Issues with a seller via Amazon, help please

jas121sim

Good evening all,

I'd be grateful if someone were able to help with an issue I'm currently having with an item I purchased from a seller via Amazon before Christmas?

I purchased something via a seller that uses amazon before Christmas but, the item never arrived. When I queried this with the seller they informed me that the item had been delivered by their courier (a large international courier) to the address and as far as they were concerned there wasn't anything they could do.

I've contacted the courier myself and have found that the item has been signed by someone that has never lived at the address and has a name that bears no resemblance to myself or any other family members in the house. I've also spoken with Amazon who have told me that there isn't anything they can do because the item has been delivered albeit not to my address!! It's very frustrating. The last correspondence I had with the actual company I placed the order with was on Thursday last week and was as follows:

I sincerely trust this email finds you well? Further to recent correspondence with yourself I note that I have not as yet received a satisfactory resloution to the complaint that was initially lodged with yourself around the 20th December 2014. I have previously stated to yourself that the item has not been received at the given address and we have discovered that the parcel has been signed by someone unknown to myself. While I appreciate you are a small business, you must understand that I am a father with young children and this is a substantial amount of money for me to lose.

I have lodged a criminal complaint with the police and have sought legal assistance on this matter and have been advised in the first instance to resolve this amicably with yourselves as under the sale of goods act 1979 my contract is with Yourselves and not your courier and by your courier not delivering the item to the adressee on the box (My name) you have effectively failed to fulfil this contract. To resolve this matter effectively I would like you to contact me with your intentions to provide a full refund for the total amount of the order (£55.00) at your earliest convenience be that either within 7 working days from the date of this email or sometime sooner. In return I will remove any negative feedback placed on Amazon as a gesture of goodwill. Failure to comply will leave me with no other option than to recoup my costs through the small claims court. I look forward to hearing from you soon.

As it stands the 7 days are about to lapse and I haven't had so much as an acknowledgement email from the company in question. I'm not sure how to proceed with this now or where I stand as the item hasn't been delivered to me or my address although the company has previously said it has been!! I'd be grateful if anyone could offer any advice as although it may not seem a large sum of money it is to me and it's also the principle. I look forward to hearing from you soon.

All the best,

Jas121sim

unholyangel

I mean this with the best of intentions, but you kind of shot yourself in the foot by first mentioning your kids and secondly by mentioning the police.

The reason for this is its a business transaction. Feelings and emotions have no place in a business transaction. It only serves to distract from your actual complaint. Secondly, the police really dont concern themselves with civil matters - yes they will give you a crime reference number but unless they have actual evidence of criminal wrongdoing, the probability of them even caring is unlikely to pigs might fly.

You want any complaints/communications about a contract to be as short and direct as possible.

Item remains at their risk until they deliver it to the address they were contracted to. They're in breach of contract and they should not be transferring inappropriate risks to consumers nor should they be misleading consumers about their rights.

You start to include details about anything not immediately relative and all you're doing is distracting from the message you're trying to send them.

Btw your next step is a letter before action. IMO should be no more than 2 paragraphs long (not counting the part you say about deadline or filing proceedings) and by paragraph I mean short concise ones.

Presuming the company are UK based of course.

visidigi

Bear in mind, Couriers do not deliver to named individuals, they deliver to the address.

And gestures of goodwill on the removal of feedback? Blackmail, really?

You need to stick to facts and follow through with your process to claim.

frugal_mike

But under the Consumer Contracts Regulations the goods are not delivered until they are in the possession of the consumer or a person the consumer specifically names as the recipient, so the couriers policy doesn't matter.

andycris3107

You haven't mentioned whether you have opened an A-Z guarantee claim via Amazon. This will prompt Amazon to withhold the funds and investigate.

Before going legal I would consider chargeback via your credit card company.

jas121sim

Hi All,

Many thanks for your responses I really appreciate them.

Unholyangel - Whislt I fully appreciate it's a business transaction I believed by stressing that I have a family may help my cause as the person I've been in contact with has previously stated to me that they are a small family run business and that it's a lot of money for them to lose. The company are UK based and I will now send a letter to the company in question.

visidigi - Many thanks for your reply. I appreciate that they deliver to the address which is what they are saying they have done. However, the name that signed for the parcel on the delivery note isn't a person living at the address or a person known to me and that delivery note is what they are using as proof of delivery. I believe that it's either been 'signed for' and never delivered or has possibly gone to the wrong address. I also know it seems like blackmail but, for the length of the original post I left out numerous emails between myself and the company where they have asked me to remove negative feedback from their Amazon profile, although it may be ill judged I believed that it may help in negotiating my money back amicably.

Frugalmike - Thanks for your reply. That was what I thought although I hadn't found anything to back that up. I really appreciate that.

andycris3107 - Thanks for your reply. I did open a claim with Amazon and they have said that as far as they are concerned the item has been delivered so there isn't anything that they can do and I need to rectify the matter directly with the seller. Unfortunately on this one I used my debit card so I guess my only option is to go down the legal route on this one.

Many thanks for your replies I really appreciate them. All the best,

Jason.

andycris3107

jas121sim wrote: »

Hi All,
Unfortunately on this one I used my debit card so I guess my only option is to go down the legal route on this one.
Jason.

Not so.

Chargeback is also relevant on debit cards:

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