DPD delivered two iPhone 13 to the wrong address - phones are not there

DGDG

DPD was due to deliver two iPhones to me (at a residential address). The tracking info said they had been delivered to a neighbouring retail address. I know them rather well by now as this isn't the first time Hermes and DPD has delivered our items to them (because they can't find our door I presume, I am not directing anyone to leave our deliveries at this address). I went there to inquire, they confirmed that a rather rude DPD driver had in fact tried to deliver this parcel to them, but they declined it and directed the driver to our address.

That's where the trail ends. In the tracking info, DPD says the store manager has signed for it, initially there was also a photo of the retail store in the tracking info but they have since removed this.

We immediately notified the vendor who promised to look into it. They rang DPD who told them that they couldn't reach their driver but that there was a chance he would rescan the item and put it back in the system for a redelivery when he returned to the depot later that day. This was yesterday, and we haven't heard back.  

My position:
I have done what I can to locate the iPhones, it's now up to the vendor to continue the investigation as my contract is with them, not DPD. 

My question: what exactly are my rights? How long does the vendor have to fix the problem and give me my phones? Since I ordered in the store, I'm not protected the same way as I would have been with an online purchase so do they get 30 days???

DGDG

I did not pay by credit card, the vendor has my bank details as this will be paid for by direct debit

lisyloo

Has any payment been taken yet?
when it is going to taken?
you can cancel a direct debit with your bank but on some e.g. Nat west it doesn’t appear until the day.

you have rights under the direct debit guarantee, but you may have to act on a specific day

DGDG

Thank you, I will look into that. Ideally I would like to have my phones delivered though, and to stay with the provider.

In terms of the vendor's rights to resolve the issue, does anyone know how long they are entitled to before they have to compensate/redeliver etc?

lisyloo

You don’t have rights in that regard I’m afraid.
its holiday season, there’s a pandemic on (staff shortages) and there’s a 3rd party involved.
due to the value it’s probably not something they can just resend.

I would chase them again in the new year and ask them to suspend the DD.
they should (legally)have told you the date the DD was going out.
on my online banking (Nat west) a new DD doesn’t show up until the day it’s going out, so you have until 8pm that day to cancel. Other banks might be better than that.

DGDG

So no rights whatsoever, the vendor has an infinite amount of time at their disposal to resolve this? My only option is to cancel the contract? My understanding was that there is a 30 day limit, after which it's officially considered a late delivery

JJ_Egan

Where is this 30 day limit ??

lisyloo

DGDG said:

So no rights whatsoever, the vendor has an infinite amount of time at their disposal to resolve this? My only option is to cancel the contract? My understanding was that there is a 30 day limit, after which it's officially considered a late delivery

Yes if they (for example) went bust it would never get resolved by them.
 
I’m not aware of any statutory rights for late/missing deliveries beyond not having to pay for them.

do you have any contractual rights? If so you’ll need to tell us, we can’t tell you about your contract (that still wouldn’t be enforceable if they went bust).

I understand your frustration but given it’s holidays, plus pandemic, plus a third party I think you need a little more patience.
i am very frustrated by the lack of service almost everywhere these days.

TELLIT01

Is there any way to add information on the DPD delivery system to explain where the front door is if it isn't obvious?  In this case though it would seem more that the driver couldn't be bothered to attempt a delivery to the correct location.

cx6

You should allow the vendor a reasonable amount of time to sort this out. If it were me, I would allow a couple of weeks say.

In any case, they must refund you if the phones do not turn up.

Note: you are not protected under the DD guarantee for missing or faulty goods. It is up to you if you trust the company to refund you if they take the money, or cancel the DD and pay them another way should the phones arrive.

lisyloo

Personally I would cancel the DD if they are not staying in touch.
that’s not advice, just saying what I would do. It would be quite unreasonable to expect someone to pay IMO for goods not delivered.