Disputed over whether goods were ordered or not

webbo57

Hi

My father has been a long-time customer of a wine company and regularly orders by telephone.

He recently received a case of wine from them, which he did not order. I have advised the company that he did not place the order. I have further advised them that they have supplied "unsolicited goods" and that The Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013 state that he has the right to keep goods delivered to him that he didn’t order. Additionally, I have informed them that he neither has any obligation to send the wine back, nor to pay for it, and that their demands for payment for unsolicited goods is a criminal offence.

Here's the crux of the matter: the company contend that he did order the wine by telephone. I've asked them to proove it. They've said that they can't, as they don't record their telephone calls. Where does the burden of proof lie in this instance? (I would have thought that a company taking orders by telephone would have some way of evidencing this in the event of disputes...)

I've tried researching the answer to this but can't seem to find anything that remotely addresses it.

Thanks in anticipation of some legal viewpoint.

Webbo

z1a

Surprised they'll even discuss it with you as you aren't the customer.

McKneff

Look at your fathers phone records after asking the company the date of the order.

It can't be that difficult if you have the date

Angus_Og

webbo57 wrote: »

Hi

My father has been a long-time customer of a wine company and regularly orders by telephone.

Why not just send it back instead of trying to be clever.

As a longtime customer that would be the right thing to do instead of trying to be a smart alec.

waamo

A suspicious person might think you are trying to scam them. It's a good job you aren't.

a.turner

McKneff wrote: »

Look at your fathers phone records after asking the company the date of the order.

It can't be that difficult if you have the date

If they called him it may not show up.

Fosterdog

a.turner wrote: »

If they called him it may not show up.

Firstly why would they call him to order? And secondly they would then have proof of the call and somebody making an order will be on the phone longer than somebody just saying no thank you.

Back to the OP, I doubt this is unsolicited goods, the company were already getting regular orders from your father so have no need to try and scam him so it's either a simple mistake, another customer ordered and it somehow got added to your father's account, or your father did actually order the wine.

If he's always been happy with the service is it worth being blacklisted as a customer for the sake of not being a douche and making the wine available for them to collect at your fathers convenience.

a.turner

Fosterdog wrote: »

Firstly why would they call him to order? And secondly they would then have proof of the call and somebody making an order will be on the phone longer than somebody just saying no thank you.

Back to the OP, I doubt this is unsolicited goods, the company were already getting regular orders from your father so have no need to try and scam him so it's either a simple mistake, another customer ordered and it somehow got added to your father's account, or your father did actually order the wine.

If he's always been happy with the service is it worth being blacklisted as a customer for the sake of not being a douche and making the wine available for them to collect at your fathers convenience.

You saying you've never had a sales call?

Jono111

Could he have forgotten that he ordered the wine, sometimes older people forget they have done things and then deny it afterwards.
Apart from that be a nice person, pay for it or return.

gettingtheresometime

I always thought that if you received unsolicited goods then you had a responsibility to keep the goods in good condition and that the company had 6 months to collect the goods at their expense

Fosterdog

a.turner wrote: »

You saying you've never had a sales call?

Only ever trying to get an initial sale or to get me to sign up to something, how often do you get sales calls from companies you already buy from with them trying to get you to buy more?

I know those sorts of sales call are huge in America and they are done on a B2B basis commonly in the U.K. but it's not something that is common with consumers here.