unfair terms of contracts

[completerookie]

FastWays couriers have been raised on this forum in the past, and I have replied reccommending them,
I'm thinking about changing my mind.
We have tried to claim for damages in transit, and they seem to be hiding behind a bit in their terms that says something like "once signed for, thats it - no good hiding behind the words unchecked - that doesn't count"
We phoned FSB and guess what, because the contract is "business to business", their terms can be anything they want - after all you agreed to thier terms, but when you send it to the end user (using FastWays) you have to live with the "unchecked" proviso when signing for the goods.

we have asked the bit about "unfair condition in the contract - too loaded in their favor to be fair" and the FSB said "hmmm, hadn't thought about that, I need to ask more questions" - they are coming back.

this particular item was taken via ANC (on their behalf) but clearly my claim is against FastWays.

has anyone claimed against Fastways etc??

[los_design]

Am I to assume your claim is for damages in transit?

If so, there must be a due care clause lurking in their T&C somewhere?

We have claimed back before from ANC using this clause but unsure about FT.

Regards
Daren

[george]

Kindly explain to Fastways that all customers will be advised to check all deliveries in the future before signing for them, however long it takes. And if it holds up the drivers then so be it.


You're their customer at the end of the day.

[OllyBug]

You are usually fighting a losing battle with Couriers as they cover themselves from every angle. How is the customer meant to sign 'not checked' if they are out etc! I think if enough people campaign perhaps we can force courier's T+Cs to change. I think drivers should be held resposible if boxes are found to be upside down when there is clear labeling to say 'This Way Up'. I mean if you order a car you don't expect it to arrive on your driveway on it's roof! Some couriers say they do not transport beakable items. They would go out of business if they didn't considering a huge percentage of items sold mail order are breakable. If things wre to change and couriers took care, we would all have to use less packaging. Less packaging = less cost = reduced carbon footprint etc etc etc. Oh well rant over. Good luck with Fastway!

[los_design]

Kindly explain to Fastways that all customers will be advised to check all deliveries in the future before signing for them, however long it takes. And if it holds up the drivers then so be it.


You're their customer at the end of the day.

This is an excellent suggestion George.

Kudos

Regards
Daren

[completerookie]

the FSB have come back, they say "this would make an interesting test case" - at my expense of course. - they would say that wouldn't they

they also state "you agreed to the contract" - what do you expect

we spoke with the DTI, they say speak to Trading Standards, they say speak to the solicitor, and they say "start the circle again" - nobody seems to have heard the phrase "pass the buck" or "I'm not going to be the one to stick my head above the parapet"

I'm coming back to the thought "once a courier, always a courier" - they are nearly all the same. - I've read the previous threads about couriers, and we've ALL heard it all before (unfortunately)

Not given up yet, but as all couriers know, is it worth the customer fighting, piss them off enough and they go away, but they still end up using the same couriers again because they are all as bad as one another