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These days, there are dozens of courier companies all competing for our custom. One of them is 聽Hermes, who say they 鈥榤ove the world鈥� with their fast, reliable service. 聽The company is named after a figure from Greek Mythology who was apparently 鈥楳essenger of the Gods鈥�!

But John Davies from Llandrindod Wells says their service was anything but heaven sent. After running a garden machinery business for more than 50 years John is selling off stock ahead of his retirement. In September he sold a lawn mower engine online for 拢51 and asked Hermes to deliver it. 聽

"It was packed into a good quality cardboard box鈥�, said John. 鈥淣othing was loose inside the box, it was very secure.鈥� 聽Five days later John was contacted by his customer who told him Hermes had failed to deliver his engine, saying it was damaged

John hoped he could get the engine back, but then Hermes claimed the package was lost! And when John requested a refund, Hermes changed their explanation again. They claimed oil had leaked from the box so they destroyed it. They also said John packages containing liquids are prohibited.

John disputes this and told X-Ray 鈥淭his is a brand new engine with no oil in it at all. It's never had oil in it from day one. I feel very sad that it's been destroyed鈥�.

Kirsty John from Llanelli has also been wrapped up in Hermes postal issues. In July she bought a wallet from online fashion store Zalando which cost 拢55. But after receiving it she changed her mind and returned it via Zalando's chosen courier, Hermes, using the pre-paid label and box.

The next day Hermes tracking app showed the parcel had made it to the regional depot. But then its journey ground to a halt. Kirsty said 鈥淚t must have been about 10 days, it was stuck in the same place.鈥� Hermes said they couldn鈥檛 find her parcel and told her to speak to retailer, Zalando, who had some surprising news.

鈥淭hey鈥檇 received the parcel back but without the item in the box!鈥� said Kirsty. 鈥淪o when they told me that I was just really angry and upset that it wasn't in there.鈥� Despite having proof of postage neither Hermes nor Zalando offered Kirsty a refund or explained what happened to the wallet.

X-ray contacted Hermes who said they deliver more than 300 million parcels every year and the vast majority arrive without any issue.聽 They say they destroyed John鈥檚 parcel because it was leaking a liquid which smelled like fuel and they won't be giving him any compensation.聽 They do admit there was a problem with, Kirsty's delivery and have apologised. They haven't explained why the box arrived empty and say because it was a prepaid return, the contract was with the retailer Zalando. So X-Ray contacted them and finally, Kirsty has had a full refund! 聽

But what are your rights when things go wrong with a courier?聽 Consumer law expert Professor Margaret Griffiths told X-Ray:

-聽Choose a reputable company who have adequate insurance for the item and always make sure you have proof of posting.

-聽If an item is damaged in transit, responsibility can vary. A courier service must use reasonable care and skill, so if the courier is seen throwing it over a fence then it鈥檚 reasonable to assume they鈥檝e been negligent! 聽But if it's a fragile item that's been badly packaged and gets damaged, the company can say it's the responsibility of the sender.

-聽If the courier leaves it on the doorstep and it gets stolen then it鈥檚 reasonable to assume that they are responsible for it.聽 If they have delivered it to a neighbour, who denies receiving it or keeps it then again, the courier company could be responsible because they haven't delivered it to the correct address.聽聽 But the reverse is also true, if you've told them to deliver it to a neighbour, or to leave it on your doorstep, and something happens, then they wouldn't be liable because they are following your instructions.

-聽If you need to make a complaint, do it straight away by phone so they know all about it.聽 Back it up either with an email or a letter and keep your proof of posting, if the items arrived damaged take a photograph of it and include details of witnesses.

Retired couple Roy and Heather Woodward from Swansea have a passion for travelling the world.聽They booked a holiday to Gran Canaria in March this year, but just days before their trip, Roy began to feel unwell.

He was diagnosed with pneumonia and spent twelve days in a high dependency unit. The couple had to miss their holiday but fortunately their travel insurance, which was part of their Nationwide packaged bank account, reimbursed them for the cancelled trip.

Roy quickly recovered and his doctors declared him fit and well, with no underlying health problems.

The couple then booked a trip to Crete, to make up for the lost holiday. Before they travelled, they called their insurance company to check they were still fully covered.

Roy explained, 鈥淭hey said yes there's no problem, there's no follow up from your previous illness, you are fully insured鈥�. Reassured, Roy and Heather enjoyed a relaxing, problem-free break in the sun.

The couple then booked another special trip to New England and Canada in September to celebrate Heather's 70th birthday. But just before they were due to travel, Roy was admitted to hospital again, with a second bout of pneumonia. Once again they were forced to cancel the holiday.聽聽

The couple couldn't believe their bad luck but felt confident their policy would pay out. However, this time, Nationwide refused to reimburse them for the trip, which cost almost 拢5000,claiming Roy's pneumonia was a pre-existing condition!

Roy and Heather were shocked. Roy鈥檚 GP wrote a letter to the insurance company, confirming that his pneumonia wasn鈥檛 pre-existing as he had fully recovered after the first illness and the second illness couldn't have been foreseen. But the insurers still refused to pay out.聽聽

Financial journalist Georgie Frost told X-Ray 鈥淎ll the advice that you would give to people, to contact your insurer, let them know, keep them updated of any circumstances, keep all the receipts, keep all the doctors notes, they did all of those things and yet still the answer was no, it's incredibly disappointing. 鈥�

After X-Ray contacted Nationwide Building Society there was some good news. The company apologised, saying Roy and Heather were incorrectly told that their claim would not be paid.聽 It鈥檚 now been paid in full, minus their excess, so that's almost 拢4800. Roy and Heather are delighted and are already planning to take that trip to New England and Canada!