Money Moral Dilemma: Should I ask my neighbour to pay for the meat they spoiled?

JayD

If the delivery company left it with a neighbour, despite you being home, then THEY are responsible, not your neighbour. You need to advise the company from whom you made the purchase exactly what has happened and ask for a full refund, and for them to make a claim against the delivery firm.

I once had a delivery left under my car on the drive. I was home and there was no card through the letterbox telling me that is where it had been left.. Covid restrictions were preventing me from going anywhere by car, so it wasn't until I contacted the seller to ask why I hadn't received the goods that it all came to light. By then the items had been very spoiled by wet weather and I was fully refunded. ,

crmism

Difficult to blame your neighbour, who took in your parcel with the best of intentions and hadn't a clue that it contained perishable food. As you were at home on the day it was delivered, I suggest you contact the supplier, explain the situation, and leave it to them to find out what the delivery driver was playing at, assuming your doorbell works OK. If you ask nicely, the supplier just might send you a replacement order as a good customer relations exercise, but don't pin your hopes on it as margins are probably very tight.

tain

Pollycat said:

tain said:

Where can I recommend a poll asking everyone if they take in deliveries for their neighbours, and never ever say 'no' even if it's to the detriment of their neighbour? 

I really feel that people are just chasing the good feelings they get from being 'such a great neighbour' without any consideration to if what they're doing is actually a good thing. 

There's a specific board for MSE polls - further up the boards under 'Essential money'.

If you do a poll, please consider what options you want to offer.

I've seen some pretty poor polls.

As for people "just chasing the good feelings they get from being 'such a great neighbour' without any consideration to if what they're doing is actually a good thing", the bottom line is that your courier did not act on the specific instructions you gave.

If it had, there would not be a MMD. You would have picked up the parcel from your doorstep and be in possession of the meat you ordered.

I would be appalled if one of my neighbours asked me to cover the costs of a parcel I'd taken in because the courier who was contracted to deliver it had ignored the neighbour's delivery instructions.

Apportion blame where it belongs. And that is not with the neighbour. IMHO

So you don't think taking in a parcel for someone else comes with any responsibility? Ignore the delivery instructions, no one gets to hide behind that because the neighbour was not privy to that information. 

tain

It's really telling how many people keep ignoring the moral question at hand and just want to shower blame at the delivery company.

The delivery company COULD be at fault. Who cares? That isn't being debated.

Legally signing over responsibility of a delivery to yourself then destroying that delivery through inaction is what is being discussed. 

Do people really truly believe that 'intentions' are what is important, and the consequences of them intentions should be completely disregarded??

Pollycat

tain said:

It's really telling how many people keep ignoring the moral question at hand and just want to shower blame at the delivery company.

The delivery company COULD be at fault. Who cares? That isn't being debated.

Legally signing over responsibility of a delivery to yourself then destroying that delivery through inaction is what is being discussed. 

Do people really truly believe that 'intentions' are what is important, and the consequences of them intentions should be completely disregarded??

You made it a 'money moral dilemma' (because you wanted a shiny badge for weekly email content...)

A reminder of what MMDs are about:

MSE_Kelvin said:

Unfortunately the MSE team can't always answer money moral dilemma questions as contributions are often emailed in or suggested in person. They are intended to be a point of debate and discussed at face value.

You asked if you should ask your neighbour to cover some or all of the costs (or as the title says "should I ask my neighbour to pay for the meat they spoiled?")

You've got lots of replies to that specific question - a lot saying the delivery company is at fault.

So yes, that particular issue is most definitely being discussed, whether you expected it to be or not.

And really, once you post on a public forum, you don't have control over what comments are made.

sheramber

tain said:

It's really telling how many people keep ignoring the moral question at hand and just want to shower blame at the delivery company.

The delivery company COULD be at fault. Who cares? That isn't being debated.

Legally signing over responsibility of a delivery to yourself then destroying that delivery through inaction is what is being discussed. 

Do people really truly believe that 'intentions' are what is important, and the consequences of them intentions should be completely disregarded??

Who signed for a delivery? No signatures are being taken at present , due to covid.
You asked for opinions and that is what you got. 
Just because they don't agree with you doesn't make them wrong.

What dod your neighbour say when you asked them to pay for the spoiled meat? And the spoiled barbecue since the meat was for that.

Yve1000

Report to the courier. Not the fault of your neighbour.

Malthusian

tain said:

You really are talking nonsense. Stop being so condescending when you do so, it's not a good look.

Explaining the facts of basic contract law is not being condescending. If you don't want people to point out why your understanding of liability is wrong, you can either update your knowledge or not ask.

If you take in a delivery for a neighbour, in one context or another, you legally assume responsibility for it. The neighbour didn't check to see if the delivery should have or was meant to be left with a neighbour, yet they took legal responsibility for it then did nothing to protect that. 

Your neighbour's responsibility for the butcher's random lump of meat is entirely not your problem. Until the very moment that they deliver it to you, which never happened. Your problem is getting the butcher to fulfil your order.

Do you understand the basics of signing for something? Or are you genuinely suggesting that the delivery company need to start legal proceedings against the neighbour, if they believe their contractual obligations were fulfilled?

If they expect the neighbour to cover the loss resulting from having to send out two lumps of meat instead of one (one for the failed delivery and one for the delivery you eventually get them to make when you stop faffing about with your vendetta against your neighbour) then yes they do.

For a whole host of reasons it would probably be better to pursue the delivery company, given that their loss arose from the delivery company ignoring the instruction to leave it on your doorstep. They were being paid to do the job, the neighbour wasn't. Ignoring the delivery instructions is more negligent than failing to notice the coldness of the package and the "perishable" sticker.

The delivery company COULD be at fault. Who cares? That isn't being debated.

You can't win a debate by saying the people explaining the facts are not allowed to debate the facts.

Tain: "I think the Duke of Edinburgh should have been jailed for murdering Princess Diana."

Forum: "He didn't murder her, the facts show that she died in a car accident after her driver lost control."

Tain: "She COULD have died in a car crash. Who cares? That isn't being debated. Why does no-one want to talk about jailing the Duke of Edinburgh?"

Or in logic nerd language:

Tain: "I think A, therefore B."

Forum: "A is false."

Tain: "A COULD be false. Who cares? That isn't being debated. We're not debating A therefore B must be true."

Anyanka1

Who has perishable goods delivered unless they know they are going to be in and looking out for them to ensure they are stored correctly from the moment of delivery?  Who advises anyone that meat should be left on a doorstep?  How is your neighbour to know the package contains something that needs to be refrigerated immediately and how on earth is it their responsibility to ensure the correct storage of your delivery?

https://www.itshowcase.co.uk/signing-for-neighbours-parcels-could-land-you-in-court/

All this has only reinforced my decision not to accept any more deliveries for anyone else, ever.