Delivery disaster? Here’s what you need to know...
ONLINE retailers have provided us all with access to essential – and maybe not so essential – purchases during the lockdown.
Yet complaints about delivery services are the fourth most complained-about sector at Resolver. We got around 90,000 complaints last year, up a whopping 56%. That’s not counting the complaints about the retailers. So what happens when things go wrong?
DODGY DELIVERIES AND KNOWING YOUR RIGHTS
THE most important thing is your rights have not changed or been watered down due to Covid-19. Yes, it is taking longer to deliver items and some stores are claiming they can’t accept returns just yet, but the law remains the same – so stand your ground if you think you’re losing out.
THE RULES
WHEN you enter into an agreement with a retailer, your contract is with them, not with any third party they use. So if items you order are not delivered, are damaged or faulty, are delivered or left in an unauthorised place or another delivery-related problem occurs, it is the responsibility of the retailer to sort out the problem.
Of course, this doesn’t let the delivery company off the hook.
Loads of the complaints we see revolve around how hard it is to contact them to arrange a collection or redelivery.
Annoyingly, the person who posts the item is usually the person who needs to chase the goods if there’s a problem.
However, as a general rule if there’s a dispute over delivery the retailer should be able to pin down where the driver was around the time of the delivery, who signed for the item, or where it was left.
Remember the onus is on them to prove that you received the item, not the other way around.
WHAT ABOUT DELIVERY DATES AND ESTIMATES?
YOU are entitled to expect your goods to be delivered on the agreed date that you were given when your order was placed. If no date was given or agreed, the trader must get your purchases to you within 30 days of the order.
If this does not happen, you are entitled to a full refund, as stated in the Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013. If you paid a supplement for a specific delivery time/date, it’s reasonable to ask for this back.
COVID-19 QUIRKS
MANY websites are now giving longer estimates for delivery. If the firm has given a deadline, then you have a reasonable expectation that the goods will be delivered then – and if they aren’t you should be able to cancel or make a formal complaint to the retailer.
If a firm doesn’t give a delivery date – and this is something that
I’m hearing about a lot lately – then you can argue that if the subsequent delivery date is excessive or repeatedly delayed, you can demand money back or make a formal complaint. If they drop a long estimate on you after you’ve paid, then remember that you have 14 days to cancel an online purchase and get a full refund.
Another major annoyance is returns. Many big retailers are claiming they can’t take these until their high street branches reopen. I’m not buying this. If you can ship goods from a warehouse, you can take them back. Regardless, your rights don’t erode because of this.
Tell the firm you want to return the goods and if they tell you further down the line that you’re too late, complain – and let me know!