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

Malthusian

I'm the person who had my delivery nabbed by the neighbour. I won't ask them for money as I can't see a polite way of doing that.

That's a strange reason not to ask them for money, given that they haven't cost you anything. The supplier remains liable for fulfilling your order. Dumping the meat with a neighbour who couldn't pass it on before it went off is not fulfilling the order. The meat that went off is the supplier's loss, not yours.

Whether the courier fulfilled their contract or not (including whether they should have followed the instruction to leave it on your doorstep) is also the supplier's problem, not yours.

My view is that your intentions mean nothing in this situation - you haven't done anyone a 'favour' until the neighbour has received their delivery in the same condition as you received it in.

Nonsense. From the neighbour's perspective, you would have got your product faster than if they had told the courier to take it back to the depot. That's a favour. (Having taken responsibility for it, they couldn't leave it on your doorstep, and the fact that the courier should have done that but disregarded the order instructions isn't your neighbour's fault.) The fact that it went off hasn't cost you anything as the supplier still needs to fulfil the order or refund you. So you are in largely the same position as if the neighbour had been out and the courier had taken it back to the depot.

For instance, if it said fragile you don't have the right to throw it about and say 'oops, I meant well though' with no consequence.

No, but if someone delivered your fragile goods to me (without being told to), and I threw them about and negligently broke them, that would be my problem and the supplier's problem, not yours. The supplier would not have fulfilled your order and would have to send you a new one. Meanwhile they would have to pursue me for the cost of their broken item, if they were stubborn enough.

But as a successful delivery was made, they won't cover the perished contents.

A successful delivery wasn't made. You hadn't told them to leave it with your neighbour and giving your order to some random third party is not a successful delivery. Demand a full refund if they refuse to re-send the order.

The company is trying to pull a fast one and you are letting yourself be distracted by trying to prove to your neighbour that "no good deed goes unpunished".

Pollycat

tain said:
And even though it's clarified in the post - the delivery driver didn't knock at my door using either the knocker or the bell. They either didn't knock at all, or they tapped on the window, which I can't hear from my kitchen where I work - that's why we have a huge knocker and a bell.  

With respect, it isn't clarified in your post.

You said (via MSE):

MSE_Kelvin said:

I recently ordered around £40 worth of meat online. I was at home when it was due to be delivered, but received a text saying it had been left with my neighbour. I went over 10 minutes later, and they told me via their video doorbell that they'd gone out and wouldn't be back until late. I picked up the parcel the next day, and it turned out they'd left it on a radiator, despite it saying 'perishable goods' on it and containing ice packs, so I had to throw all the meat away. Should I ask my neighbour to cover some or all of the cost?

Nothing at all about not using the knocker or bell.

CapeTown

Given recent pandemic suggest you support local business and shop small and local. Why anyone orders meat online is beyond me.

newbienan

Not your neighbours responsibility, claim from the courier as you were home 

74jax

CapeTown said:

Given recent pandemic suggest you support local business and shop small and local. Why anyone orders meat online is beyond me.

Why anyone would post this and not read the OP clearly stated it was a home delivery from their LOCAL butcher, is beyond me.

Malthusian

CapeTown said:

Given recent pandemic suggest you support local business and shop small and local. Why anyone orders meat online is beyond me.

Because billions of pounds was spent telling them not to go outside and to stay at home and order everything on their computer instead?

Notwithstanding that shopping local is exactly what the OP did. But nobody reads page 7 out of 8 of a Money Moral Derpemma.

Malthusian

tain said:

This is it - it was in light packaging surrounded by ice blocks. They would have felt how cold it was when they took it in, and if they hadn't have placed it on a radiator, the ice blocks would have maintained a chilled temperature for at least 24 hours. Which is the delivery company's get out of jail card. 

Nope. You paid the butcher to send you some meat, not to send some meat to a random third party. Doesn't matter how much ice it was packed in.

If you'd left instructions to deliver it to a neighbour, that would have been their get out of jail free card.

If they'd left it on your doorstep, you'd gone away on urgent business for three days and it had gone off there, that would also have been a get out of jail free card.

But based on the facts presented they haven't fulfilled your order.

*edit* If the butcher really wants to try to pin the failure of their delivery on your neighbour for taking in the meat instead of sending it back or putting it in their freezer until you collected, they can knock themselves out.

Given that they didn't pay the neighbour to deliver it to you, they would have to scale quite a high bar to pin negligence on them, and I suspect that failing to notice that the package was cold and had "perishable" on it wouldn't be enough.

Whichever, they still owe you some meat or a refund.

Littledaler

Your neighbour was wrong not to refrigerate the package (Marvel1 - you wouldn't know what perishable goods meant - really??) however they are your neighbours.  I would make a claim from the delivery service via the supplier.  You were available to take delivery and if the parcel had been correctly delivered, there would not be a problem so it is the courier service in the wrong.

Carrot007

Deleted_User said:

I had some cheese delivered, the package is labelled as needing to be kept in the fridge. Royal Mail sat on their bums with it for 3 days before the bank holiday even though it was next day delivery then tried to deliver it on a Saturday to work when we were closed (hence I ordered at the weekend for Monday dispatch/Tuesday delivery). Eventually got it on the Tuesday a week late, clearly was just stuck in a warm warehouse not a fridge as one of the wax shells was damaged and cheese "juice" for want of a better word had leaked in the box. Complained to the sender who refunded me the price of the damaged one and did an upgrade on my account for future discounts. I hope they claimed off Royal Mail

I hope you ate the cheese! I mean that's how I like mine! No refrigeration, leave out somewhere warm for at least 3 days, maybe a week. Saved you the effort of preparing it.

Pollycat

Littledaler said:

Your neighbour was wrong not to refrigerate the package (Marvel1 - you wouldn't know what perishable goods meant - really??) however they are your neighbours.  I would make a claim from the delivery service via the supplier.  You were available to take delivery and if the parcel had been correctly delivered, there would not be a problem so it is the courier service in the wrong.

There is no way I could fit even one 4oz beefburger in my fridge.

How can you expect someone who hasn't ordered something to rearrange their fridge to accommodate a package of meat that is nothing to do with them?