Should Hermes refund me for losing my printer?

In August last year I bought a Canon printer for £249.97 from Technology Geeks ( www.snipca.com/37623). It became faulty so I returned it via Hermes, but Technology Geeks says it never arrived. I suspect that Hermes lost the printer, and so it should refund me for the cost of it, but I can’t get through to anyone. Can you help?

We were happy to give it a go, though Mick was entitled only to a refund of the delivery cost he paid Hermes plus £20 compensation, not the full price of the printer. This is because he didn’t pay for insurance to cover the cost of the printer. This may sound unfair, but it’s how couriers work. If they were liable for replacing every item sent, they wouldn’t be able to stay in business.

However, after we spoke to Hermes it agreed to refund the full price of the printer as a goodwill gesture. It strongly urged other readers to pay for insurance when sending valuable items. You can calculate how much this would cost by entering the weight, value and destination at www.snipca.com/37621. It doesn’t cover items worth more than £300. Without insurance, Hermes covers items only up to £20, excluding “non-compensation items” such as laptops and expensive jewellery (see the full list at www.snipca.com/37620).

Mick would have been able to claim back the cost of returning the printer (plus any insurance paid) from Technology Geeks had it actually received the device and then agreed it was faulty.

CASE CLOSED