Parcel Force delivered the wrong Parcel

Alderbank

humey86 said:

I bought an expensive guitar via a reputable musical instrument market place. 

Have we established that the seller is actually a trader and not a private seller?

Like @soolin, I too assumed the seller was also selling the bike, though probably in another market place such as eBay

Aylesbury_Duck

MalMonroe said:

humey86 said:

I did think its a perfect scam in terms of delivery driver swapping labels. A guitar is a pretty obvious parcel as well. The seller and I have agreed that if theres no movement on the case by the weekend we will look at refunds. He is also considering taking it to he police but I cant see them taking any interest

Hi, this is totally the seller's responsibility and he should have offered a full refund immediately.

Whatever his dealings with Parcelforce, they are absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with you. You're just the poor person who paid him money for nothing.

I would want my refund yesterday. Why is he waiting until the weekend?? Why are you waiting? You really are being very kind and understanding. Many people wouldn't be, including me.

He should DEFINITELY contact the police to get a crime number and give that to Action Fraud when he reports it to them. 

It will cost him nothing to report and they may or may not take any interest - but if similar reports are made in connection with the same Parcelforce depot, then they will have to take some interest and hopefully carry out an investigation.

Whatever, it seems harsh to say it but it is not your problem. It's for the seller to sort out. It's always been for the seller to sort out. He's lost a guitar somewhere but he's all right because he's got your money instead. He needs to give it back. As soon as possible.

All explained in OP's posts, if you read them.  He knows he can get a refund, but this is a pretty unique item he wants, so holding out a short while to see if it materialises is reasonable in the hope of getting the guitar, which is more important than the money.

Manxman_in_exile

Like a couple of other posters I find it a bit unusual that the seller would take the precaution in advance of taking a photo of the parcel being handed over to (or in the possession of) the Parcel Force man and sending that photo to the OP.  It's almost as if they knew something would go wrong.

And if what @soolin says is correct about the address and sender labels being brought to the seller and fixed to the parcel in their presence, I don't see how the labels could get mixed up without either the PF man or the seller knowing it had happened

I don't know how PF works, but if they're meant to bring you a pre-printed label with your details and the recipient's address on, and if those labels are meant to be attahced to the parcel in your presence, I wouldn't let it out of my sight before it had been done.

Yet the OP says:

humey86 said:

... The seller has been in talks [with Parcel Force?] and they [Parcel Force?] have said that the driver must have put the wrong label on it...

[My italics]

unforeseen

Parcel bring a label to the door, it is t taken away to be labelled, so any mislabelling must have been done in sellers presence

Not always. We have received the wrong parcel at work a few times because the PF driver didn't have the labels with him. 

born_again

> Het be he swowed a pic of a box? sent me a pic of the guitat all boxed up and in the hands of the Parcelforce driver.<

Should that not be a picture of a box? 

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

Manxman_in_exile said:

I don't know how PF works, but if they're meant to bring you a pre-printed label with your details and the recipient's address on, and if those labels are meant to be attahced to the parcel in your presence, I wouldn't let it out of my sight before it had been done.

Gave the DX driver 2 boxes and he stuck the labels on.

Went to bed that night, closed my eyes and then the thought popped in my head. It was 50/50 and fate went against me.

£80 later the correct boxes were with the correct people.

Driver just assumed both boxes were going to the same place and I took my eye off the ball. 

For any courier collections where the driver brings the labels I now ask for the labels and stick them on myself. 

Our lives are increasing convenient and it’s easy to sometimes forget to do the common sense stuff as we assume it’s being done for us. 

tightauldgit

soolin said:

I think I would be going back to the seller, as if they also sold the bike they must have some idea where your guitar went, probably to the person who bought the bike.

Parcel bring a label to the door, it is t taken away to be labelled, so any mislabelling must have been done in sellers presence. 

Cut and paste from Parcelforce site. 

Not a problem if your parcel is being collected, the Parcelforce courier driver will bring the label so all you have to do is simply write the delivery name, address and MPD booking reference directly onto your parcel. To use the drop-off service you must print the label.

My past couple of collections the person has just picked up the box and said they would put the label on in the van. Never really occured to me that a mix up like this might happen. 

m0bov

You should be getting a refund now. Then, if he recovers the item, he can get in touch with you again and do a deal.

Its not up to you to sort it out. Open a paypal and let them deal with it.

Aylesbury_Duck

m0bov said:

You should be getting a refund now. Then, if he recovers the item, he can get in touch with you again and do a deal.

Its not up to you to sort it out. Open a paypal and let them deal with it.

Correct, but...assuming the guitar and seller are genuine, OP would rather obtain the guitar.  It sounds like it's a pretty unique instrument, so I can understand OP's reluctance to annoy the seller too prematurely.  I think that's why he's waiting a short while to see if the guitar materialises.  I advised not leaving it to late to claim a refund, in case either the guitar doesn't materialise or the seller turns out not to be genuine and OP runs out of time to claim.