disputing goods recieved

sportbeth

Hi,

During my head in the sand phase last year (A lot of personal problems!) I had a debt that went to collection with Next Directory.

Going through some papers on Friday I found the statement that they are chasing me for, and its for stuff I didn't recieve!!

I do agree that I owe them something, but I had one order that went astray (I swear I never recieved it) and then when they re-sent out the same order they have charged me again for it. It's all on the statement in black and white, and I understand I am in the wrong for not paying the full amount owed, but how do I dispute it now? It's about £250 worth of their mistake and I'll happily pay the rest but not for this!!

thesealeyboy

sportbeth wrote:

Hi,

During my head in the sand phase last year (A lot of personal problems!) I had a debt that went to collection with Next Directory.

Going through some papers on Friday I found the statement that they are chasing me for, and its for stuff I didn't recieve!!

I do agree that I owe them something, but I had one order that went astray (I swear I never recieved it) and then when they re-sent out the same order they have charged me again for it. It's all on the statement in black and white, and I understand I am in the wrong for not paying the full amount owed, but how do I dispute it now? It's about £250 worth of their mistake and I'll happily pay the rest but not for this!!

It's tricky, not having used them myself, when deliveries normally arrive do they require a signature? If this is the case then surely if NEXT cannot prove the package was signed for upon delivery at your address then they cannot charge you...?

sportbeth

This is the trickiness of it all. I never signed for any delivery they had left for me, but I should have thought it would be a policy. However, if they have no proof of me accepting the goods then surely there is no proof of delivery. My reckoning is that the first delivery got left on my doorstep and nicked, hence the problem. If they had asked me to sign for deliveries there would be no confusion at all

thesealeyboy

sportbeth wrote:

This is the trickiness of it all. I never signed for any delivery they had left for me, but I should have thought it would be a policy. However, if they have no proof of me accepting the goods then surely there is no proof of delivery. My reckoning is that the first delivery got left on my doorstep and nicked, hence the problem. If they had asked me to sign for deliveries there would be no confusion at all

So it is the norm for them to obtain a signature for a delivery? It's still patchy, I had something similar about 2 years ago, readers digest (I think) claim they sent an road atlas to my GF at the time, but the first we knew of it was when they sent us a bill for it! Turns out it was one of these trial things where if you dont want the goods you send them back, and seeing as they hadn't had the atlas back they tried to charge us. Evetually I got one of their CC reps to admit that the atlas was too big for a letterbox and would of been left on the doorstep. From that point on they backed down on chasing payment as they had absolutly no proof that it had ever been delivered!

Anyway, i've strayed away from the matter in hand a bit, you need to find out what NEXT's policy is on deliveries i.e. singatures etc then take it from there.

J

skintchick

Most couriers just drop the stuff off - no signature required. They always leave mine in my meter cupboard

sportbeth

Mind you, when I filled in my SORN for the DVLA last year and they said they didn't get it ("oops" they said, "there's your £80 fine"). The onus was on me to prove delivery, not for them to prove that they hadn't recieved it. I wonder if this could be the same?

Besides, why would anyone request the same items two weeks on the trot? The statement shows the deliveries back to back! They do say that they subscribe to the Mail Order Traders Association Code of Practice, whatever that is. I might see if I can get hold of a copy, write to them and suggest MOTA as a last resort if I don't get a resolution.