Threatening letter from online retailer re. missing parcel

hannahg123

Hi all,

I ordered some clothing during an online sale over Christmas from a high street retailer and the parcel hasn't arrived. This is the second time in about 12-18 months that I've ordered from this retailer and the parcel hasn't arrived. It's not an issue I have with any other retailers like Amazon, Dorothy Perkins etc. who all deliver to me with no problems.

I emailed to advise the parcel hadn't come and could they let me have the details of the courier in case it was at a depot - they didn't reply. I paid with credit card via Paypal and so after two weeks with no reply I opened a Paypal dispute. Immediately I received an email saying they would get back to me.

This morning I got a letter from them with an investigation form for me to complete, and the letter states that as it's the 2nd shipment from them that has gone astray (according to them it was delivered and they can prove it) that they might not refund my money, even though I don't have the parcel! The letter is pretty heavy-handed I feel and the wording is very accusatory mentioning passing my details to the police and civil recovery agencies, but regardless I've returned the form.

If they refuse to issue a refund following investigation can I escalate the matter through Paypal or my card provider? It's for less than £100 but even so, I can't afford to take the hit for it. Thanks!

vuvuzela

The police will laugh if they try and involve them, so that's one thing you don't need to worry about. As for civil recovery agencies, not a chance of that either.

bris

You can start a paypal claim, but if they do have proof of delivery as they say the paypal claim will fail. If they can't prove delivery paypal will refund you and they have no case.

hannahg123

Thanks for the advice. What's to stop the delivery person scrawling their signature as proof of delivery? Will I be hauled off in cuffs then (or have my dispute turned down by Paypal)?

Edit: From checking my email it's 12 months between the first missing parcel and the most recent one. There was also one previous order that actually made it to me!

shaun_from_Africa

hannahg123 wrote: »

This morning I got a letter from them with an investigation form for me to complete,

Why would they bother sending you an investigation form if:

(according to them it was delivered and they can prove it)

It sounds like they are just trying to intimidate you into dropping the claim.

visidigi

Definitely name and shame, that's really bad behavior from the retailer...

hannahg123

Thanks for the advice so far. The retailer in question is New Look (the clothing store) and judging from other reviews appearing on review sites I'm not the only one having an issue with them.

The letter states at the end that "Our actions are business-related and should not be inferred as an accusation of fraudulent behaviour on your part. Please rest assured that you will continue to be welcome as a customer in any of our stores! (like I would shop there ever again) but the blurb at the end of the form where I had to sign was less pleasant:

"I declare that the information on this form is accurate...I understand it is an offence to give false or misleading information and if it is found that I have deliberately given incorrect information, New Look may pass my details on to the police and civil recovery agents, without further notice, and this form may be used as evidence against me"

Tom_Jones

Fill in the form send it back recorded delivery, give them two weeks to investigate the matter, if they fail to answer within that timescale, launch a paypal dispute.

shaun_from_Africa

Why wait two weeks?

The order was placed "over Christmas" so was a few weeks ago and as the goods haven't arrived, New Look should be refunding now.

Add to this the correspondance where the OP is basically being told that they are lying about the non delivery, and I don't see any reason to give then any more time before opening a dispute.

hannahg123

I opened the dispute a few days ago because New Look did not reply to my initial email asking which courier was delivering the parcel as it hadn't arrived (about two weeks elapsed from when I sent the email and when I initiated the Paypal dispute).

dacouch

Rich from Arcardia, write back and tell them to pay some tax