Best way to convince Purolator to defray cost related to non-delivery?
February 24, 2019 11:25 AM   Subscribe

I have incurred high costs and significant inconvenience because Purolator lost track of, and failed to deliver in time, a vital secure document under guaranteed rush delivery--and it took them over 24 hours to admit it had not even left the original depot. They have now admitted it was preventable and completely their fault, and have agreed to complete the delivery and refund the shipping cost. Though their T&C says they're not liable, is there a way to convince them to defray my other costs?

I will be able to speak to a manager tomorrow. Legally, I don't have a case, but if you have ever managed to get this kind of compensation I'd appreciate hearing how you did it. This was a very stressful experience and part of what makes me so frustrated is that they did not tell me it had never left the original location but let me believe it was "in transit" for an entire day before coming clean.
posted by hurdy gurdy girl to Work & Money (8 answers total)
 
Sadly I don't like your chances, this happens more often than you might like to think, so while your situation is new to you, it's is absolutely not to them,and they will have corporate policies from on high strongly dictating what they can and cannot do.
posted by smoke at 12:05 PM on February 24, 2019


i'm going to say very, very unlikely unless maybe you are a huge Fortune 500 customer. what is the upside for them to take on let's say $1000 in expenses over a $40 shipment?

see also; parking lots, dry cleaners, etc.
posted by zippy at 1:14 PM on February 24, 2019


Agree that your odds are slim to none of more than a token gesture like some free shipping credit. Unless perhaps you are a ranking employee or owner of a major business customer.
posted by spitbull at 1:42 PM on February 24, 2019


Their liability will be limited to the shipping cost. Their terms are quite clear:
Delay
Purolator is not responsible for the consequences (direct or indirect) of a failure to deliver a Shipment by a stipulated time. Upon request, Purolator will, at its option, refund or credit a Customer (payer) if a guaranteed Shipment is not delivered in accordance with the applicable service guarantee (see “Service Guarantees”).
By using Purolator, you agreed to those terms.

Since Purolator are effectively part of Canada Post, they have a legal monopoly on certain types of shipments. Rock 'em Sock 'em's "I have a choice" approach might be met with hollow laughter.
posted by scruss at 4:02 PM on February 24, 2019 [1 favorite]


I work in logistics, and our company has clear terms and conditions limiting our liability. Once all the dust has settled, we will certainly pay for losses up to those limits...then tell you we can offer you very competitive insurance rates on your future shipments (with us or without). This kind of thing has literally hundreds of years of law and practice behind it.
posted by lhauser at 5:56 PM on February 24, 2019 [1 favorite]


Response by poster: Thanks for the reality check, everyone. I suspected this might be the case but until my haze of irritation subsided some more, was really wishing there were more I could do to somehow communicate just how crappy I had found their service. I think I’ll have to just settle for the refund.
posted by hurdy gurdy girl at 7:06 PM on February 24, 2019 [1 favorite]


Courier customer service is appalling in Canada. All the companies are expensive and just. don't. care. whether your stuff gets there or not. Purolator are especially bad, as complaints on BBB might show.

I don't think they are even covered by Canada Post, their majority owner's, service guarantee. Canada Post is a crown corp with one of the worst openness records around. Simple ATI requests (= FoIA) often get knocked back with a blanket "national security" veto by CP. So Purolator combines government jobsworth attitudes with private cost-cutting and safety issues.

(and don't get me started on where Purolator's bloody depots are. If you miss a package, a few days later it'll show up at a depot in the very arse end of the arse end of town. I mean, Purolator has taken me to places in Scarborough and New Toronto that I didn't want to know existed, all far from transit, sidewalks [and in one memorable case, working streetlights].)
posted by scruss at 3:07 PM on February 25, 2019


Response by poster: So after two weeks without the promised contact from Purolator about the refund, I called their billing department and spoke to someone there. She had the entire log of emails, phone calls, etc. related to my situation and apologized for the lack of follow up. It looks like the receiving depot (who had nothing to do with the initial delay on delivery) had been sending multiple emails to get the sending depot to follow up, and all the emails had been ignored. She was nicely indignant on my behalf.

The person I spoke to issued a refund without argument. They said it would take about 4-6 weeks to be applied to the credit card, and if it didn't show up, to call again.

My impression of Purolator is still not fantastic, but I appreciated the openness of the billing person and their willingness to just take the initiative and issue the refund without making me jump through more hoops.
posted by hurdy gurdy girl at 12:55 PM on March 26, 2019 [1 favorite]


« Older Apps to keep me motivated for the long haul.   |   Can a seller or I fire all employees when buying a... Newer »
This thread is closed to new comments.