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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

To think the delivery company should leave me alone?

92 replies

AnchorDownDeepBreath · 06/06/2016 12:59

Over a month ago, I was expecting a parcel. There was building work being done on the front of the building I live in, but I was in. The parcel didn't make it to me, so I reported it to the retailer who investigated and sent another one.

Three days later, the delivery driver and a friend of his let themselves into the building and came to my house. It was Sunday evening and they weren't very friendly. They explained that the parcel had been given to one of the men outside the building and asked me to find it and call off the claim. I live on my own and I found this quite scary, especially as they hadn't warned me they'd be coming.

For four days after that, the delivery driver came back every day. I didn't let him in, but he started ranting through the intercom system. I reported all of this to the delivery company and after a while, they promised me it'd stop and he wouldn't contact me again. He did continue to try for a few days and then it died down. I didn't accept the replacement parcel because I didn't want to see him again and I've avoided ordering anything that might be delivered by one of their drivers again, incase it's him.

Last week the building company visited the property management company and have billed him £80 for dealing with calls and meetings with the delivery driver, who they claim has hassled them a lot and keeps saying they either stole the parcel or I did, and they need to sort it out. The property management company have paid and are passing the bill to me, because it's my issue. I explained that it wasn't, and I asked for no more contact from the driver, but they have said I should pay them and recover the costs from the delivery company.

AIBU to think they should be able to stop this behaviour?! Or am I being oversensitive? I feel for him if they did dock his wages but equally, I didn't want to pay for something that never got delivered to me...

OP posts:

SapphireStrange · 07/06/2016 18:03

DPD can't just blandly say they are "unable" to cover consequential losses: they're trying to bullshit you to make you go away.

Agree with this. Escalate it, right to the top if necessary.

KayTee87 · 07/06/2016 18:33

Stop dealing with dpd and only deal with the company you purchased from now. Your contract is with them. Send them all of the correspondence including the bill that their delivery company has cost you. They will have to pay it and fight it out with dpd themselves.

Must say I'm surprised it's dpd, thought it would be yodel or Hermes.

SisyphusDad · 07/06/2016 19:01

And DPD are trying to fob you off talking about not covering consequential liability. That relates to costs you incurred as a result of their failing to deliver the package, not independent actions by one of their employees or agents. If one of their drivers knocked down part of your garden fence whilst delivering your package they couldn't wriggle out of paying for it. This case is no different.

pinkunicornsarefluffy · 07/06/2016 19:42

If he is an employee then DPD should be doing something about it, as he is representing their company. He should be given a written warning, or it may even be grounds for instant dismissal, depending on what his contract says. To be honest, these courier companies don't give a toss about the service they give, or the customers they deliver to, as you are not the one who pays them directly

the police will advise on any crime committed, threatening behaviour etc. I really hope that there is something that they can charge him with.

I can't believe that DPD can brush it off so lightly and ignore the fact that an employee of theirs is behaving in this way. They have a duty to ensure that the people they employ, are not a threat to anyone!

You may well have to pay the £80 charge if it is a clause in your contract, but it is still very unfair as you did not ask for this to happen.

fascicle · 07/06/2016 20:09

I have told the property management company that I don't intend to pay, too, but there is a clause in the contract that says "involvement in third party disputes will incur a fee of £80 per instance, payable with the next rent payment", and the legal department at work seem to think it's a fair clause.

I'd get a second opinion on that. Why should you pay a disproportionate figure for a background 'dispute' you were unaware of? You are not responsible for the behaviour of the driver, nor the building company's response to/engagement with him, nor for the managing agent's decision to pay the building company without consulting you. (Perhaps they paid it for political reasons - so as not to upset the builders, perhaps.)

DPD will not be responsible for the invoice either, although they should be taking action with regard to their driver. Agree with Kaytee re contacting the retailer re DPD/driver - they will have some leverage.

TestingTestingWonTooFree · 07/06/2016 20:17

You didn't involve the property management company in any dispute so I wouldn't be inclined to pay it.

iMatter · 07/06/2016 20:26

Actually, what they are saying is "we will not protect you from our abusive and threatening employee"

Although pay up or we won't deliver anything else to you and we'll put you on some sort of blacklist isn't appropriate either.

Fuck that. They have a threatening and abusive employee working for them yet they choose to do nothing about it.

amicissimma · 07/06/2016 20:37

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

FasterThanASnakeAndAMongoose · 07/06/2016 20:54

Bloody hell, that's unbelievable. Don't pay. Let them try to sue you for the £80.

I'm glad you've called the police.

I'd also suggest Citizens Advice. Do you have legal cover on your home insurance? Worth giving them a ring too.

They advised you to go out? Fuck that.

Who's the retailer? Maybe the collective mumsnet can get you the name of their CEO.

AnneElliott · 07/06/2016 21:33

Don't pay the £80! That sounds to me like an unfair contract term. How can you be expected to pay for something that you knew nothing about or control over?

Tell the management company it was their decision to pay an invoice unrelated to you, and therefore you won't be paying.

Shocked that DPD suggest you should go out to avoid their employee harassing you . I'd tweet and FB them as that seems a ludicrous position for them to take.

SolidGoldBrass · 07/06/2016 21:42

I would suggest contacting your local paper or even one of the nationals and telling them the whole story. Or maybe one of the proleporn misery mags like Take A Break (at least one of them has a 'consumer rights' feature) - that would be one way to get your £80 bill taken care of as the mags usually pay £100 or so in exchange for your story and a photo of you doing a sadface and pointing at a van or something.
This is outrageous behaviour from both the delivery company and the building company. You have done NOTHING wrong.

CheesyWeez · 08/06/2016 09:03

Outraged on your behalf OP.
The management company want to charge you £80 because one of them lost/stole your parcel?
And now you have to go out rather than be shouted at!
How did it go with the police last night

AlpacaPicnic · 08/06/2016 09:37

Hang on... I'm trying to get this right in my head.

Dpd driver allegedly gave parcel to random passing stranger/builder. (Of course he could have just nicked it)
You did not get parcel and contacted the seller.
Seller contacted dpd.
Dpd driver bullies and harasses you.
Dpd driver allegedly harasses builder firm
Builder firm complain to property management about dpd driver and charge them £80 for the harassment.
Property management pay builder firm then try to pass charge on to you. Curiously - The exact same amount that it is stated in their contract that they will charge you for dealing with third party disputes.

Something doesn't add up here... How do you know that the driver didn't steal your parcel himself? How do you know he's been harassing the builders? Why have the builders charged your property management £80 for the inconvenience and not complained to the delivery firm? Something seems fishy, it really does. Could it be some kind of scam between delivery driver and building firm, or building firm and property managers? Or all three?

Sprink · 08/06/2016 10:18

Could it be some kind of scam between delivery driver and building firm, or building firm and property managers?

That's not the craziest thing I've heard. No matter what, this scenario does not get to end with OP paying the £80. No way.

Hereward1332 · 08/06/2016 10:25

I would tell the management company they should not be billing you as i) It is not your dispute they are involved in. The dispute is between DPD and the building firm. ii) It is not a property management issue, so falls outside the contractual relationship you have with them. iii) The builders were not acting in their professional capacity when they took delivery of said item, so the firm should not be dealing with complaints from DPD in the first place. They cannot bill for a service for which the management company did not contract them.

Pettywoman · 08/06/2016 10:44

Get the retailer involved. Your contract is with them. They employed DPD to deliver to you, they need to sort it. When I used to organise deliveries it was my job to deal with courier nonsense.

Optimist1 · 08/06/2016 10:51

www.ceoemail.com/s.php?id=ceo-9527&k=5757e8d7&c=DPD%20/%20Geopost%20UK%20/%20Interlink%20Express%20Chief%20Executive
appears to be the name and email address of the CEO. Go straight to the top!

WRT your management company, by paying the £80 they are accepting the charge, surely? OTOH they may not actually have paid, but are waiting till you settle with them and hell freezes over .

MackerelOfFact · 08/06/2016 11:17

The management company charge is outrageous. So basically, someone with no connection to you and who is not known to you can turn up and speak to the management company without your knowledge or consent about something that doesn't involve you - and you can get charged £80 for the privilege?! Get the management company to explain to you what they think your role is in this interaction and what service they have actually provided to you.

Original poster

AnchorDownDeepBreath · 08/06/2016 11:24

Optimist It was that email address that I contacted on Monday. They passed it to the "Executive Response Team" because the CEO doesn't have time to look into complaints himself. They then said they'd investigate, and then came back yesterday with the info about not paying for losses and not being able to protect me.

Yep, that's correct. The builder did call me, and left me a voicemail saying the DPD driver had "recognised" him and asked him why he'd stolen the parcel, or something. He said he'd be taking it higher because his reputation was being damaged by the slander. I didn't pick the voicemail up until later - I was at work. By then, the builder had taken his Site Manager to the Property Management company and they claim that this incurs the fee because someone had to deal with them. Although none of this was instigated by me!

The CEO's office has replied again today to say that they will liase with police, and to ask again why I believe they should cover losses and who told me this.

Honestly, I'm amazed that they think this is acceptable. It seems really shocking that what is supposed to be one of the best delivery companies has nothing in place to protect customers.

OP posts:

WriteforFun1 · 08/06/2016 11:29

OP what did the police say? I can't see dpd have a leg to stand on here.

SapphireStrange · 08/06/2016 11:31

OP, I agree with an earlier suggestion that you stop communicating with DPD or your property company now and punt it all back to the retailer; they have a contract with DPD so I think they should deal with it.

Bon courage!

SapphireStrange · 08/06/2016 11:31

Oops, meant also to say:

The CEO's office has replied again today and to ask again why I believe they should cover losses and who told me this.

Screw them. Don't respond.

Original poster

AnchorDownDeepBreath · 08/06/2016 11:37

The police have taken a statement. The officer was fairly unhappy that DPD had asked me not to call the police when he was originally here, and even more surprised that DPD admitted that home visits are 'condoned' in the case of missing parcels, but the DPD driver shouldn't have bought a friend or entered without permission.

It was late when he left so he's going to speak to DPD today and contact me later.

This has got to me. It's on my mind now and my concentration is shot. I could do with getting a productive few hours in at work but I can't see it happening :(

No reply from the retailer yet.

OP posts:

SapphireStrange · 08/06/2016 11:57

Sounds like the police are on your side.

Try not to worry too much, OP (I know, easy to say...) – the police will get back to you when they have something to say, and the retailer will be in touch soon too I hope.

JessieMcJessie · 08/06/2016 12:49

Brilliant that the police are taking this up for you. Do not under any circumstances pay the £80. Am I right in thinking that you rent your flat and you pay the rent to the management company? Who is your landlord? The reason I ask is that I own a flat in a managed building which I rent out. However the tenants never deal with the management company (other than talking to the doormen the/cleaners etc). Only I get billed by them as I pay the service charge and deal with any issues that arise.

Also, you say the builder called you. How did he get your number? If the management company gave it to him that is a serious breach of confidentiality and data protection law.

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