Advice on courier company dispute

kirstyrachael

Hello all

I'd really appreciate some advice on how best to resolve an issue with Virgin Mobile, Yodel, and possibly a dead person. (And yes, I do know about Yodel's awful reputation...*sigh*. If I'd known they were going to deliver the parcel, I'd never have ordered online!) Sorry about the long backstory -there are questions at the end if you want to skip to those, and I'd be super grateful for any advice

So about two weeks ago, I ordered a pay-as-you-go mobile phone online from Virgin, at the cost of £110. I selected a day for delivery when I'd be at home, but unfortunately was then called into work, by which point it was too late to rearrange. I kept an eye on the online delivery tracker, though, and at lunchtime got a message saying the parcel had been left with my neighbour "Jack" at number 23. The problem? My street doesn't have a number 23!

Now, my street is adjacent to another with a very similar name: I live on X Street East, but there's also an X Street West, which does have a number 23. So I initially assumed the parcel must be there. After a couple of days of knocking and getting no answer, I put a note through the door with my mobile number, asking them to call me if they had the parcel. Two days later, I received a text from a woman who was clearing out number 23, telling me that it was empty, there was no parcel, and the previous inhabitant - a Mr Jack - was dead! I texted back to ask (politely and sensitively!) if she minded telling me when he'd died, but I haven't had a reply.

I rang Yodel and relayed all this information, and an investigation was raised. So far, I've been promised a callback twice, but have had to chase it up each time. Nothing has happened, and I'm waiting for my third promised callback to materialise. They seem unable to reconcile my assertion that my street doesn't have a number 23 with the driver's assertion that it does, though I did get one call centre rep to agree that a dead man probably couldn't have taken the parcel!

I have also spoken to Virgin Mobile, who deny any responsibility. They say that according to Yodel the parcel has been delivered, and therefore I need to take up the dispute with Yodel. Eventually I managed to persuade them to also raise an investigation, and they are also allegedly going to call me back.

So I have a few questions, and I'd be incredibly thankful for answers to any or all of them.

1. Am I correct in understanding that, according to the Sale of Goods Act, it's the responsibility of Virgin to ensure that my phone is delivered "within a reasonable time"?
   
2. If I am correct, does anyone have any tips for convincing Virgin that this is the case? I haven't had any luck with just stating it so far. Part of the problem seems to arise from the fact that the customer service reps only understand the term "contract" to mean "mobile phone contract"...
   
3. If Virgin don't deliver the goods within a reasonable time, are they obliged to refund me, or is this Yodel's responsibility?
   
4. What is your opinion on the dead Mr Jack? Do you think his name is a coincidence? Or do you think he could have taken in the parcel, then almost immediately died? There was a four-day window between him supposedly taking the parcel and the house being cleared out, which seems a very quick turnaround. Also note that Yodel never said they delivered the parcel to X Street West; they currently maintain it was delivered to the non-existent 23 X Street East.
   
5. Has anyone got any positive experiences of negotiating with Yodel? (Negative ones will only depress me!)

Thank you!

unholyangel

Get back in contact with virgin and tell them that your contract is with them, not yodel and they are responsible for ensuring their third parties carry out their duties with reasonable care and skill - which obviously they have not done so in this case.

Tell them also that the contract was for the phone to be delivered to your address and that clearly, that has not happened.

All else fails, ask them for an address you can send a letter before action to. You may also have better luck speaking to the retention (cancellation) team - in my experience they seem to be able to think outside the box where normal CS reps cant.

arcon5

If they don't pull their finger out their anus then got on to your bank to initiate a chargeback - the story, however interesting, is somewhat irrelevant, it's a simple case of goods not received. If necessary provide the bank and virgin with proof of your signature (DL for example).

mountainofdebt

Well I don't know if it would cheer you up but I've always had a good service from collectplus which is run by yodel.

Is there any way you could prove that there isn't a no.23 on your street but there is on the other street.....obviously you have proof that the occupier of that property coudn't have taken your parcel as he had died?

mije1983

mountainofdebt wrote: »

obviously you have proof that the occupier of that property coudn't have taken your parcel as he had died?

I don't see any proof. All I see is a text from someone who claims this 'Mr Jack' has died. For all the OP (or us) knows, this could all be a lie. In fact, the person that sent the text may not even be a woman, and could be the person who took the parcel.

That's all by the by though. The OP hasn't had the parcel delivered and Virgin know that it wasn't delivered to the OP. It seems that some pressure will need to be applied to Virgin to get them to sort it.

kirstyrachael

Thank you all for your help . It's good to know Virgin are definitely obliged to do something about it!

arcon5 wrote: »

If they don't pull their finger out their anus then got on to your bank to initiate a chargeback .

Wow - I'd completely forgotten about chargeback! The phone cost just over £100, but does anybody know if I could use chargeback to reclaim part of the cost?

By the way, re "Mr Jack", I finally received a text from his relative yesterday saying he died on 15th July and was in hospital for a month before that. So either a) his name is a complete coincidence; b) his relative is lying and has stolen the parcel; or c) the Yodel delivery person knew Mr Jack lived at that address but didn't know he'd died, and so took that opportunity to steal the parcel and forge a plausible fake signature! I think the last two are probably getting into conspiracy theory territory though...

wealdroam

kirstyrachael wrote: »

Wow - I'd completely forgotten about chargeback! The phone cost just over £100, but does anybody know if I could use chargeback to reclaim part of the cost?

Why not all of that cost?

Read MSE's article:

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/shopping/visa-mastercard-chargeback

kirstyrachael

Ah, thank you very much for the MSE article - it's more helpful than the Which? one I read yesterday, which implied that chargeback was only applicable for transactions under £100.
Very grateful for the help given by everyone on this thread - I will let you know how I get on!

unholyangel

kirstyrachael wrote: »

Ah, thank you very much for the MSE article - it's more helpful than the Which? one I read yesterday, which implied that chargeback was only applicable for transactions under £100.
Very grateful for the help given by everyone on this thread - I will let you know how I get on!

Which? used to be superb in their consumer rights advice. However over the last year especially, it has declined further and further until some of the advice they give is just plain wrong.

Not sure if which? have forums but you would probably get more accurate advice from their forum than the site. Its the same here on mse. The MSE team are extremely good but don't always get it 100% right (although i'm referring to stories/articles published rather than guide/help pages - cant remember ever spotting errors on the guide/help pages).