Twitter is flooded with complaints from customers claiming they’ve had to jump through hoops to get their rightly owed parcels – these are your rights if it happens to you
It’s happened to the best of us. You order an item on next day delivery (for a reason), cancel your morning work plans, and wake up early, waiting for the bell to ring… so you can finally get that all important package.
And then you wait… and wait some more, until you realise it’snotactually coming, because something, somewhere has gone terribly wrong.
In most cases, the missing post will eventually turn up, but in others, it can take weeks to arrive, if it makes it to your door at all.
On Thursday, TV property expert Kirstie Allsopp took to Twitter to complain after a £900 Amazon item she ordered online failed to show up.To make matters worse, the three firms which handled the package – Amazon, DHL and Yodel – all claimed her parcel had been ‘delivered’. In an attempt to get to the bottom of her seemingly missing post, Kirstie called the mobile number of her Yodel delivery deliver – only to be told he’s never actually been to London.
Since this story, Yodel has informed us that they are investigating the issue, and hope to have a resolution in due course.
Yodel has come under fire in recent months, aftera MoneySavingExpert pollnamed and shamed the company as the worst for parcel deliveries in Britain, with customers describing its service as “poor” along with City Spring, iPost Parcels, DX and Hermes.
But, a quick search on Twitter reveals it’s not just these five firms that are receiving the lions share of complaints.
Royal Mail, TNT, DPD and many more are on the list of customers complaining about missing or damaged post, and in some cases packages being left out and exposed to thieves.
What the law says
When it comes to problems with deliveries, you have rights under the Consumer Rights Act 2015 and the Consumer Contracts Regulations, which came into force in June 2013 and replaced the Distance Selling Regulations.
Under the Consumer Rights Act, when you buy goods from an online retailer, they are responsible for the goods until you receive them.
So, if the courier loses the goods you ordered or they arrive damaged, the retailer is responsible for putting things right, not the courier.
“If your order is not delivered or the delivery company has been useless, you need to take the issue up with the retailer rather than the delivery company,” explains James Walker, founder of complaints serviceResolver.“The retailer is responsible for the parcel until it is delivered to you, not the delivery company.”
John Pal, retail expert from the Manchester Business School adds: “If a retailer fails to deliver your goods on time, they are in breach of their contract.
“When you place your order with someone like Argos or Amazon, you agree to their terms and conditions – not the delivery company’s.”
