Property damaged by delivery driver

nyck · 31 July 2016 at 9:10AM

I ordered some stone chippings on-line from gravelmaster who intern use Palletways who used Ferryspeed to deliver the stone chippings .

As he was moving the pallet on my drive he knocked kerb stones .At first i thought he had only marked them with the blue pallet and loosened a couple of the kerb stones.I signed the paper work and away he went .
On further inspection he had shunted a whole row of the kerb stones thus breaking the concrete holding them in and chipped one of the kerb stones .
So I spent out £25 on materials another £50 to my retired builder neighbour for helping me plus using his cement mixer and wasted one of my days leave .

I contacted Gravelmaster with the photos of the damage and the Remedial work done .
Who replied a few days later as i signed the POD ( proof of delivery ) there's nothing they will do .

Is there any thing i can do or should i take it as a lesson learnt

nyck · 31 July 2016 at 9:17AM

some others

Valli · 31 July 2016 at 9:32AM

The delivery note comment you signed 'free from any visible sign of damage' could be taken to mean that the pallet itself and goods thereon are undamaged.
Point this out to them, say there is nothing to suggest that your signature implies your driveway was undamaged.
Send as a Letter before action, itemising your financial losses (the amount you're claiming).
Google letter before action first - look for money claim online for information.

societys_child · 31 July 2016 at 9:40AM

A lesson learnt I think, unless you can prove he did it, which is obviously difficult as they have a clean signature.

[Deleted User] · 31 July 2016 at 10:55AM

Hardly massive damage is it? Why did you have to pay a retired builder £50 to fix it? Why was a cement mixer required? Why did you have to take a day off work?

It seems to me that none of these "losses" seem that reasonable given that the remedial work required would have been minimal, based on your photographs...

Regardless, you have no proof or acknowledgement that the delivery driver actually did the damage.

unholyangel · 31 July 2016 at 1:51PM

I'd perhaps remind them that they cannot disclaim liability for that which was within their control and could have been avoided by taking reasonable care. And also that such a term is likely to be found unfair and legally void due to unfair terms legislation.

But, I do think you've perhaps not went about it the right way having it repaired without giving them a chance to inspect the damage. Whats the timeline of events? When was it damaged, when was it fixed and when did you inform them of the damage?

unholyangel · 31 July 2016 at 1:52PM

societys_child wrote: »

A lesson learnt I think, unless you can prove he did it, which is obviously difficult as they have a clean signature.

Satisfaction on delivery disclaimers really aren't worth the paper they're written on in consumer contracts. Indeed most of them are usually void under law.

[Deleted User] · 31 July 2016 at 2:52PM

unholyangel wrote: »

Satisfaction on delivery disclaimers really aren't worth the paper they're written on in consumer contracts. Indeed most of them are usually void under law.

While I agree the company cannot avoid responsibility based solely on the customer having signed a delivery note, the OP is attempting to maximise any compensatory payment and offers no real evidence that the "damage" was in fact caused by the delivery

A chipped kerbstone costs approximately £1.50 to replace. It's not an expert job to re-position the kerbs and doesn't require a day off work to carry it out. A cement mixer, while useful, is not essential.

Spank · 31 July 2016 at 3:06PM

Moneyineptitude it's not just the chipped kerbstone though if you look at the first photo,you can see the concrete behind the kerbstones has lifted and broken

[Deleted User] · 31 July 2016 at 3:11PM

Spank wrote: »

Moneyineptitude it's not just the chipped kerbstone though if you look at the first photo,you can see the concrete behind the kerbstones has lifted and broken

I wasn't disputing that, my point is that the OP is attempting to claim for extensive work to fix it. The consequential losses are excessive in my view.

The OP should have contacted the company prior to any work being done and so given them a chance view the damage and to arrange their own repair (if appropriate).

firefox1956 · 31 July 2016 at 3:32PM

Foget it move on.......
I don't think you will get anywhere with this.
Other than give yourself a heart attack.
HTH

Property damaged by delivery driver

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