Non delivered items dispute - Merchant threatening me

kodiplod

I purchased various items from two different stores. I had issues with both stores in where items where tracked and shown as delivered to my address but unfortunately have not been. I have had a few issues like these in the past due to me living in a ground floor flat in the city centre with various unlocked entry points to the communal area. 

As both stores have refused to refund me, I opened a dispute with my bank. Since then, the merchants are now clubbing up against me stating they have built a case against me and will be contacting relevant authorities and solicitors if I do not withdraw the dispute from my bank.

Where do I stand here and should my course of action be? I genuinely have not received these items but obviously do not want to get in trouble with the police!

davidmcn

Why would you be "in trouble with the police"? I can't see the police being interested about a couple of missing parcels.

Billy_B_North

If you’ve not signed for them then they can’t prove receipt.
How did two different merchants find out about each other though?

kodiplod

All they have is GPS evidence. No pictures or signature of item delivered. I believe they found out about each other as they are in the same industry and are small companies. I am worried that as this has happened a few times in the past, they may think I actually am stealing these parcels!

soolin

It is rare to be blacklisted after just 2 issues, but I noticed you had different issues a couple of years ago as well 
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5938035/scan-co-uk-sent-wrong-item-refusing-return#latest
Proof of delivery is a difficult area, no signature is required and in fact most couriers, and even RM have stated on their websites that signatures will not be taken during the current pandemic. Proof of delivery is therefore proved by GPS and can be very difficult to disprove and you may need to be pro active. 

It doesn't help you particularly with these issues but you might want to consider potentially using a secure delivery address, or drop box of some sort if you have known issues with your address

Undervalued

soolin said:

It is rare to be blacklisted after just 2 issues, but I noticed you had different issues a couple of years ago as well 
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5938035/scan-co-uk-sent-wrong-item-refusing-return#latest
Proof of delivery is a difficult area, no signature is required and in fact most couriers, and even RM have stated on their websites that signatures will not be taken during the current pandemic. Proof of delivery is therefore proved by GPS and can be very difficult to disprove and you may need to be pro active. 

It doesn't help you particularly with these issues but you might want to consider potentially using a secure delivery address, or drop box of some sort if you have known issues with your address

It doesn't actually prove it of course! All it proves is that the GPS device was very close to the location at a particular time.

Civil cases are decided on the balance of probabilities (51%) so the GPS evidence is certainly a useful factor. However obviously it is possible the driver was dishonest and didn't actually leave the parcel. Or they were left then stolen by persons unknown.

If the companies had a photograph of the items on the correct doorstep that would be another point in their favour but it seems they don't?

davidmcn

Undervalued said:

soolin said:

It is rare to be blacklisted after just 2 issues, but I noticed you had different issues a couple of years ago as well 
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5938035/scan-co-uk-sent-wrong-item-refusing-return#latest
Proof of delivery is a difficult area, no signature is required and in fact most couriers, and even RM have stated on their websites that signatures will not be taken during the current pandemic. Proof of delivery is therefore proved by GPS and can be very difficult to disprove and you may need to be pro active. 

It doesn't help you particularly with these issues but you might want to consider potentially using a secure delivery address, or drop box of some sort if you have known issues with your address

It doesn't actually prove it of course! All it proves is that the GPS device was very close to the location at a particular time.

Civil cases are decided on the balance of probabilities (51%) so the GPS evidence is certainly a useful factor. However obviously it is possible the driver was dishonest and didn't actually leave the parcel. Or they were left then stolen by persons unknown.

And (as in the OP's case) it's not all that useful if the delivery is to a block of flats.

kodiplod

No photographic evidence - just gps

Manxman_in_exile

Undervalued said:

If the companies had a photograph of the items on the correct doorstep that would be another point in their favour but it seems they don't?

And I'm not sure even that is necessarily in their favour.  What's to stop the courier swiping the package after taking a photo'?

(Apparently this is happening more frequently in the States.  The couriers are caught doing it by CCTV etc at the front door).

pbartlett

Whatever the ins and outs (and you may never know), I would recommend to consider what @soolin says in that your delivery address is probably not safe, and so you should have your deliveries made somewhere else.

JetpackVelociraptor

So the senders say they've sent you the parcels, they have gps proof that the parcels have been at least in the presence of your address, you know that the communal area where you normally receive parcels is insecure, and you have had this problem several times before with multiple different companies.  If you want to keep ordering online, I think you need to find somewhere else that is safe to get your purchases delivered.

While the police are unlikely to care about this, the companies might be able to defend themselves against the dispute. Put forward the information you need when it's requested by the bank, and state your case as clearly as possible.

You could easily find yourself unable to buy from a whole rake of different companies. Most companies that sell online sign up to some sort of fraud prevention service, and these services also keep track of the cards, email addresses and physical addresses that belong to people who frequently make claims for missing parcels, damaged goods etc. If you place an order with a card, address etc connected to several missing parcel claims, you'll come through with a high fraud score and the retailer may refuse your order even though they won't know the exact reason for the high score. It's designed to help companies manage their risks.