, then that is of no concern to me. They were all perishable and were simply birthday gifts which was sent to me by my sister.

I do hope that you will send me a reply quickly. If you wish you can reach me by email at blah blah blah@blahblahblah.co.uk

I am in contact with DHL about this and have sent them a copy of this letter as well. If it makes you feel more comfortable, then I would be happy if you returned the cutlery set to DHL and they can then deliver it to me – but of course there would have to be the usual proof of sending and insurance et cetera. The easiest would be if you simply sent it directly to me.

Thank you

Yours sincerely

 

 

If you're happy with this letter – then you might think about getting it off this afternoon by first class post – preferably registered with guaranteed next day delivery. Don't bother to send anything to DHL at the moment.

Give it another hour to see what DHL come up with
 

[BankFodder]

I suppose there has been no response from DHL – I think maybe it is time to send them a letter of claim.

Only send it if you are absolutely prepared to go ahead and take the action. In other words, you give them 14 days notice and on day 15 you issue the papers. If there is any doubt about this then don't send the letter.

We will have to do a form of words and decide a value.

[NPLondon]

No response from DHL after the reply that security is taking a look at this.

 

The letter has gone 1st class signed for. 

 

I haven't filed a police report, I need to do it with Northumbrian police - will this help matters?

[BankFodder]

Yes I think a police report will be extremely useful. You will get a crime reference number and also you can provide a name and address of where the parcel was delivered. I think it will add weight to the perception of seriousness of the issue – both to the recipient and also to DHL.

Don't expect to be treated particularly seriously by the police. They may well tell you to go and do it online with action fraud. You may have to stand your ground but it won't be easy.

I'm afraid that it's about now that you can find out how difficult it is to deal with all these agencies who are meant to be helping you. Try to file the report anyway and get a crime reference number. Supply them with images et cetera

[BankFodder]

Quote

Dear Richard

I'm very sorry that you haven't responded to my message to you asking me for a written confirmation from your driver or that you have failed to propose any solution or found my belongings.

As you know, DHL by their negligence delivered a parcel addressed to me in London, to an address in Newcastle and furthermore, obtained a signature for the parcel from a person who was not authorised to receive it.
In your correspondence to me you have already admitted what has happened and that for whatever reason, DHL was responsible.

You are fully aware that the contents of the parcel include a set of silverplated cutlery which has a special sentimental value to me, in addition to other items which were sent to me by way of birthday gifts from my sister in Germany.

Because the cutlery set was given to me specifically as a souvenir of my late mother-in-law and to whom I was very close, I have already explained to you that apart from the fact that I'm not aware that these items are available any more, they are irreplaceable to me.

You can imagine the distress I feel having to place a value on them but for the purposes of court procedure, I am identifying a figure of £XXX has a sum which might in some measure go towards compensating me for this loss.

Accordingly, I require that you send me a cheque for the above sum within 14 days and failing which I shall begin an action in the County Court in respect of your next and handling of my property and without any further notice.

Please note that I shall be requiring the written statement of your driver or else the presence of your driver at court to give evidence.

I may also require the presence of the recipient to attend court – and you should understand that once the inevitable judgement is given in my favour, there will be the questions of my court fees and also the reasonable costs of travel of the recipient who will be obliged to travel from Newcastle.

I hope you can appreciate what a complicated situation you have created by your negligent handling of this matter and then your lack of cooperation in providing me with the information I need.

Please point out to your legal department that I am not prepared to receive any communications from you on a without prejudice basis. Everything is at large will be disclosed to the court if necessary.

Yours sincerely

 

[BankFodder]

Please don't forget that if you send this letter, it means that you will go ahead on day 15. Also, although you are extremely likely to win, the amount that you might win will be up to the judge. If you win substantially less than you are asking then there may be a cost penalty in terms of the hearing fee or you could find that the claim fee which would be awarded to you would be reduced to reflect your actual winnings rather than the sum which you are asking for at the outset. Your initial claim fee will be based on the value of your initial claim.

And of course, there is always a possibility that you could lose in which case you won't recover any of your costs. This is highly unlikely in the circumstances.

If you are prepared to go ahead then spend some time on this forum looking up how one goes about bringing a small claim in the County Court. It's very easy but it's worth understanding the steps. Register with money claim online – MCOL and start preparing your claim so that it is ready to click off on day 15.

We will help you draft your claim – but you will find that on the money claim website there will be a checkbox to indicate that you will be sending fuller particulars of claim afterwards. In most cases you don't have to do this – but in this case, I think that you will have to backup your initial claim with an explanation of how you arrive at the value you are seeking and so this will take more space than the limited character limit available on the money claim website.