Deliver us from frustration
IN the last year I’ve noticed that people are increasingly asking me about problems with deliveries. Complaints about delivery services have been increasing for some time now and the rises are significant.
In 2017, Resolver received more than 9,000 complaints about delivery companies – up a whopping 177%.
I’ve heard all kinds of stories, from the tricky (fake signatures that ‘prove’ delivery and questions about what happens if the goods are broken) to the bonkers (parcels chucked on roofs or left in bins).
One of the most common complaints involves items left outside front doors or under mats. Virtually everyone I speak to has a story about this. If you’re not around to collect an item and it gets pinched after being left outside your property then it’s the retailer’s problem, not yours.
However, if you leave instructions on where to leave items if you’re not in, make sure it’s somewhere secure or you’ll lose this right.
Another question I often hear involves items left with neighbours. When a delivery company opts to do this, if there’s a dispute (your neighbour nicks it or damages it) then the retailer and delivery company needs to take it up with them.
One thing is for certain, we’re all shopping a lot more online, so as deliveries increase, so does pressure on the drivers to meet (often ridiculous) targets.
So as complaints are likely to continue to rise, here’s the lowdown on your delivery rights.
When you buy something from a retailer, your ‘contract’ is with them, not with any third party they use during the process. So if items you order are not delivered, are damaged or faulty, delivered or left in an unauthorised place or another delivery-related problem occurs, it is the responsibility of the shop to sort it out. And no, you don’t have to open the parcel to check the goods, as one person who’d just had 87 packages for a new a kitchen asked me. It’s the shop’s responsibility.
That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t contact the delivery company, though your options are usually limited to finding out where the item is and registering a complaint.
Retailers are usually able to track deliveries through their contracted delivery services. So if there’s a dispute over delivery they 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.
Your goods should be delivered on the agreed date that you were given when your order was placed. If no date was given or agreed, the shop must get your purchases to you within 30 days of the order being placed.
If this doesn’t happen, you’re entitled to a full refund if they don’t turn up or you’ve given up. If you paid a supplement for a specified time or date of delivery, you should get this back too.
If you’re in dispute with a shop about the goods or services they’ve provided, we’ve got loads of advice on the Resolver website, so get in touch.
RESOLVER can help you make a complaint about rubbish retailers or dodgy deliveries – and it only takes a few minutes.
Get started here: resolver.co.uk and let me know your stories at yourstories@ resolver.co.uk or see facebook.com/resolvercouk or twitter.com/resolverwalker