Incorrect delivery addresses...

Major_Clanger_2

Hi - please could I ask for some advice/guidance with an issue with an online retailer....?

Long story short - I placed an order with this retailer but provided an incorrect delivery address (it was the old address of friends who have subsequently moved). I only found out when the retailer sent me an e-mail as they had been contacted by the new owner. As the address is not local, I wrote to 'the occupier' explaining the mistake I had made and asked if they would kindly get in touch so that I could arrange for collection of the parcel. A few days later I received a text from the occupier saying he would have happily helped out, but that when he e-mailed the retailer to say that he had received the unexpected package, they replied on email that, as he had not ordered it, then he could dispose of it - which he did.

I contacted the retailer to complain that they should have allowed me the opportunity to recover the package and that they had no right to tell someone what to do with my property. Their response was to accept no responsibility for instructing someone to throw away my package and that as the parcel was delivered to the address I specified then the fault was mine.

I fully understand that I made a mistake when placing the order - but that was not the basis of my complaint. I was complaining that I did not have the opportunity to recover the package and that (surely) the retailer cannot instruct people to simply throw items away.

But - before I take it further - I just wanted to check if I have a valid reason for complaint. It feels to me as if I do - but would like a second opinion...

Thanks in advance.

Spank

You arranged to have the item to be delivered to an address and they did it & their responsibility ended there.

KatrinaWaves

You have no rights. The retailer did their bit.

You have no rights to require a third party to hold your item or keep your item safe. It was correctly delivered to their address.

Aylesbury_Duck

The retailer didn't instruct the recipient to throw it away, they said they could.  They chose to dispose of it after asking the retailer if they could.

[Deleted User]

Unfortunately it’s another case of lesson learnt. Surely you should check all details are correct before hitting the order button? 

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

I assume for the person receiving they are unsolicited goods? From the retailer's point of view did passing of risk occur? 

Probably one to put down as being an error and move on but it would be interesting to know the consumer rights answer. 

davidmcn

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head said:

I assume for the person receiving they are unsolicited goods?

No, not in the "inertia marketing" sense of "unsolicited goods" i.e. where an unscrupulous retailer deliberately sends you stuff out of the blue and hopes you'll pay for it.

Isn't the recipient an involuntary bailee? The fact they've had (incorrect) advice from the retailer muddies the waters somewhat.

OP, what's the value of the goods?

unholyangel

davidmcn said:

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head said:

I assume for the person receiving they are unsolicited goods?

No, not in the "inertia marketing" sense of "unsolicited goods" i.e. where an unscrupulous retailer deliberately sends you stuff out of the blue and hopes you'll pay for it.

Isn't the recipient an involuntary bailee? The fact they've had (incorrect) advice from the retailer muddies the waters somewhat.

OP, what's the value of the goods?

I agree. What's more, the consumer rights act states goods remain at the traders risk until they come into the possession of the consumer or someone identified by the consumer as authorised to receive the goods. Assuming the op addressed it correctly (and not to the occupier as in his later communication), then it sounds like risk has not passed. 

I also believe (although I'm going off memory alone) that a bailee would not have power of sale if the party who left the goods did not in fact own them, even if they did write to them. 

Major_Clanger_2

Thanks for the answers. The value is not massive - but at the end of the day it's more the principle of the thing. I am (clearly ) no expert in consumer rights - but to my mind it seems that the package is mine (in that I have paid for it and that delivery has been made - albeit to an incorrect address which I specified and which is my fault) and therefore I cannot see how the retailer can in good faith say that it can be disposed of.

But - looks like I'll have to chalk it up to experience...

Gavin83

I disagree with most of the answers here. There are a lot of variables though....

If the retailer is considered as having successfully delivered the package then it ceases to be their property and it becomes yours. Therefore they’ve no right to offer any advice on what to do with the package no more than I would have done, it’s not their property. If they still own the item (and therefore can offer the advice) then they should be refunding you as it was never considered as having been delivered.

Personally the way I see it is they did what you asked them to and delivered the package. Therefore it’s yours and they shouldn’t be giving out any recommendations on the package.

However I’m not sure who’d you take to court. Either the retailer is still considered as owning the item, in which case you’d sue them or they’d be considered as having completed the contract and therefore you’d probably take the person to court who it was delivered to. They should have kept the parcel safe, it wasn’t their property and it certainly wasn’t unsolicited goods.

Given how difficult this’ll be to pursue and the low value of the item I’d chalk it up to experience. If it was a more expensive item I’d definitely be recommending a solicitor in this case as it’s far from clear cut but I suspect you’d ultimately be suing whoever lives in the house.

Regardless this is not an easy question to answer.

pinkshoes

I'm suspicious... does the person at the old address have evidence that they were advised to dispose of the item? 

Was it a big item and impossible to store?

What efforts did they make to find the correct owner of the parcel? Given it had a name on it...

Do people really just dispose of a parcel so quickly making no effort to find the right owner??

And as for the retailer... someone has told them a parcel has been misdelivered. So surely this means that the person who ordered the parcel is without their item. why on earth would they advise them to destroy it?!?

Was it something the recipient might have kept or sold on? (Check their FB account! )