TapTechNews June 25th news, the Beijing Internet Court shared a case today. After a purchased online watch was placed in a courier station and then lost, the court ruled that the seller should bear the liability for breach of contract.
The plaintiff bought an expensive watch worth 8,888 yuan in the online store operated by the defendant one. After receiving it, he thought there was a quality problem and sent it back to the manufacturer for inspection after negotiation with the defendant one. The manufacturer inspected and found no quality problem and sent the watch involved in the case back to the plaintiff through the defendant two, a certain courier company. The agreed place of receipt was the plaintiff's home.
The defendant two, a certain courier company, directly placed the express delivery in a certain courier station when delivering it without contacting the plaintiff. After the plaintiff retrieved the express delivery, it was found that there was no watch inside, but the express delivery face sheet showed that the contents are: the watch has been inspected. The plaintiff reported the problem of the empty package to the defendant one, and the defendant one replied that it had completed the delivery and would not bear the seller's responsibility, and the loss of goods should be compensated by the carrier. Then the plaintiff complained to the defendant two, and the defendant two did not give a satisfactory reply.
The plaintiff filed a lawsuit in the court, requiring the seller, the defendant one, to deliver the watch involved in the case to him, and the defendant two, the certain courier company, and the defendant three, the online shopping platform involved in the case, to bear joint and several liability.
Judgment gist:
When conducting civil activities, civil subjects should follow the principle of good faith, and the seller should deliver the subject matter at the agreed place. In this case, the defendant one claimed that it had entrusted the manufacturer to send the goods involved in the case back to the plaintiff's established address through the defendant two, a certain courier company, and the express delivery face sheet showed that the contents are: the watch has been inspected, which can show that the manufacturer claimed by the defendant one had sent the goods involved.
The defendant two, a certain courier company, as the carrier, is the performance assistant of the defendant one and has the obligation to deliver the goods intact to the recipient as per the shipper's instruction. An enterprise operating express delivery services should deliver the express delivery to the agreed收件 address, recipient, or the recipient's designated agent, and inform the recipient or agent to inspect on the spot. The recipient or agent has the right to inspect on the spot.
The defendant two, a certain courier company, without the plaintiff's consent, deposited the express delivery in a certain courier station. The plaintiff can refuse to pick up the express delivery and promptly inform the defendant one. The plaintiff's picking up of the express delivery does not mean that the plaintiff later indicated that it agreed to deposit in a certain courier station as the way of delivering the express delivery. The courier company did not deliver on the spot and let the plaintiff confirm that the goods were intact and sign, nor did it deliver to the agreed收件 address or recipient.
Because the defendant two, a certain courier company, is the performance assistant of the defendant one, its delivery behavior does not comply with the seller should deliver the subject matter at the agreed place, and there is a breach of contract behavior, so the defendant one constitutes a breach of contract and should bear the liability to the plaintiff.
The law stipulates that if a party fails to perform its contractual obligations or performs them inconsistently with the agreement, it shall bear th e liability for continuing to perform, taking remedial measures, or compensating for losses, etc. The defendant one needs to continue to perform the obligation of delivering the goods involved in the case to the plaintiff. If it cannot deliver, it needs to refund the corresponding amount of money.
The defendant two, a certain courier company, as the carrier of the express delivery involved, does not have a sales contract relationship with the plaintiff as the recipient, and the plaintiff has no right to request it to bear the liability. After the defendant one performs its obligations to the plaintiff, if it involves a transportation contract dispute, it can claim otherwise. The defendant three, the online shopping platform involved in the case, has no fault in this case and should not bear the responsibility.
The court ruled that the defendant one should deliver the goods involved in the case to the plaintiff (if there is shipping cost incurred, it will be borne by the defendant one. If it cannot be delivered, it needs to refund 8,888 yuan to the plaintiff), and rejected the plaintiff's other claims. At present, the judgment of this case has taken effect.
TapTechNews note: On December 17, 2023, the Ministry of Transport announced the new Measures for the Administration of the Express Delivery Market, among which:
Article 27 stipulates that when an enterprise operating express delivery services delivers an express delivery, it should inform the recipient that the recipient has the right to inspect the express delivery on the spot and check whether the contents of the items are consistent with the record on the express delivery waybill.
Article 54 stipulates that if an enterprise operating express delivery services has any of the following circumstances, the postal administration department shall order it to make corrections, give it a warning or a notice of criticism, and may also impose a fine of not more than 10,000 yuan; if the circumstances are serious, a fine of not less than 10,000 yuan but not more than 30,000 yuan shall be imposed:
(1) Confirming the receipt of the express delivery on behalf of the user without the user's consent;
(2) Delivering the express delivery by using methods such as intelligent express delivery boxes and express delivery service stations without the user's consent. The new regulations of the express delivery industry, through departmental regulations, further detailedly stipulate the specific behaviors of express delivery enterprises in performing the obligation of on-the-spot delivery, urging express delivery enterprises to perform the obligation of the service subject and guarantee the legitimate rights and interests of service users.