Rejection of delivery

Tattynatty2011

Hi,

I wanted to gain some feedback and possibly some solutions to my recent dilemma.

I ordered a meat hamper from a online butchers, it arrived later than expected (only by a day) - I wasn’t in st the time of delivery so my colleague rang to inform me that the delivery had arrived and the courier advises to reject the order due to the freshness of the meat and that I had been sat in a warehouse.
I didn’t realise it was only a day late at the time and told him to go ahead and reject the order.

I contacted the company over Christmas but to no avail and today sent them an email that request a refund/redelivery.

I was told they cannot help me as their terms and conditions state that I MUST NOT REJECT any delivery as sometimes the meat does arrive late (which of course, I did agree to at the time and did not read upon their website).

I was wondering I should learn from my mistake or do I have a legal right to obtain a refund or redelivery seeing as I don’t have the items that I paid for.

I am happy to pay extra delivery charges etc but they won’t accept that - can they do this?

Thanks

martinsurrey

Tattynatty2011 wrote: »

Hi,

I wanted to gain some feedback and possibly some solutions to my recent dilemma.

I ordered a meat hamper from a online butchers, it arrived later than expected (only by a day) - I wasn’t in st the time of delivery so my colleague rang to inform me that the delivery had arrived and the courier advises to reject the order due to the freshness of the meat and that I had been sat in a warehouse.
I didn’t realise it was only a day late at the time and told him to go ahead and reject the order.

I contacted the company over Christmas but to no avail and today sent them an email that request a refund/redelivery.

I was told they cannot help me as their terms and conditions state that I MUST NOT REJECT any delivery as sometimes the meat does arrive late (which of course, I did agree to at the time and did not read upon their website).

I was wondering I should learn from my mistake or do I have a legal right to obtain a refund or redelivery seeing as I don’t have the items that I paid for.

I am happy to pay extra delivery charges etc but they won’t accept that - can they do this?

Thanks

Its a refund you'll be asking for.

per the Consumer Rights Act 2015 the items must be fit for purpose, and meat that has sat in an unrefrigerated warehouse for over 24 hours is not.

The terms and conditions cannot overrule this statutory right.

Reply to them that as you had been advised by the delivery firm that the goods had not been stored in a controlled temperature environment for an extended period of time that you rejected the good as they were not fit for purpose (human consumption) and you require a full refund off all charges including delivery, as required by the Consumer Rights Act 2015, and that their terms and conditions cannot override this statutory right.

Tattynatty2011

Thank you SO much!

I shall give that a go and see where I end up!

I have a feeling they will not accept this, however I will keep you updated!

visidigi

martinsurrey wrote: »

meat that has sat in an unrefrigerated warehouse for over 24 hours is not.

Just to clarify it will ship with chill/cool packs in the box as refrigeration/chilling of the contents. Its not expected to be 100% refrigerated transportation with the majority of these online butcher services.

If the shipper is saying there was sufficient cooling to cover the additional day transit (which is likely given the you should never reject term) then claiming against this aspect is likely to prove unsuccessful.

martinsurrey

visidigi wrote: »

Just to clarify it will ship with chill/cool packs in the box as refrigeration/chilling of the contents. Its not expected to be 100% refrigerated transportation with the majority of these online butcher services.

If the shipper is saying there was sufficient cooling to cover the additional day transit (which is likely given the you should never reject term) then claiming against this aspect is likely to prove unsuccessful.

As the seller has no idea how the transport company stores items in its warehouse, was it in an office type environment or outside in the sun?, they CANNOT put a blanket "we put enough cool packs in to last x hours".

The OP was advised by the delivery firm to reject, which they did, the delivery firm knows how the goods were handled.

As the meat could then have got cold again in the back of the van, there is no way the OP could be CERTAIN that the meat was not going to cause serious harm, and thats a pretty important point on food stuff to be fit for purpose.

this is a clear cut case imo.

visidigi

martinsurrey wrote: »

As the seller has no idea how the transport company stores items in its warehouse, was it in an office type environment or outside in the sun?, they CANNOT put a blanket "we put enough cool packs in to last x hours".

The OP was advised by the delivery firm to reject, which they did.

As the meat could then have got cold again in the back of the van, there is no way the OP could be CERTAIN that the meat was not going to cause serious harm, and thats a pretty important point on food stuff to be fit for purpose.

this is a clear cut case imo.

I think you need to read up about ambient temperature cold-chain deliveries - and some van driver is not qualified to determine if the product is perished (and given the van driver is likely paid/measured on the delivery success rate its highly unlikely having found someone to sign they would then say give it back!)

There is nothing clear cut about this case (apart from hopefully the way the meat inside was cut )

Edit : adding a link to a youtube video which shows how these things are travelling with UK networks.

martinsurrey

visidigi wrote: »

I think you need to read up about ambient temperature cold-chain deliveries - and some van driver is not qualified to determine if the product is perished (and given the van driver is likely paid/measured on the delivery success rate its highly unlikely having from someone to sign they would then ask the driver to take it back!)

There is nothing clear cut about this case (apart from hopefully the way the meat inside was cut )

And I think you need to go to a warehouse and stand in the corner that gets the blast from the heating, this doesn't sound like a fancy supply chain, its a normal courier carrying a polystyrene box.

Who IS qualified to determine if the food was perished? is the consumer expected to run some lab tests to check for bacteria load?

Does the seller know if in the 48hours they didn't control the package that it wasn't subject to 35 degree head for 24 of those hours?

In fact the delivery driver IS best placed to give advice, as hes the only person with any idea on how it was stored.

visidigi

martinsurrey wrote: »

And I think you need to go to a warehouse and stand in the corner that gets the blast from the heating, this doesn't sound like a fancy supply chain, its a normal courier carrying a polystyrene box.

Who IS qualified to determine if the food was perished? is the consumer expected to run some lab tests to check for bacteria load?

Does the seller know if in the 48hours they didn't control the package that it wasn't subject to 35 degree head for 24 of those hours?

In fact the delivery driver IS best placed to give advice, as hes the only person with any idea on how it was stored.

Thanks for the suggestion, if only I had thought of that - almost feels like I have never worked in the industry for a minute there

The driver has ZERO idea what happened to that box from pickup to the depot from which they are dispatched (usually well within 20 miles of the destination address). The driver is the least qualified to answer anything about this shipment.

As per the process, the shipper packs the goods with a suitable level of contingency, everything chill packed has to have contingency and as long as its delivered within the time frame of the shippers definition of suitable temperature range then all should be fine.

Therefore the shipper is qualified to say if the goods are in a perished condition. Not some van driver.

martinsurrey

visidigi wrote: »

in the time frame of the shippers definition of suitable temperature range then all should be fine.

Therefore the shipper is qualified to say if the goods are in a perished condition. Not some van driver.

and who knows if the package has been kept in the sutible temperature range?

Not the shipper, he waved it off 36-48 hours ago!

so from the 3 people involved, Seller - no idea, OP - No idea, Driver - very slightly more than no idea.

In any event, the delivery driver is an agent of the shipper, so the sellers agent TOLD the OP to reject.

right or wrong, thats an issue between the seller and their delivery company, not the OP.

OP acted on the advise of the sellers agent, simple case.

visidigi

martinsurrey wrote: »

and who knows if the package has been kept in the sutible temperature range?

Not the shipper, he waved it off 36-48 hours ago!

so from the 3 people involved, Seller - no idea, OP - No idea, Driver - very slightly more than no idea.

In any event, the delivery driver is an agent of the shipper, so the sellers agent TOLD the OP to reject.

right or wrong, thats an issue between the seller and their delivery company, not the OP.

OP acted on the advise of the sellers agent, simple case.

Sheesh. The box also contains temperature deviance devices - think like water damage tabs in mobiles phones.

Anything else? Or are the 1000s of businesses in the UK doing this with national and international carriers all risking public heath and relying on a driver...

The driver is contracted to deliver - they are not an agent. The courier has no rights whatsoever to instruct the recipient to reject the delivery.

Tattynatty2011

:mad: This is the reply that I have just received when I questioned if I would receive a refund or reattempt at delivery. :mad:

“Unfortunately, Parcel Force are not authorised to advise you to refuse your delivery. I suggest that you make contact with the depot that delivered your goods (and they should be able to advise who your delivery person was) and you should attempt to seek compensation from Parcel Force, we will be unable to compensate you or send your new order. When you placed your order you will have ticked the box that confirms you are happy with our terms and conditions.
I'm sorry, but there really is nothing more I can do to help, especially as it is now more than 2 weeks since you refused the parcel”


I replied: (when I say ‘I’ I mean ‘we’ given that most of the wording is from your replies!) :rotfl:

‘Many thanks for your reply.
I note that you mention it has been two weeks since I rejected the order, just to clarify I made contact on the 29th December Via Instagram but to no avail until this evening when I received a reply stating that they had just noticed my message.
Secondly, as usual protocol for refunds are typically 10-14 days I assumed I would receive a refund within the time frame - when I did not,I sent you another email to chase this.

I had no idea how the transport company stores items in its warehouse, was it in an office type environment or outside in the sun?,
Joe’s cannot put a blanket "we put enough cool packs in to last x hours".

I advised by the delivery firm to reject, which I did, the delivery firm knows how the goods were handled.

As the meat could then have got cold again in the back of the van, there is no way that I could be CERTAIN that the meat was not going to cause serious harm, and thats a pretty important point on food stuff to be fit for purpose.

The driver, right or wrong he may be, this is an issue between the seller (you) and the courier (ParcelForce)

This is a clear cut refund case, and whilst I appreciate your T&C’s -I am confident my statutory consumer rights over perishable goods supersede’s this.


I am also confident that you have received the goods back after the rejection in the same condition it was dispatched, therefore I am still eligible for a full refund inclusive of delivery as you as a company are not at a loss of product.

If you unable to resolve this I shall seek legal advice and take this further as a statutory right under the Consumer Rights act 2015.

I look forward to receiving my refund and should you need any further information to support the transaction please feel free to drop me a message & I will be happy to assist’