Non-Delivery of Goods from John Lewis and Refusal of Refund

weeenaldn

In December last year, I placed an order on John Lewis for a product valued at £164. As of now, the item remains undelivered, a fact corroborated by the Royal Mail tracking system which shows no record of delivery.

I have attempted to address this issue with ttheir customer service team and even escalated the matter. However, their response has been unsatisfactory, repeatedly citing that I have exceeded the investigation timeframe. They insist it's my responsibility to ensure the product's arrival, but how can this be feasible when the item has not been delivered at all? Furthermore, I question whether it is indeed my responsibility if the product fails to be delivered?

Additionally, my efforts to secure a chargeback through my bank were unsuccessful, as they informed me that the request falls outside the 120-day timeframe allowed by Mastercard.

Given these circumstances, could you advise on any alternative avenues available for getting my funds?

eskbanker

When did you first raise it with them?  That probably doesn't actually affect your statutory rights but may help inform next steps....

Aylesbury_Duck

Have you been on dispute with JL for a whole year, or is there a reason why you've only recently been able to address it (e.g. Long term illness)?  If you're only just dealing with it now, you can see why JL won't simply refund you.

Nevertheless, you claim to have firm evidence of non-delivery, so your route would be small claims, hoping the threat of small claims stirs some action at JL, or that the court sides with you.

Okell

@weeenaldn -  have you referred JL to s29 of the Consumer Rights Act 2015 (legislation.gov.uk)?

Unless you specified a particular courier of your own choice - one not offered by JL - then the law says that non-delivery is JL's responsibility, not yours:

"29 Passing of risk

(1)  A sales contract is to be treated as including the following provisions as terms.

(2)  The goods remain at the trader’s risk until they come into the physical possession of—

(a)  the consumer, or

(b)  a person identified by the consumer to take possession of the goods"

It's possible that JL may have some internal policy or guidelines that attempts to impose some sort of time limit on you, but that can't override your statutory rights under the legislation quoted above.

Go back to JL and quote the above to them

Okell

And if they've told you this:

weeenaldn said:

... They insist it's my responsibility to ensure the product's arrival, but how can this be feasible when the item has not been delivered at all? Furthermore, I question whether it is indeed my responsibility if the product fails to be delivered?...

You can also point out to them that this is wrong and misleading.  (See my previous post)

You might want to tactfully point out to them that if they don't fulfil their legal responsibilities under the legislation and that if they leave you with no choice but to go to the small claims court, that it will not reflect very well on them in court if they've tried to mislead you as to what the law is...

Grumpy_chap

weeenaldn said:

In December last year, I placed an order on John Lewis for a product valued at £164. As of now, the item remains undelivered, a fact corroborated by the Royal Mail tracking system which shows no record of delivery.

I have attempted to address this issue with ttheir customer service team and even escalated the matter. However, their response has been unsatisfactory, repeatedly citing that I have exceeded the investigation timeframe. They insist it's my responsibility to ensure the product's arrival, but how can this be feasible when the item has not been delivered at all? Furthermore, I question whether it is indeed my responsibility if the product fails to be delivered?

Additionally, my efforts to secure a chargeback through my bank were unsuccessful, as they informed me that the request falls outside the 120-day timeframe allowed by Mastercard.

Given these circumstances, could you advise on any alternative avenues available for getting my funds?

What type of item was it?
What was the original delivery period offered?
What is the timeline of events / reports from placing the order to now?
You mentioned "Mastercard".  Was this a credit card or debit card payment?  (Which?)