Repeated 'failed' deliveries from courier, now lying about leaving with a neighbour

Crabcrabcrab

Alright, strap in, this one's long.

I bought a console from someone on eBay for £135. They listed the shipping method as royal mail 2nd class, which I was happy with. A couple days pass and the seller messages me to tell me that they're sorry for the delay in posting the item off, they had arranged a courier to collect the parcel but had missed the courier. I was a bit confused why they were now using a courier but shrugged it off as they said they had now already rearranged collection and upgraded to next day delivery, and I didn't want to be a bother and insist on royal mail even though I hate couriers and how hit and miss their service can be.

The parcel is collected and the seller send me a tracking number from Parcel2Go, which states my parcel 'should be with me no later than February 20th'. I wait in on February 20th all day because delivery time is stated as being any time between 9am and 5pm. Tracking has not updated for several days by this point but I still waited in. No delivery. The next morning I check tracking again and see at 8:55am it has updated to say 'awaiting first delivery' and the delivery status now says 'Out for delivery'. So I wait in all day again assuming the parcel will arrive that day. Again, no delivery. At this point I'm getting annoyed. Another day goes by and I assume that okay, perhaps the driver ran out of time yesterday but I will likely receive the parcel today.

I get in touch with Parcel2Go to see if I can get any kind of estimate on delivery time because I am tired of waiting in the house all day. Parcel2Go inform me that the parcel is not scheduled to be delivered that day, and I ask how that can be as it has been 'out for delivery' since early the previous morning. The customer service rep tells me to just wait for the tracking to update, which is completely unhelpful. I've googled the company at this point and learned they're a broker, not a courier, so ask which courier is delivering the parcel and it's DX.

So now I get in touch with DX and ask what's going on and when I can expect the parcel. They say they cannot get in touch with the driver, but they will schedule 'special' delivery for me for the next day between 9am and 1pm which is a bit more reasonable than 9-5. Again I wait in, staying downstairs so I can easily hear the door, and again there is no delivery. Tracking updates later that evening to state that delivery was attempted at 11:37am and a calling card was left. This is absolutely not possible as I heard no knocking at the door and there is NO calling card.

Again I contact DX and ask what is going on, and AGAIN the arrange a 9am - 1pm delivery for the next day. I simply can't stay in yet another day for a delivery that might not arrive, so I instruct them to inform the driver to leave the parcel in the plastic box by the door. The next day 1pm passes there is no delivery! I check the tracking and it has updated to state that redelivery was attempted the previous night at 6:40pm, nearly two hours outside of their delivery time, way after I had spoken to DX and arranged the delivery for the morning. I had ALSO been in at that time, heard no knock and no calling card had been left, no parcel was in the box, and tracking also stated that the parcel had been left with a neighbour.

By this point I am furious, I do not know my neighbours and would NEVER have given permission for my parcel to be left with them. They went completely against the agreed redelivery time and ignored my instruction to put it in the box. They did not inform me WHICH neighbour the parcel had been left with because no calling card was left, I had to phone DX and ask where it was. I waited the next day until my neighbours were home, asked them about the parcel.. and they have no idea what I'm talking about. Nobody left a parcel with them. I have zero reason to doubt them, they are an affluent elderly couple and were genuinely confused that the courier has told me the parcel was left with them. Reminder that there was no calling card left at my address, at no point have I been given any kind of proof that delivery has EVER been attempted.

During all this I was keeping the eBay seller updated who has been completely unhelpful, making no offers to sort this with the courier themselves. I opened a claim for an item not received on eBay but now I am extremely worried that because the tracking information states the item is delivered and was left with a neighbour, I may be out £130. How on earth can I prove the item is not with my neighbour? Is that onus on me? I was under the impression that until the parcel is with ME, the contract of delivery is not fulfilled.

I paid with credit card and not through PayPal. I am seeing stories that claims through PayPal tend to fail if the seller can provide a tracking number that says the item is delivered. What can I do? The eBay seller has until March 4th to resolve my claim, at which point eBay will step in. Who will they side with? My position seems weaker and I'm absolutely furious that I may be losing £135 I simply can't afford to lose. I'm also angry that this console was bought for a purpose and will now be late for that (if I ever see it which I doubt), and I cannot buy a replacement because the seller has my money.

Sorry for the long post, I just needed to get this saga down somewhere.

LadyDee

The only possible explanation I can think of is that the seller put the wrong address on the parcel or, have you an old address registered with Paypal? When you spoke to P2Go and DX did they confirm just the tracking number or the address as well?

As this is related to an ebay purchase you might ask the board guide to move your question over to the ebay forum who might be able to give you some help too.

Crabcrabcrab

I was asked by the courier to verify my address numerous times and have screenshots of this (I did nearly all my communications through facebook). I know the address given to the eBay seller is correct because a game that was supposed to be included with the console was forgotten, and he shipped it out separately (through Royal Mail) and this arrived with no problems. So I can absolutely confirm the seller and courier have my correct address. Again to be clear, this was not paid through PayPal but via credit card.

At the moment I am trying to obtain evidence from the courier that delivery was made to my neighbour as I assume a signature would have been taken, and so the courier should be able to show this. I'm trying to collect as much information as I can for whatever 'case' I have to build.

Something to add: When I asked which neighbour had been given the parcel I was told it was 113, which IS the house directly next to mine. This confuses me because I absolutely do not doubt the honesty of my neighbours, but the courier has stated it's my direct neighbour. Did the driver come here, see the house next to mine and fake a signature? Did they look it up on google maps so they'd know a plausible neighbour to pretend they had delivered to? It seems very bizarre. And if they had left it with a neighbour, why would they not leave a calling card informing me of this and giving proof that somebody HAD attempted delivery?

I'm sorry that there is a board better suited for this question, if someone could move it to a more appropriate place I'd appreciate it!

DCFC79

You paid with a credit card which is good, you can go via the credit card route if need be.

Crabcrabcrab

I only worry that since the seller can produce a tracking number that states that parcel has been delivered to a neighbour, this may affect my ability to claim. With a chargeback do I wait 30 days before initiating it? Or is it reasonable to start it now since it seems clear the parcel is lost or stolen?

Thank you for the replies by the way, I do appreciate people taking the time to read this.

DCFC79

Not sure on the process to be honest, whether you should contact your card provider now or not.

Id post a shortened versoon on the ebay section.

ThumbRemote

I note than when attempting to book with Parcel2Go it asks you the contents of the parcel. Does anyone know if, like Hermes, this is printed on the shipping label - telling everyone exactly what expensive item you've bought?

Crabcrabcrab

Oh my goodness, is that true? The shipping label details the contents? That's absolutely ridiculous. What on earth would prevent a driver from stealing it?

Crabcrabcrab

PS If the courier were now to say they did leave it in the plastic box then it may be less certain whether or not you would win a dispute.

I already have evidence of them stating that the parcel was left with a neighbour at 113, surely they couldn't change their story after that?

A fun development: the courier has provided the seller with evidence of signature, and photograph of the door of the address delivered to. I have asked but the courier won't provide this evidence to me. The seller has described the door and it does not sound like my neighbour's door. I've asked the seller if they could send me the photo so I can see for myself, we'll see if that happens. I've done some google mapping and discovered there is another address with my house number and street name in Swansea, but with obviously a different postcode as it is right on the other side of Swansea from me. Looking at property on google maps the door description the seller sent me matches this one better than my neighbour's. Could the courier honestly have delivered the parcel on the other side of the city to me? That's incredible if so. I have no means of attempting to collect this parcel as I do not drive and am disabled, certainly not going to be making the effort to take the three or so busses it would take to get there.

Gavin83

I think your looking into this far too much. Wait for PayPal to come back to you. If they don't refund you go to your credit card supplier. If that doesn't work a letter before action to the seller and the proceed with a county court claim. It's not your job to go chasing a parcel that hasn't arrived.

glentoran99

DCFC79 wrote: »

You paid with a credit card which is good, you can go via the credit card route if need be.

Not sure that's possible as he paid via paypal