Fridge not delivered...£75 food spoilt!!!!!

1baloo

I ordered a fridge freezer from APPLIANCES DIRECT on 16th October 2018. On the 18th October I received an email stating part of my order was no longer available. I called and queried this and the representative stated their was no issue and when would I like the delivery of my fridge freezer.

Delivery was organised for 22nd October AFTER 4pm as my partner would be home from then. The lady said this was ok and I received an email stating delivery would be on 22nd October. As it is a fridge freezer and I requested the removal of the old fridge; the email stated I must remove all the food and defrost fridge and ensure their is no water in it - this is reasonable and was done on 22nd October. My partner waited and nothing arrived that day and the food spoiled...approximately £75.

Appliances Direct could not be contacted outside of working hours.

Today (23rd October) I called them and explained and the lady stated she could find no reason why the delivery was not made and would refund me the £35 delivery costs. I requested £75 compensation for the food and the refund of the £35. They stated they would not pay for the food. I persisted and the caller went and sought advice 3-4 times and came back saying the fridge would have to be left standing for 6hours and then another 6hours before it could be used so the food would have been spoilt anyway. I said it states 3-4 hours online on many forums for a fridge to be left standing and then I would turn it on and put the food inside. They said they would not pay for my food. I stated I had incurred a loss due to breach of contract in delivering the fridge after 4pm on 22nd as agreed and that it was clearly foreseeable that time was of the essence when delivering a fridge and they had caused me a financial loss (some of the items belong to my lodgers).

I cancelled my order, await a refund and stated I would seek compensation......WHAT ARE MY RIGHTS. I have no issues going to small claims court if necessary.

Thanks.
1baloo

POPPYOSCAR

Your food is not their problem.

You are not entitled to compensation.

[Deleted User]

Why was your freezer full of food if you were ordering a new freezer?

Keep_pedalling

Normally you would buy your food after getting the fridge, especially as you should give it a hour or more to settle before switching it on, and then more time to cool down before putting food in it.

You have no claim for your spoilt food.

1baloo

Thanks for the quick response. I will accept the replies from all 3...you can't all be wrong. But.....does this make a difference.......

The food was already in the fridge and as they said it would be delivered on 22nd after 4pm we thought it would be out for a few hours max and then back in again unspoilt....but the failed delivery curtailed that?

thanks for responding...
1baloo

ess0two

Should really leave a fridge standing for a few hours after delivery before plugging in etc, touch and go whether the food would be spoilt regardless of delivery.

1baloo

I see all your points.....lesson learnt.

Thanks team...keep up the good work.

1baloo

NotRichAtAll

not got any neighbours? i would of explained my dilema to them and ask them if they could ram some in their fridge/freezer for me, or you could of cooked it all and had a feast However from time of order 16th to 22nd you have had 6 days to reduce the amount of grub you had stashed just in case the delivery goes wrong which in this case it has.

Fosterdog

The new one was due after 4pm so the food would have already been out for a while for it to fully defrost first, after 4pm could have been any time, some companies deliver as late as 9pm, then the new one would need to stand for several hours, then switched on and left to cool so the food could not have been put in until maybe midnight anyway or even later and at that stage the food would have been out for a good 12 hours or more so would be no good anyway.

When you realised they were not delivering (at say 9pm) why didn't you just plug your old fridge back in? It wouldn't need the time to stand so leaving it to cool for an hour the food could have gone back in and would have been left out for less time than if the new one had arrived.

What would you have done if the new one was faulty? Or damaged? Or the wrong one sent? Or mismeasured and didn't fit?

Les79

I'm not 100% confident that you DON'T have a case to be fair, as you acted upon their instructions and the food was only spoiled because they failed to deliver within the allocated time frame.

I suppose the biggest question would be whether you had the opportunity to mitigate your losses. For example, by:

- Asking a friend/neighbor to temporarily store some or all of the food

- Having the foresight to purchase less food just prior to the purchase of a new fridge/freezer (you may have plausible reasons for not doing this; also, if it is due to a fault with the old unit you MAY have a case against the original retailer).

- Using freezer bags to store produce

Also whether you could reasonably have known that, assuming they HAD arrived on time, the time-frame involved in replacing the unit would have spoiled your food.

I think it is well worth a "letter before action" to head office/complaints and requesting a goodwill gesture. It would help by providing some photographic evidence (I think it would be fair of you to request up to the value shown in the picture, no more). This is actually a free stab at getting some goodwill and some companies will provide it. If they don't, then you'd either have to drop it or take them to small claims court which is when you'll probably have to answer a lot of the above questions in detail etc.

societys_child

Les79 wrote: »

I think it is well worth a "letter before action" to head office/complaints and requesting a goodwill gesture.

Are you serious?