Shiply courier firm

A question about : Shiply courier firm

Just to make anyone aware that is thinking of using this company - be careful. You pay a fee upfront via the website but it is not made clear that should the transaction be cancelled you cannot get your money back!

I arranged a courier through them who failed to turn up on two occasions, failed to phone to tell me, failed to do anything that had been agreed basically. On both occasions the sender waited in for him, a total of 7 hours waiting, all very awkward. I cancelled the agreement, used a different firm, and then requested a refund of fees which was refused. The terms state a credit will be given in the event of cancellation but it is not made clear that that the credit will only be made to a Shiply account which I don't have, and must be used within 6 months which I am not likely to need.

There are other courier finding sites which DO NOT charge, so do your homeworks peeps!

Best answers:

• The deposit you paid went straight to Shipleys as their payment for arranging
• I have had same experience. Accepted quote for boat transport but contractor unable to fulfil as went out of business in meantime. Shiply hanging on to Ј80 fee/deposit and refusing to refund. Am taking legal action for breach of contract, must be many others entitled to refunds too.
• they have breached the contact re pick ups so by law they have to refund you and also I would suggest you can claim compensation for the inconvenience due to the company not turning up and someone having to wait in for them .. Id speak with trading standards
• If you look at reviews elsewhere, you will see that Shiply has a dreadful reputation.
  Part of the problem seems to be very high fees. You pay two fees up front: 1/ a booking/finding fee to Shipley and 2/a second fee which is supposed to be a deposit to the courier.
  However Shipley actually keep both fees.
  Thus a substantial proportion of what you pay goes to Shipley rather than to the courier. This means that good couriers will tend to avoid Shipley because they don't get paid enough.
  So guess what couriers will be left?
  It doesn't matter to Shipley whether or not the courier turns up, whether he damages the goods or even disappears with them as you've paid Shiply hansomely up front.
• Hi all,
  I must say I have used shiply twice and both times have not been let down. Both times I have been happy with the costs, one for shifting a Morris Minor and the other for a big fridge, both times it would have cost me lots more in fuel to do the trip myself.
  Anyway, just a bit of balance. We always hear the bad things about companies. They werent exceptional in a way I would praise them as such, but they were not too bad for me.
  EDIT - I have nothing to do with the company!
• Having done a bit of research after reading this I think I may well have been lucky and got a couple of decent couriers!
• Hi
  I am having the same problem with this dreadful company. They just couldn't care less. It seems it is better business to keep my Ј15 deposit than to have a happy, returning customer. Really stupid company.
  I have spoken to trading standards and they have advised to write a letter citing breach of contract. I am not sure how effective this will be, but I will try it.
  I really recommend not to use this company. They are not there to give a good customer experience or service. They are there to keep your money when things go wrong.
  Also if you have the same problem call Trading Standards on 08454 04 05 06 and tell them of your problem.
• If you paid by paypal you can get your money back by claiming that you paid for goods not services. I had two couriers cancel on me, and this is how I got my money back.
  I reported them to the Advertising Standards Authority who found in my favour.
• Ad
  Claims on the home page of shipley, a website for an online transport marketplace, stated "Getting Delivery Quotes is Easy on Shiply. Save up to 75% off standard rates. 1 List Your Delivery. 2 Receive Free Quotes. 3 Choose Your Favourite ... How It Works. Shiply launched in 2008 to help match people needing to move goods with cheap courier and transport companies already making similar trips ... More About Shiply. If you need something moved Shiply can help. Simply post the details of what you need moving (by clicking on the get quotes button above) and our large network of transporters will be able to quote on your delivery ... Once you're happy with a quote provided, you simply choose the transport provider you want to complete your job ...".
  Small print at the bottom of the home page stated "... User Agreement ...." and linked to the terms and conditions. Paragraph 6.5 of Part B of the terms and conditions stated "As a User, when you accept a quote, you will pay a deposit in the amount of the Fee (the "Deposit") into your Account which is immediately transferred to the Successful Transport Account ..." Paragraph 7 of Part B of the terms and conditions stated "7 CANCELLATIONS. 7.1 If a Job is cancelled by a Successful Transport Provider AFTER a quote was accepted but BEFORE any work on the Job commenced (a "Cancellation") the user may seek to file a "Cancellation Request" and have the Deposit and/or Auction Service Fee returned to their Shiply account as credit. Shiply does not offer refunds of deposits or auction service fee payments, instead a credit policy applies. A cancellation request must be filed within 28 days of quote acceptance, requests made after this time will be invalid. If a cancellation request is accepted (see 7.x clauses below), credit will be applied to the user's Shiply account in the amount of the Deposit + Auction Service fee already paid. This credit may be used to accept future quotes on Shiply within 6 months of the "Cancellation Request" date. After a period of 6 months from the date of the "Cancellation Request", this credit will expire and be un-usable. Shiply credit is non with-drawable/refundable and may only be used for accepting quotes on Shiply ...".
  Issue
  The complainant, who had tried to use the service but had her booking cancelled, challenged whether the home page was misleading because she believed the credit policy that applied to cancellations was a significant condition and this was not presented clearly enough.
  Response
  Shiply Ltd said they provided a credit refund to a customer's account with them when they wished to cancel their "quote acceptance" with a transport provider or when their chosen transport provider had let them down and cancelled the "quote acceptance". They explained that the deposit and auction service fee was credited to their account with Shiply and they had six months in which to use this against another booking. They said this was clearly stated in the user agreement under clause 7 entitled "Cancellations".
  Shiply explained that when a customer accepted a quote on their website, they had to agree to their terms and conditions on two separate occasions. First, at the point of listing their delivery request on the marketplace, they were required to indicate their acceptance by clicking a button above text stating "By clicking the button above, you are indicating that you have read and agree to the user agreement". Second, at the point of accepting a quote from a transport provider, they had to accept the terms of the user agreement and there was a clear link to the user agreement next to where they ticked the "agree" box.
  They also displayed, at the point of payment, prominent text stating "What happens if the transport provider cancels on me? - Don't worry, you can use this payment as credit to quickly find and book another transport provider".
  Shiply believed they went beyond what was legally required to inform the customer of their obligations and the terms and conditions they were accepting. They said cancellations accounted for less than 3% of transactions on their website and they did not consider the credit policy was a significant condition that needed to be displayed on their home page.
  Shiply offered to amend their website by updating the 'FAQs' section to more clearly set out the procedure for dealing with cancelled deliveries and the credit refund policy and by moving the cancellations clause of the user agreement to higher up in the document.
  Assessment
  Upheld
  The ASA understood that customers were required to pay a deposit when they accepted a quote and this was a percentage of the cost of the service. We noted that information about the deposit was set out in the User Agreement and that there was a link to this document in small print at the bottom of the home page. We also understood that if the transport provider cancelled the service for any reason after the quote had been accepted by a customer, the deposit would be credited to the customer's Shiply account and could be used against another booking during the next six months, after which time it would expire. This information was also in the User Agreement. We understood that customers were required to indicate they had read and accepted the terms and conditions as set out in the User Agreement both at the point they listed a delivery request on the website and at the point of accepting a quote from a transport provider.
  We considered the changes Shiply offered to make to their website but determined they were insufficient to resolve the complaint. We considered that the credit policy that applied to cancellations was a significant condition which needed to be made clear using prominent text on the home page because it was likely to affect a customer's decision to use the service. Because the home page did not contain that information, we considered it was misleading by omission.
  The home page breached CAP Code (Edition 12) rules 3.1 and 3.3 (Misleading advertising), 3.9 and 3.10 (Qualification).
  Action
  The home page must not appear again in its current form. We told Shiply to amend their home page so that the credit policy applied to cancellations is made clear using prominent text.
• Can anyone help?
  In common with a number of other people, it seems, I paid Shiply a deposit of Ј81 with the promise that Shiply would put me in touch with the courier I had chosen. Shiply then failed to provide me with the courier's details and also vice versa. Thus no contact was possible between the courier and myself. I contacted Shiply via e-mail to find out what was happening and someone by the name of Katie told me it was " an IT issue" and that my deposit would be refunded on "Monday, as that is when all refunds are made". I asked if there were a lot of refunds to make, and she laughed. Shiply still has my deposit three weeks later. They have ignored all my subsequent e-mails.
  Seems like straightforward theft to me.
• I am having the same problem, Shiply keep your money for 6 months and if you don't use it you lose it. I have emailed Shiply continually since end of November as it is almost impossible to get them on the phone - they do not pick up the phone if they recognise your number! They are running a scam and I would recommend that people steer clear of them as you will get absolutely nowhere when you complaint!
• Shipley are awful. Don't use them is my advice. Their customer service is non existent. I've had a courier not turn up, but you can't get your deposit back. And customer services are now ignoring my emails. Interestingly, they are registered at the same address as a bunch of acknowledged "wonder pill" scammers, so I wonder if there is a connection?
• jamesgeroge
  First time poster? I say