Delivery damage AIT Home Delivery

40ish_caulkhead

Hi all, hoping for some advice please!

Had a new Samsung fridge delivered in January by AIT Home Delivery. 

During delivery the delivery crew managed to damage our property by gouging a big scar in our original pine floorboards. We logged this during delivery on the crew’s palm devices, but the (very rude!) crew snatched this from us and deleted our comments before hitting submit. We’ve raised a complaint with AIT complaints department and provided photographic evidence of the damage (taken with the crew in situ demonstrating they committed the damage). 

AIT says it’s not their problem as the delivery crew are subcontractors. The delivery crew are refusing to accept liability despite the evidence provided. AIT’s complaints dept keep fobbing us off. 

We’re faced with a significant bill to repair the unsightly damage caused by AIT and are really frustrated and stressed at the lack of progress in getting fair compensation for this. What next steps could we consider? 

ThumbRemote

Do you have home insurance, and do you have legal cover as part of that insurance? That would be the easiest route to go down?

Okell

40ish_caulkhead said:

... AIT says it’s not their problem as the delivery crew are subcontractors. The delivery crew are refusing to accept liability despite the evidence provided. AIT’s complaints dept keep fobbing us off...

Do you know who the delivery crew were?

If AIT are telling you the truth (     ) and the delivery team were true subcontractors, then AIT may not be liable.  But if they were employees or agents of AIT, then AIT should be liable.

If you have legal cover on any insurance policies (contents, building and motor) do what @ThumbRemote says and ask their advice.

I suspect the answer is that you will have to send a Letter Before Action and then proceed to sue them for damages in negligence if they don't pay up after the letter.

Question is do you sue AIT, or the two man "subcontractors", or both of them?

What do AIT's terms and conditions say when you contract with them?  I can't find them

eskbanker

40ish_caulkhead said:

Had a new Samsung fridge delivered in January by AIT Home Delivery.

Just to be clear, did you engage AIT directly yourself, or were they contracted by the retailer from whom you bought the fridge?

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

eskbanker said:

40ish_caulkhead said:

Had a new Samsung fridge delivered in January by AIT Home Delivery.

Just to be clear, did you engage AIT directly yourself, or were they contracted by the retailer from whom you bought the fridge?

(Assuming OP didn't arrange delivery) I would have also thought complain to the retailer, other question OP is how did you pay?

Alderbank

Okell said:

40ish_caulkhead said:

... AIT says it’s not their problem as the delivery crew are subcontractors. The delivery crew are refusing to accept liability despite the evidence provided. AIT’s complaints dept keep fobbing us off...

Question is do you sue AIT, or the two man "subcontractors", or both of them?

What do AIT's terms and conditions say when you contract with them?  I can't find them

Indeed. But the OP will not have contracted with them.

AIT Home Delivery Ltd is a logistics company who have B2B contracts with companies such as The Sofa Club, Silentnight, Amazon and many other retailers to provide two man delivery service for large items of furniture.

@40ish_caulkhead, your contractual rights are entirely with the retailer you bought your fridge from.  However damage to your floorboards, rather than to the new fridge, comes under a different section of law, the tort of negligence. Negligence does not depend on you having a contractual relationship with whoever caused the damage and as you are finding, it is difficult to establish where liability rests.

As above, if you have home insurance your best claim is against that policy. That is exactly what it is for.

40ish_caulkhead

Thank you for the comments all, much appreciated!

I ordered the fridge from Samsung, and AIT were their chosen delivery company. It was on a credit card. When communicating with Samsung they want nothing to do with the complaint and have ignored follow up questions. 

I will look into whether our home insurance policy has anything useful. 

AIT have finally got back to me after lots of cajoling saying that their contracted crew has submitted a claim with their insurance company. They sent me the claim reference number and the insurance company details, I’ve asked them whether I’m expected to chase this up!

cannugec5

I recently bought a new freezer. 

It was very clear in the small print of the delivery arrangements that it was my responsibility to cover and protect any flooring and remove anything from the walls along the route to my preferred room for delivery. 

Obviously I don’t know what the OP’s small print said, but I would suggest this should be examined before any legal routes commenced. 

40ish_caulkhead

An update from AIT after threatening them with a civil claim, which my gut tells me is more avoiding the question:

“Regarding this matter, it is noted that your contractual obligations are with your direct supplier, and not with our sub-contractors. While we acknowledge that your contractual commitments do not extend to our subcontractors, remaining obligations are also not with our organisation. Therefore, any escalation or resolution requests that do not adhere to our established procedures should be directed to your supplier.

As part of our standard procedure for handling such complaints, we conduct a thorough investigation by gathering all relevant evidence and reviewing both parties' perspectives. We act as an intermediary in this process. In this case, our subcontractors have informed us that they intend to pursue this matter through their insurance provider. Therefore, we will proceed in accordance with that process.“

Regarding previous post: we did protect our floors and cleared ample space, the damage was caused when the delivery crew unnecessarily moved another piece of furniture without our permission. 

Aylesbury_Duck

It's now a case of waiting to see what their insurance comes back with.