Gravelmaster Cancellation charge

Ben1002

I ordered £172 with of gravel from Gravelmaster on 1st May which was two bags worth to be delivered on 12th May. 12th of May came and went so sent an email to ask when a possible delivery might happen to which we had the standard 48h delivery delay which wasn’t a problem as we weren’t in a rush for the gravel. After a few more weeks still no show and chased a few more times but still didn’t need the gravel. After waiting a month still no news so finally had an answer to say they tried to deliver but couldn’t get down the lane which serves 30+ plus properties plus a vineyard. So sent them google maps to show different roots they could try but neither were apparently efficient for a 18 tonne lorry, so then asked do they have anything small which they did but the gravel was to heavy to offload, the option they gave us was to deliver to a alternative address or pay a cancellation charge of £50 a pallet, due to our cars it would have been very hard for us to move the gravel but unfortunately been new to the area we were unable to provide an alternative location so offered that we would go to the distribution centre and pick up the gravel bit by bit but again they wouldn’t agree.
We pointed out that an artic lorry had been down the lane in the past week to the vineyard beside our house but again they wouldn’t try to deliver the gravel.
Unwilling to come to a solution Gravelmaster forced us to accept the cancellation charges of £50 a pallet leaving a £72 refund. 

Can any body provide any help on the above weather Gravelmaster can charge such a large cancellation charge aswell even charge the cancellation when being nearly a month late on the delivery from the agreed time slot. I know a lot of people have this problem with Gravelmaster looking at the Trustpilot reviews and google reviews and was hoping to use the above complaint to tackle Gravelmaster on most people behalf who have been aggrieved by the company. 

pinkshoes

It says on their FAQs:

WHAT SIZE TRUCKS DO YOU DELIVER WITH?
Our truck size can vary however the delivery is usually made on an 18 tonne vehicle which we like to say is the average size of a bin lorry. If a smaller vehicle is required we can request a 7.5 tonne. Large orders over this amount can be discussed when purchasing as this may attract the need for a larger vehicle.

Do you have a bin lorry collection to your house? If yes, then I would say that there is no reason why their truck cannot get to your house as per their own guidance, so I would write to them pointing out their own statement, and asking for the gravel to be delivered (and you will repay the £72) or a full refund to be given.