To think an £80 fine for missing a Daals delivery is unnacceptable

[Teapotdictator1]

Made a mistake of buying a table and chairs from Daals advertised as including free delivery. Couldn't book a slot for delivery at the time. The day before got an email to say I didn't need to be at home for the delivery just contactable. At 4 am on the delivery day, was notified of a delivery that morning with no number to call to rearrange delivery at short notice and had to go to work. Noone from the delivery firm called. Later same day got an invoice for £80 for a missed delivery. Emailed customer service to complain and arrange another delivery date. They refused to arrange delivery on any date of my choosing, and refused to remove the fee as it is mentioned in the long list of T&C they know that noone reads. Has anyone had a similar experience and been able to challenge the fine?

You have not received the goods. Bank chargeback if possible.

By reducing the number of failed deliveries. Better communication, clearer arrangements.

Emails that appear to be inaccurate, failure to call OP, no clear way to notify them of unavailability have all led them to incur the cost of the missed delivery. Their processes.

Its not unreasonable overall, it's within the law for companies to charge for failed deliveries and re-delivery as long as its stated clearly in the terms and conditions- which it is. In OPs case though they probably have a case because of the comms beforehand.

Write formally to the seller, stating that the delivery attempt did not meet reasonable consumer expectations for notification. Request either waiving the redelivery fee or a specific re-delivery arrangement that suits your availability. Be sure to include all relevant details of your situation and any communication you have had with the company so far.

As per poster,.. it is abundantly clear on the confirmation email the contact detail if not going to be in

seems reasonable given delivery was free in the first place

I love mumsnet! An OP who doesn’t think they have to be home to receive goods such as a table and chairs and didn’t read the terms and conditions is given an unreasonable contract and completely in the right! Make it make sense!!

It does say on their site they will leave the package if no one is home as long as they have permission- so not that wild but shows people should read the terms! It only took me a min to skim through them.

It's odd not to read the T&Cs regarding a large furniture delivery.

Yup 😆

and remember that delivery was actually FREE in the first place.

and the terms and conditions are very explicit and easy to understand

Exactly

as per the pic this was an £800-£1000 order

Nonesense, you over estimate the legal resources of big companies.

They are absolutely chancing it OP. Cancel the order snd explain they haven’t met their own conditions to impose the fine OP.

Get GPT to generate you a letter threatening trading standards.

not sure why some mumsnetters are so determined you have to accept this bullshit. Strange, passive behavior

Sorry you are getting a hard time OP. I order online regularly and have never struggled with getting a delivery sorted like I did with Daals. They give you literally no choice or notice and I can easily wfh to be in but I need to know before 5am the same day. When I called them they said kind of sorry.. we can’t let you know any earlier which day it’s coming and we’ll just charge you if you aren’t in. Luckily for me I managed to be in by chance - but I will never ever order from them again.

THEY failed to give reasonable notice. I think that’s the key point most posters are missing OP

I think it didn’t matter if the am delivery was kerbside because there would be people available to bring it in. Those people weren’t available in the afternoon when the delivery was made. If the delivery had been on time then kerbside would have been ok. As the company failed to meet the booked delivery time they couldn’t then stick to the kerbside stipulation as their delay caused the problem.

You can tell these people are cowboys. Basing the 'fine' on order value. I don't know what this company sells but whether you have ordered a £1500 vase or single chair for £50, if they turn up and you're not in, the delivery is just the same.

If they have billed your credit card, phone for a chargeback.

You “didn’t need to be home” to accept a delivery of £800-£1000? 🤔

This is why people should read the T&Cs before ordering, I have not ordered things from some retailers if the T&Cs look what I think is unreasonable

They wouldn’t have sent an email saying you didn’t need to be home for the delivery unless you had explicitly told them

you don’t mention in your op you had ever requested this

but terms and conditions aren’t necessarily enforceable just because they are written down! This is particularly pertinent if they only texted her on 4am the day of the delivery though to say it was coming that day. It would be 100% be deemed unreasonable. You can’t just not go to work without notice just to be for it and in any event they said no one had to be in! The OP could have arranged a neighbour to take it or given instructions where to leave it if they had called.

Hi OP

I’ve generated the letter for you.

Here’s a professionally worded reply you can send to the company challenging the £80 missed delivery charge:

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Subject: Dispute of £80 Missed Delivery Fee Due to Lack of Reasonable Notice

Dear [Customer Service / Daals Team],

I am writing to formally dispute the £80 charge applied to my order for a missed delivery. The fee is both unreasonable and, in my view, unenforceable based on the circumstances and relevant consumer protection legislation.

Despite your claim that the fee is outlined in your terms and conditions, I did not receive adequate notice of the delivery. I was notified at 4 a.m. on the delivery day—this cannot reasonably be considered sufficient notice to ensure availability or to make alternative arrangements. Moreover, the notification lacked any contact information to reschedule, and no one from the delivery firm attempted to call me, despite your previous email indicating I only needed to be contactable.

Under the Consumer Rights Act 2015, goods must be delivered at the agreed time or within a reasonable time. A 4 a.m. notice for same-day delivery, with no option to reschedule, fails to meet this requirement. Further, UK Trading Standards guidance emphasises that businesses must act fairly and communicate clearly. Applying a substantial fee without giving consumers a fair opportunity to receive the delivery or reschedule is contrary to these principles.

Additionally, unfair contract terms—especially those buried in lengthy T&Cs that are not actively brought to the consumer’s attention—may not be legally binding under UK law. The Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013 also require key information (like penalties and charges) to be clearly and prominently provided before the sale.

In light of the above, I request that you remove the £80 missed delivery charge from my account and offer a reasonable redelivery date. If this matter cannot be resolved amicably, I will have no option but to escalate the issue to the relevant consumer protection authorities, including Citizens Advice and Trading Standards.

I look forward to your prompt response confirming the charge has been waived.

Sincerely,
[Your Full Name]
[Order Number]
[Contact Information]

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Nope. Consumer legislation is there precisely so consumers don't just have to 'suck it up'. The company breaks consumer legislation? They've fucked it up and the consumer doesn't need to suck it up

daals are the worse company I’ve ever dealt with. They send broken furniture, they break my furniture completing the delivery and the “matching” items in a range are a totally different colour. And then their customer service twats are obstructive arseholes who take zero responsibility for anything. That reminds me I need to start my claim against them.

No the terms were that she paid extra for a morning kerbside delivery when she knew she had builders in the house who would do the heavy lifting for her 🤷‍♀️

The charges are clearly stated and aren't buried in lengthy terms, it took about a minute to read through them all.

Ah, understood