Reporter investigates the problem of loss of express delivery claims


  Why is the courier lost and damaged only the courier fee

  ● Many consumers have encountered the problem of loss and damage of express delivery, and claim settlement often becomes a difficult problem-express companies usually compensate according to the agreement signed between the sender and the express company, and the major express companies pay compensation standards other than the insured price. Similar to the same, usually referring to the freight and setting the maximum compensation amount

  ● Consumers choosing price insuring is equivalent to reaching an agreement with the courier company. In the event of loss, the courier company will compensate according to the amount of the price insured according to the extent of the loss; if the price is not insured, the compensation shall be determined in accordance with the relevant provisions of the civil law. Responsibility

  ● If consumers want to make a claim, they must provide a basic courier bill to prove that the two parties have a contractual relationship, and provide relevant transaction records to prove the value of the courier

  □ Our reporter Han Dandong

  □ Intern Wang Yitian

  Recently, Wang Zhe from Jizhou, Tianjin encountered an annoying thing: he bought a purple clay pot on the Internet for 800 yuan, and the lid was broken when it was sent.

Wang Zhe and SF Express contacted for compensation. The other party only agreed to pay 3 times the express fee, which is 75 yuan, on the grounds that the purple clay pot was not insured.

  "The seller was intact when it was sent, and a video was taken, and a lot of bubble pads were used for the packaging. The outer packaging of the express delivery was damaged when it was sent, and I have reason to suspect that it was broken during violent sorting." Wang Zhe said, without insuring the price. You can drop your items casually?

If you break it, you will only pay for the courier fee?

  Not only Wang Zhe, but many consumers have such doubts: Why can't the courier pay the price if the courier is lost or seriously damaged?

  Many industry insiders pointed out in an interview with a reporter from the "Rules of Law Daily" that consumers can choose whether to insure the price when sending the express. If the price is insured, it is equivalent to reaching an agreement with the express company. Once there is a loss, the express company should follow the insured amount. Compensation; if the price is not insured, the liability for compensation shall be determined in accordance with the relevant provisions of the civil law.

However, if the courier company has intentional or gross negligence, it must fully compensate consumers for the loss.

  Loss of express delivery is very common

  Uninsured courier fee

  Not long ago, "SF Express delivered 12 boxes of customers to the garbage dump" aroused widespread public concern.

Netizen "@王的米" broke the news that the 12 boxes of items (including artwork, design drawings, diaries, etc.) that he entrusted SF Express to send only 8 boxes, 4 boxes were lost, and they were in the received box. The item was severely damaged.

After repeated questioning, SF Express stated that the express was sent to the garbage dump by mistake.

And SF Express’s 2,000 yuan compensation plan made "@王的米" very dissatisfied.

  Similar disputes abound.

In recent years, as the scale of my country's express delivery business continues to expand, express delivery disputes have increased, and frequent damage or loss of express delivery has become one of the main contradictions between consumers and express companies.

  Ms. Deng from Chengdu, Sichuan sent a batch of paintings from Beijing to Chengdu via YTO Express, but when the goods were received, one of the Chinese paintings worth 700,000 yuan was damaged and could not be repaired.

The express company stated that, according to the express service agreement signed by the sender, because Ms. Deng did not insure the express items, she could only pay 300 yuan according to the regulations.

  Mr. Xu from Wenzhou, Zhejiang, bought two boxes of small tomatoes online for 200 yuan. The express package was severely deformed when they were sent. Many small tomatoes inside were squeezed out and the juice leaked out.

Based on the reason that Mr. Xu’s express delivery was not insured, Debang Express only agreed to pay 38 yuan for the courier fee. After repeated communication, it increased the compensation by 50 yuan.

  During the interview, the reporter found that many consumers have encountered the problem of lost and damaged express delivery, and the settlement of claims often becomes a difficult problem. The express delivery company usually compensates according to the agreement signed by the sender and the express delivery company, and the major express delivery companies insure the price. Other compensation standards are similar, usually based on freight and set a maximum compensation amount.

  As stipulated by SF Express, if the uninsured express express is lost, damaged, or lacking during the transportation process, SF Express shall compensate the actual loss of the consignment within the limit of 7 times the freight, unless otherwise agreed by both parties.

If the value is not insured, it is deemed that the value of the consignment item does not exceed 1,000 yuan.

  YTO stipulates that for the damage of uninsured items, the carrier shall compensate at 3 to 5 times the actual freight according to the degree of damage (if the declared value on the waybill is less than 3 times the actual freight, the compensation shall be based on the declared value).

  During the interview, many consumers pointed out that all major express companies provide "restrictive" compensation provisions for non-insurance items, and they are all standard terms. Consumers cannot send express delivery without checking "Agree to this clause". There is no choice, does this constitute the "Overlord Clause"?

  In this regard, Professor Wu Yue of Beijing Materials University and lawyer Ding Hongtao, senior partner of Beijing Jiarun Law Firm, both hold negative views.

  "The so-called'overlord clause' mainly refers to clauses that violate the principle of fairness, exempt or reduce corporate responsibility, aggravate consumer responsibilities, and limit consumer rights." Ding Hongtao said, but the value of the delivered items can be large or small, with a value of 100,000 yuan. Compared with items worth 10 yuan, the risk taken by express companies is very different. For items with higher value, consumers pay more express fees through insuring prices, and vice versa. This is fair.

  Wu Yue said that price insuring is an international practice, and international conventions have relevant regulations, which are also very reasonable.

If the goods themselves are of high value, such as antiques, artworks, or fragile items, special treatment is required during transportation, which will increase the cost of protection, and the shipping price will naturally increase.

  There is an agreement to comply with the agreement

  No agreement is more controversial

  Although consumers checked "Agree to this clause" when sending a shipment, many consumers did not agree with the provisions of the "Terms" and found it difficult to accept compensation based on the courier fee; some goods value Higher, but its insured price is lower. Consumers will not accept it even if it is compensated according to the insured price.

  Mr. Su from Beijing told reporters about his experience.

In June of this year, he sent a courier worth more than 5,000 yuan through Yunda, but the courier was lost.

Because there is no price insured, the courier company was only willing to pay ten times the freight plus 200 yuan at first.

After repeated negotiations and complaints, the courier and the courier company paid 1,000 yuan and 2,800 yuan respectively.

  There are also reports that Ms. Liu used Debon Express to send daily necessities from Shanghai to her hometown in Hunan and lost 4,879 yuan worth of cosmetics.

The express company stated that in accordance with the insured clause, the insured amount is 300 yuan, which can only be compensated.

Ms. Liu said that the courier company did not tell her about the insured price, so she charged 1 yuan for the insured fee.

In the end, the express company paid 1,000 yuan in accordance with other terms.

  So, how should the loss of express delivery be paid?

  "If the consumer is sending the express delivery, the express company informs the consumer that the express delivery can be insured, and has informed the consumer of the maximum insured price, and the consumer still chooses to use the express after weighing the express, according to the principle of contract freedom, there is an agreement to comply with the agreement. If the maximum insured amount is If it is not enough to compensate for the actual value of express delivery, consumers are at their own risk." said Liu Deliang, a professor at Beijing Normal University Law School.

  Meng Qiang, associate professor of Beijing Institute of Technology Law School and deputy secretary-general of the China Civil Law Research Association, said that consumers’ choice of insuring price is equivalent to reaching an agreement with the courier company. If the price is not insured, the liability for compensation shall be determined in accordance with the relevant provisions of the civil law.

  It should be noted that the courier company has the obligation to prompt the compensation clause.

Liu Xiya, assistant judge of the Intellectual Property Tribunal of the People’s Court of Tianxin District, Changsha City, Hunan Province, explained that in accordance with the provisions of the Contract Law, the party providing the standard clauses should take reasonable measures to draw the other party’s attention to the clauses that exempt or limit its liability. The clause shall be explained, otherwise the clause shall be invalid.

  "That is to say, if the express company does not take reasonable measures to prompt the compensation standard for uninsured goods, the limitation clause will be invalid, and consumers can still request the express company to compensate for the actual value of the lost items." Liu Xiya said.

  Wu Yue pointed out that the current situation is that consumers can basically get a certain amount of compensation when they encounter loss of express delivery, but it is often difficult for the compensation to meet the value of the goods and meet the expectations of consumers.

  "In order to protect their own interests, the prerequisite for compensation is to have the insured price and the original product purchase certificate. If there is no purchase certificate, consumers still need to negotiate or find a third party to determine the value of the product. The process is often cumbersome. So consumers must have The consciousness of preserving the evidence." Wu Yue said.

  "Generally speaking, if the price is insured, the liability for compensation is determined in accordance with the price-insured rules, and there is less dispute; if there is no value-insured, it is more difficult to determine the value of the item, and the dispute is greater. This is one of the differences between insured compensation and non-insured compensation." Ding Hongtao said .

  Violent sorting is the norm

  Compensation for vandalism

  During the interview, some consumers suggested that they understood the setting of the insured clause, but what they didn't understand was that sometimes when the express arrived, the outer packaging and even the contents in it had been severely damaged, which was suspected of being damaged.

Some consumers said that they have also seen violent sorting behaviors by staff at nearby express outlets.

  In a draft of "Violence Sorting, Outstanding Throwing Phenomenon" published on August 23 by the "Rules of Law Daily", reporters visited 34 express delivery outlets in many places and found that violent sorting is widespread in the express industry. Actions such as throwing, throwing, and throwing are extremely common, and the outer packaging of some express delivery is deformed or damaged as a result.

  "Is my express delivery damaged by violent sorting? If so, shouldn't it be compensated in full?" This is the voice of many consumers.

  Liu Deliang believes that if there is evidence that the staff of the courier company has been maliciously damaged, in accordance with the provisions of the Civil Code's Tort Liability, one party can deliberately infringe on the interests of the other party and cause damage, and compensate according to the actual value of the goods.

  Liu Xiya told reporters that in judicial practice, compensation often refers to the provisions of the format clauses in the agreements signed between consumers and express companies, and the sender has to accept the constraints of the clauses after signing.

However, our Civil Code also stipulates that although there are standard clauses, the standard clauses are invalid if one party has intentional or gross negligence.

  How to determine intentional or gross negligence?

For example, Liu Xiya said that if the internal personnel of the courier company commit theft, the format clause should be deemed invalid, and the courier company should fully compensate the sender for the loss; but if the courier company causes the loss of the express due to accident or negligence, it is usually inferred to be For general negligence, compensation shall be made in accordance with the compensation agreement in the contract signed by both parties.

  The reporter found a case on the China Judgment Documents website. Zhang sent a Chanel backpack worth 11,000 yuan through YTO Express, but the price was not insured. Unexpectedly, the bag was lost in transit.

After the negotiation failed, Zhang sued the express company to the court.

Zhang believes that the staff of Yuantong Company did not fulfill the obligation to notify the insured clause when picking up the package, so the clause should be invalid for themselves, and the other party should perform the obligation of compensation as soon as possible.

Yuantong Company believes that the evidence provided by Zhang is not enough to prove the actual value of the item, the amount of compensation requested is unreasonable, and the staff of Yuantong Company have fulfilled their obligation to inform the insured clause.

  The court finally supported Zhang's claim and ruled that the express company should compensate Zhang for the loss of 11,000 yuan and return the courier fee.

  If consumers suspect that the damaged express delivery was caused by violent sorting and want to claim compensation, who should provide evidence and how?

  According to Liu Xiya, the express item is in a complete state when it is sent. As long as the comparison of the two states is provided, it can be proved whether the item has been damaged.

As for whether the damage is intentional or negligent, the courier company usually proves the degree of fault by producing evidence.

  "If consumers want to make a claim, they must provide a basic courier bill to prove that the two parties have a contractual relationship, and provide relevant transaction records to prove the value of the courier. In this case, they can usually get a certain amount of compensation." Liu Xiya said.