Argos say they have no responsibility, is this Correct!

cupcakecaz

Hello, to try and cut a long story short....My daughter damaged a TV whilst being held in hospital after trying to take her own life, ( she was very ill) she then order a brand new 50 inch tv from Argos online to be delivered to the ward the next day so the patients all had something to watch.   Anyway the TV did not arrive, Argos say their delivery driver has delivered it, we asked well to who and they said he just gave it to someone who said they are from that ward?  What this delivery driver does not realise is this ward is a locked ward and he could not get onto this ward to give it someone there, he would have to press the intercom system and speak to a nurse over that and explain who he is, the staff would then come down to the main doors and would take the parcel from him,  so how on earth could he have handed it to someone from the ward. 
My daughter is very ill and lives on a very small income and is paying monthly for this tv.  Argos initially said they will refund the money as the item has not arrived, but 3 weeks on and no refund, rang them today and they said they are not refunding her as this driver gave it to 'someone' from that ward and if my daughter wants to fight this case she needs to get 3rd party legal advice.  This delivery driver could not access this ward to give it to someone, so this is a blatant lie....surely he would not just hand it to anyone walking past who decided to say ' oh i'm from that ward i will take it'......  I don't want this stress pushing my daughter over the edge again and she is very ill but surely if this driver cannot provide proof of who took it like name etc surely my daughter has some rights to either the tv or the money back!

unholyangel

Wouldn't matter even if he had given it to someone in her ward. Unless it was delivered to the consumer or someone identified by the consumer as being authorised to receive the goods, the goods remain at the risk of Argos. 

https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2015/15/section/29/enacted

HelpfulFlower101

Argos are liable to resolve the situation because they’re who she’s purchased the goods from. As the comment above suggests, your daughter would have rights under the Consumer Rights Act 2015. She would need to ask Argos to prove delivery which by the sounds of it they can’t. Remedies would be either they deliver the goods as agreed or she could argue for a refund. If she’s paying monthly with a different finance company then her rights would be with them rather than Argos, just go bare in mind. 

cupcakecaz

Hi i have just spoken to Argos again, and again they are saying i have to get 3rd party legal advice.  They say their fraud team questioned the driver who said he handed it over to someone from the ward, no name and no signature?  As far as Argos are concerned thats the end of it!  Thank you for the replies as i quoted some of what was stated and i have now asked for PROOF of delivery.  I asked to speak to their fraud team who spoke to this driver but i am not allowed to , they don't have a phone  number  for them either!  The order was placed to be delivered between 2pm and 6pm as there is someone sitting on a small reception area outside of the ward who takes in parcels etc, but apparently the driver was late, this means no one would have been on the reception desk, that is when you ring the intercom system for the staff to come down and collect the parcel.  I have asked for their fraud department to call me an discuss this. 

HelpfulFlower101

Just a thought actually, if the hospital have CCTV and are kind enough to check and help you out then there’s some proof for you too if he’s not on there! 

cupcakecaz

HelpfulFlower101 this has crossed my mind, but i know the hospital will take ages to do this, but if they do have it that would be fantastic. I shall make enquiries. 

pbartlett

did you pay by card - if so, call them and request a chargeback for non delivery of goods

cupcakecaz

Paid by Argos card

Manxman_in_exile

I don't want to pry, but I worked for 25+ years as a manager in a NHS mental health trust.  You say your daughter is on a locked ward, so I presume it's some sort of secure unit in a mental health hospital?  NHS not private?

What have staff on the ward and hospital management said about this?  FWIW (and this is no crtitcism of your's or your daughter's story) I would have said that the Argos delivery driver's story is virtually unbelieveable and couldn't have happened these days* at any hospital or secure unit I've had experience of.  The fact he's got no evidence of who he delivered it to is pretty damning in itself.

If you could speak to hospital management and ask them to investigate and perhaps put in writing that what the driver says is very unlikely to have happened, then it might help persuade Argos.

In any case, I understand that what unholy_angel says is correct, until Argos have secured delivery either to the purchaser (your daughter presumably) or someone authorised by the purchaser, it remains the responsibility of Argos.

Just to add - Argos may not deal with you regarding this and insist on dealing with your daughter as she is the purchaser.  That might be a problem for you?  Also - and I'm sure your daughter did this for the very best of reasons - it probably wasn't the right way to go about replacing the telly. 

*  Having said that, I have seen some literally unbelieveable things happen in a mental health hospital, but security is so tight these days - especially on secure units - it's inconceivable that any delivery could happen as you describe if the driver was trying to do his job properly.

Manxman_in_exile

Another two thoughts:

(1) Are you absolutely sure it has not been delivered to a member of staff?  I'm not suggesting anything "dodgy" but I can think of several reasons why it hasn't reached the ward yet.  eg gone to works dept for electrical testing; staff changeovers etc

(2) Are you sure your daughter was able to give a correct delivery address?  Is it possible the address given by your daughter was only partially correct an dit is somewhere else in the hospital?  (Even if the address was not 100% I believe Argos are still responsible for getting it into the hands of the purchaser).

cupcakecaz

Hi yes it is a psychiatric  unit and yes NHS, ( i honestly don't mind you asking, i just want to understand what rights she has)  The unit is totally secured so no one can get out nor can anyone get down to the doors where the delivery drivers wait to drop off parcels, only staff can do this. There are deliveries every day as a lot of the people are on there long term.  My daughter has had many parcels delivered there ( big ones) and this is the only one gone missing.  I have called the hospital ward manager and they have searched everywhere and asked all staff if any of them took delivery, even on the other 2 wards and none of them have heard of it, you cannot miss a 50 inch tv.  There is only 3 wards but they are all separate, so if the driver buzzed my daughters ward only that ward would hear the bell and speak through the intercom system and they would be the only ones to have gone down to take delivery, plus my daughter was there on the ward at the time and hung about waiting to see if anyone was bringing it to the ward, and no one did. 
I have a copy of the order and the email confirmation from Argos and everything is spelt completely correct and it is the full postal address with ward name etc, even her phone number is at the bottom of the address so the driver only had to call her and she would send a nurse down to collect, ( this happens a lot). 
The tv is so big in its box that a nurse alone would not have been able to carry it i feel, it would need 2 members of staff to carry it anywhere so i cannot see that a member of staff would have taken hold of it.  I have a horrible feeling that the driver could be lying or someone has randomly said oh yes i work for that ward just give it to me!!  Argos say they delivered it on 21st Feb so it would have got to the ward by now.