Parcel missing

loz77

I had a parcel delivered by a courier while I was not at home. I had requested at the time of ordering that it was "left in a safe place". I only found that it was supposed to have been delivered when I checking my tracking reference however I was annoyed as it stated "left in porch" as we don't have a porch!!
I contacted the courier, but they said they had delivered it and I needed to contact the supplier.
I contacted the supplier & they have said they can see it has been delivered so won't don anything else.
I still haven't got the package, despite checking with immediate neighbours too.
When I asked the supplier if they had any further delivery details, they told me there was a photo of my front door and then partly described it, the only problem being that most of the properties on this street have similar front doors. I asked then to email me a copy of the photo so I could check too, but they have refused to do this. I said it may have been left at the wrong house number, but they state that the address is correct & wouldn't have been left anywhere else.
They also argued that it was left safe, in my porch, but had previously told me the photo shows it in front of the door. They've told me they can't do any more & to take it up with the courier.

Who should be responsible for sorting this delivery?  I thought it was the supplier, not the delivery company that were responsible?

jsmith9

Your complaint is with the supplier. You can no relationship with the courier, so forget them.

You tell the supplier you have not received the item. How did you pay? If by card then initiate a chargeback. Keep it simple - you ordered xx and it hasn't arrived.

You will likely get the money very soon, but the seller has a chance to refute the claim (it was delivered - here is the 'proof'). The card company may or may not then reverse the chargeback. This process can take several weeks.

If they reverse it then your way forward is to go via the 'small claims court' - do it online. This will be judged by a real person and it will come down to who they believe - I think you are likely to win.

soolin

jsmith9 said:

Your complaint is with the supplier. You can no relationship with the courier, so forget them.

You tell the supplier you have not received the item. How did you pay? If by card then initiate a chargeback. Keep it simple - you ordered xx and it hasn't arrived.

You will likely get the money very soon, but the seller has a chance to refute the claim (it was delivered - here is the 'proof'). The card company may or may not then reverse the chargeback. This process can take several weeks.

If they reverse it then your way forward is to go via the 'small claims court' - do it online. This will be judged by a real person and it will come down to who they believe - I think you are likely to win.

Unfortunately this is a horrible position for a buyer, as for who they will believe, it will be the person with the delivery confirmation. Usually whether it is the buyer or seller asking this question the advice is always to work with both parties to try and get the courier to provide additional delivery confirmation, a photo is especially useful as is GPS information - but they may need to be very persistent with this.

However the one sticking point with this is the comment 'I had requested at the time of ordering that it was "left in a safe place" and that is another get out clause for the seller and courier as what is safe to one person (ie the courier) is not safe to another - but it is usually deemed to be anywhere on the correct property. 'Porch' is also usually taken to me anywhere around the door step- for me when I have had that message from Amazon it is propped up aside my outer porch door (as my porch is locked) an din full view of passers by. 

With hindsight , and for anyone else reading this- requesting a safe place is something that needs careful thought. Couriers have a minute or two per drop- leaving it on the front drive, under a car or in full view is a split second decision to them . It really is best to state clearly clearly and firmly NO SAFE PLACE AVAILABLE or to request it is left with a nominated neighbour.

However in this instance as OP requested it be left my advice, and I'm sure others will disagree , is to keep on trying the courier and try and get seller to do the same. OP doesn't say how they paid or name the company they bought from, some companies are much better at assisting than others. I have in the past been given an immediate refund by one company where the tracking showed item had been posted through the letter box- but as it was a huge double feather mattress topper the company realised it was not possible and just refunded me as they could not replace it. On the other hand a full size gas hob that was apparently also put through letter box took me several weeks to get refunded from a different company.

Spoonie_Turtle

I find it odd that the courier company didn't let you see a photo of the supposed delivery. I've had a couple of courier companies include the photo in their delivery confirmation e-mail, so quite why they won't let you see it at all is puzzling.

Edit: just re-read and I see it's the supplier not letting you see the photo. In which case it could almost be suspicious, because what do they have to gain by hiding it?!

jsmith9

Deliver us from Christmas chaos: Your rights when parcels go missing  | Daily Mail Online

soolin

jsmith9 said:

Deliver us from Christmas chaos: Your rights when parcels go missing  | Daily Mail Online

That is actually an interesting article, I saw it this morning and did wonder if it deserved a thread of its own, thank you for posting it.

 This is what I was worried about
If your parcel was left somewhere you didn't agree to — such as on your doorstep or with a neighbour — and then goes missing or gets damaged, the retailer must resolve the issue with its courier on your behalf. This means you should receive a refund or replacement.

and
If you asked for an item to be left in a safe place such as a greenhouse and something went wrong, you may struggle to get your money back if it goes missing.

Martyn James, of complaints site Resolver, says: 'In this situation you would need to be able to prove that leaving the parcel in your chosen location was ill-advised — if the courier left it out in the open during a storm, for example.'

And remember to check if you set a 'safe place' last time you purchased from the retailer in case you need to update it

These things get complicated when a buyer opts to have couriers leave items in a 'safe place' as buyers then take responsibility for items that are not handed over in person. It is too late for the OP now but it really is best to state firmly that a safe place cannot be supplied.

As per that article, OP needs to be assertive, whilst staying polite and calm, with both courier and seller and at the very least get a photo of the delivery or some other additional information. The fact that the seller appears to have this 'evidence' means it is something that should be fairly easy to obtain with a bit of persistence. Once they have that if it shows the wrong location then they can try a chargeback with the seller if seller will not co operate , if it does show the correct place then it is a matter to take up with the courier to get them to defend their understanding of a 'safe place' and sometimes shaming them on social media is a good start. 

custardy

loz77 said:

I had a parcel delivered by a courier while I was not at home. I had requested at the time of ordering that it was "left in a safe place". I only found that it was supposed to have been delivered when I checking my tracking reference however I was annoyed as it stated "left in porch" as we don't have a porch!!
I contacted the courier, but they said they had delivered it and I needed to contact the supplier.
I contacted the supplier & they have said they can see it has been delivered so won't don anything else.
I still haven't got the package, despite checking with immediate neighbours too.
When I asked the supplier if they had any further delivery details, they told me there was a photo of my front door and then partly described it, the only problem being that most of the properties on this street have similar front doors. I asked then to email me a copy of the photo so I could check too, but they have refused to do this. I said it may have been left at the wrong house number, but they state that the address is correct & wouldn't have been left anywhere else.
They also argued that it was left safe, in my porch, but had previously told me the photo shows it in front of the door. They've told me they can't do any more & to take it up with the courier.

Who should be responsible for sorting this delivery?  I thought it was the supplier, not the delivery company that were responsible?

Did you define a safe place or was the the extent of the instructions?

mimi1234

Ooooh thanks OP for this thread.  Must update my Amazon instructions immediately.

custardy

mimi1234 said:

Ooooh thanks OP for this thread.  Must update my Amazon instructions immediately.

I always untick the 'keep these instructions for future deliveries' when selecting safeplace with Amazon.
I only use it with orders I would accept going missing.
If the couriers leave others without my instruction then I would be pushing back. 

loz77

Thank you everyone for your advice. The article was an interesting read!
When I placed the order, it defaulted a small tick box to "leave in a safe place" but if I unticked it, I then had to specify where to leave it, which confused me as well (and that's not difficult!).
The seller was a company called VioVet and this was the first time I had used them. They are still refusing to let me see the photo they have of where the package was left. The courier was DX and they won't tell me anything either, but I expected that. I've even asked them for the photo, but they've told me to ask the supplier!
I did pay through Paypal, so I'll try them as well.

Thank you all again x