Adidas threatening letter

smartypants1902

Yes, just this letter from no where. 

No idea about the rest…

elsien

Your son needs to get a grip, stop blaming you, and sort his own problem out. If he’s old enough to go travelling, he’s old enough to sort out his own finances. 

However as a starting point, after he’s checked with adidas whether the debt collectors are legitimate or not : did you get a returns label from the retailer; proof of posting? If they didn’t pay for the return, how much were the trainers, were they covered by the posting method use (ordinary post is only up to £20) and how did your son tell you to return them? 

ETA - missed the prepaid label bit. Tell your son to stop behaving like an idiot towards you. It’s not your problem. 

pinkshoes

smartypants1902 said:

It was returned via pre paid label which was issued online by adidas. I was asked to take it to the post office which I did. This was towards the end of last year before he went travelling and he received an email to say it was on its way back to adidas. Is this deemed a court letter? Now I really am worried!

OK, so if THEY issued the returns label, then they are responsible for the lost parcel.

It was entirely your son's responsibility to chase this up as it's his account. HE needs to log into his account, look up the tracking number with the courier (hopefully it still shows it was delivered), then let Adidas know that it DID arrive. If the tracking is showing as not delivered, he needs to contact Adidas and tell them that the parcel was returned with their own courier label, he has proof that it was sent.

If he hasn't got any tracking details any more, he needs to still contact Adidas and let them know that the goods were returned with THEIR courier label and he can prove they were returned.

In reality, this "legal threat" letter will have been sent because your son has ignored previous correspondence from Adidas. I appreciate he was travelling, but he would have no doubt had access to his email?!?!

You have done nothing wrong and quite frankly your son needs to learn some manners and grow a pair if he has the audacity to accuse you of ruining his life! How rude of him!

user1977

pinkshoes said:

In reality, this court letter will have been sent 

There's no mention of court (in the bit the OP has copied anyway). And if there were, a letter before action from a firm of solicitors doesn't have a different legal status from one sent by Adidas themselves.

smartypants1902

Yes, this is the first correspondence.

we have checked the tracking and it is definitely marked as delivered.

apparently this letter has been sent out to a large number over the weekend and they think it may be an error (adidas live chat)

Manxman_in_exile

DWF are a bona fide legal firm and that number looks legit.

But I don't think that that letter is a Letter Before Claim?  Does it say they will sue if no payment is made?  Bit odd that it doesn't include an order reference or any detail as to how the amount in dispute is made up.

I think the OP's son needs to contact Adidas pronto on Tuesday to find out what is going on here.  Hopefully the OP has evidence that they sent something* back.

Seems extraordinary to me that over a grandsworth of goods being returned to Adidas went astray.  Who spends over a grand with Adidas?  Was it kit for a whole team?

Can't help feeling something isn't being told here.  Knowing the whole story might be helpful...

*I'd have thought it might be difficult to fabricate sending back stuff worth over £1000.  It's hardly likely to be in a shoebox

And I suspect quite a few big retailers pay refunds before receipt of returned goods...

Ath_Wat

All those saying it's the son's responsibility might have a point, if the OP hadn't taken it upon themselves to (apparently) log into the son's account, print a label and send the things back without consulting her son.

I am not sure what proof you get of posting something if you use a prepaid label.  Obviously you could print it and then throw it in the bin.  Presumably the post office gives you something when you hand it over, and this should be sufficient to prove it's Adidas's problem.  If the OP has lost or thrown this away, then it is her responsibility and they or the son need to speak to the Post Office to see if they have a record they can provide.  But you can't disclaim responsibility for something after you have involved yourself unnecessarily.

soolin

smartypants1902 said:

Yes, this is the first correspondence.

we have checked the tracking and it is definitely marked as delivered.

apparently this letter has been sent out to a large number over the weekend and they think it may be an error (adidas live chat)

That sounds quite positive.

Leaving that aside can I suggest that you and your son need to sit down together, perhaps with another family member or a family counsellor as mediator, and talk through why your son is being so hostile about this. In the OP you say 'he is refusing to speak to me and saying I have ruined his life', this is a very worrying situation and due to some voluntary work I have done in the past this makes me very nervous.

I have sons myself , 3 of them, and cannot imagine ever getting to the stage where this sort of behaviour occurred. 

Manxman_in_exile

I assume that in returning the goods the OP was not "taking it upon herself" to do so - but was doing what her son (hopefully nicely) asked her to do?

smartypants1902

Thank you guys. All advice has been well and truly received and will be processed.