Lost parcel: Courier company sued for damages

Petitioner says wedding dresses were lost due to the parcel handlers’ negligence.

LAHORE: A consumer court on Tuesday issued a notice to the regional manager of TCS, a courier company, for February 7 in a suit seeking Rs50,000 damages for allegedly losing two dresses.

Petitioner Shahid Ijaz submitted that he supplied embroidered wedding clothing from Allama Iqbal Town. On October 11, 2010, he sent two embroidered dresses worth Rs25,000 to clients in Rawalpindi.

He said he handed over the dresses at TCS’s offices on Peco Road, Kot Lakhpat. He said while booking the consignment, he told the clerk about the value of the dresses and asked him to mention it on the consignment receipt.

The clerk, he said, declined to do so, saying it was not company policy. The clerk, however, assured the petitioner that the company had a solid reputation and his goods would be delivered safely.

Ijaz said the parcel did not reach its destination. Moreover he did not get a satisfactory response even though he complained to TCS on several occasions. He served a notice to the company on November 4, 2010 claiming the cost of goods and compensation for the inconvenience.

TCS responded that his parcel, along with some others, had been stolen. The petitioner told the court that the company had failed to ensure safe delivery of the parcel and that the parcel had been misplaced due to negligence of the staff.

He requested the court to direct the respondent to pay Rs50,000.

The judge issued a notice to the regional manager for February 7. TCS head of security and safety Major Ghulam Murtaza said that the parcel might have been stolen due to the delivery staff’s negligence. He said that he would consult with his legal adviser and definitely compensate the client.

He assured that he would personally look into the matter and would prefer to rectify his client’s grievance rather than leave him disappointed.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 12^th, 2011.