To want my parcel - woman denying accepting it but I have a photo..

[BitOutOfPractice]

I ordered some stuff off sports direct (about £20 worth) and, because I haven’t ordered off there for a couple of years, stupidly got it sent to my old address which was stored on the web site. Yes I know it’s annoying and stupid so I don’t need that lecture.

So once I clocked on what had happened, I went round there to collect it - couple of days later. The woman who bought the house off me completely denies having received it, despite the courier’s photo showing it being accepted at the front door. I can see two sets of children’s feet at the door on the picture. I obviously recognise the doorstep - I lived there for nearly 20 years.

Please note, I did not shout or accuse, I was very polite, I said I was “puzzled” and that there must have been some sort of confusion but she was adamant she hadn’t had it. It was a shoe box sized parcel so not massive to store and not easy to lose either.

Do you clever lot have any idea if there’s anything I can do?

I half expected her to come to the door wearing my gym gear 😆

Same thing happened to me last year, only the other way about. It was eBay. I sold and item, sent it to what I thought was the correct address. They buyer denied receiving it.

When I told her the address I sent it to, she said she used to live there. I too had the photo from the courier. I asked her if she could retrieve it and she refused. She said it was not her responsibility to retrieve the parcel, and that was for me to do. I wrote to the 'Occupier' at the address I had sent the item to, asking them please to return it at my expense and included a stamped posting bag.

I never received a reply.

The buyer wanted a refund, and I was bound to give it to her.

Intrigued, I did a bit of research, and eventually managed to recover the eBay invoice which I had used for the address to send the item. I had to search, because when I tried to find that invoice, it had the buyer's new address on it. How could I have sent it to her previous address if her present address was the only one I could find?

Now I am not saying there was anything deliberate in it, but I managed to find out that when she moved house, she did not change the original eBay REGISTERED ADDRESS where she was living when she registered her username. The postcodes showed the two house just a couple of streets away - a few metres. When I wrote to her and asked her to change it, she did not respond. I just blocked her from buying again, because it wasn't as though she had moved house miles away, and I cannot think she would not have walked round the corner and collected it. I didn't check on that again, having blocked her, but now, when I sell something, I look very carefully at the invoice before I send it, that the two addresses - at top right and top left - are the same.

I don't think in law that if someone else receives your parcel they are duty bound to return it, whatever the reason. At Christmas I bought a new microwave on onbuy and they said they had delivered it to the wrong address and refunded me.

With the salutation, Dear lying thief, in capitals.

If it makes you feel better, last time we moved house I inadvertently set paypal default delivery address to Mystreet Ave instead of Mystreet Road.

Took me ages to figure out why that address kept popping back up. The people there mysteriously lost a few of my better parcels.
Although they did hand back a couple..

God there’s some parcel-theiving CFs about aren’t there?

Why? Because that is the law. Consumer Rights Act 2015, section 28 applies.

So, you’ve ordered an item to be delivered to an address? It’s delivered to that address and accepted?

How is the courier supposed to know the OP gave her old address and doesn't live there?

Having reviewed the section 28, I cannot see any subsections that apply.

The onus is on the purchaser to provide the correct details.

I would do this. Publicly shame them.

It just occurred to me that is is an offence to open someone else's mail. Not sure if it is enough to go by the name only and not the address. I looked it up.

'In the UK it is generally an offence to open someone else's mail, especially if they are not a postal service employee. The Postal Services Act 2000 specifically addresses this, stating that intentionally opening a postal packet (other than a mail bag) in the course of it's transmission is an offence''.

I didn't go any further so don't know if it applies to this case.

It is all in https:legislation.gov.uk.

I would too, but the question is: should we? Is it taking the law into our hands instead of reporting it, if it is against the law and can be prosecuted for it?

With photographic evidence, it would be easy for the police to act, and the publicity around such a case might deter others.

I did look up the law as to opening someone else's mail, and apparently it is an offence.

There is also the Postal Services Act 2000 which makes it an offence to open someone else's mail. Whether they can successfully win because it had their address on it, I don't know, but it shouldn't, since the OP can prove she lived there.

You can try reporting them to the police under the Postal Services Act 2000 which says it is an offence to open someone else's mail.

An official looking letter quoting that, might not get you the tights, but at least you would have put the wind up them! A solicitor's letter might sink in faster.

With photographic evidence I would think you would win.

I'm sorry but I cannot imagine getting this worked up over £20.00. Let it go.

I don't agree. The value shouldn't matter as much as the fact that a crime is committed, if it does come under the Postal Services Act of 2000.

So long as we go by the value, people will continue to steal.

Anyone who buys and sells - even just now and then - know the extraordinary lengths eBay has gone through over the past decade, to deal with the thousands of people who declare they never received their item, which is why tracking is essential.

I ordered an extra front door key. The stupid company put their name on the packet and I never received it - surprise, surprise. I wanted a new lock pronto and the locksmith tried to deny it, so I contacted the house insurers who gave me a day to get the lock changed. I sent that to the locksmith company and they changed it right away without charge.

What sort of company advertises to everyone that there is a key inside the addressed parcel?

The thing is, even though you put the wrong address on it, it's still presumably addressed to you. You haven't received it. Your complaint should therefore be addressed to Sports Direct because it's the same situation as if you did live there but someone else accepted the parcel and stole it from you. The contract is for the seller to deliver it to the buyer, not to the address. Until the buyer has received the goods the seller is responsible for them.

In fairness to the woman (even though she's almost certainly thieving criminal scum) she is right not to give you the parcel. If someone accepts a parcel and realise it's not for anyone at their address, the correct course of action would be to notify the sender and see whether they want to collect it. Not to give it to some random person who turns up claiming they used to live there, even if they've got ID. If the woman gave the item to you, she'd be liable for the loss if it turned out you weren't the rightful recipient.

She doesn't have to tell you she's received a parcel, she can lie to you if she likes. I mean any normal honest person would return it and tell you that is what they had done, but she doesn't have to.

This happened to me, I accepted it then started to close my door then opened my door and said this isn’t for me and gave it back, it was EVRI and I use EVRI a lot and was expecting a parcel at the same time.

The person whose parcel it was came knocking on my door two days later with a photo of me accepting it! I felt like a liar when I said I gave it back.

Yes, I suppose my approach is a bit like vigilantism
But even though it's an offence technically, I suspect the police wouldn't have the time/resources/interest to look into it. And I'm not ACTUALLY suggesting the OP gets her neighbours to go round there with pitchforks, just try to shine a bit of sunlight on it.

It's not really about the amount; it's theft and then lying about it.

Also, 20 quid might be more to someone else than it is to you.

I’m not worked up about it. Im just a bit flabbergasted. And I don’t like being lied to. That’s far more annoying than the £20. It’s got on my pip.

I do understand that, it is super annoying but it is probably best just to let it go for your own peace of mind. Imagine being the sort of person who steals a £20.00 package. It's utterly pathetic. Don't let it get you down.

I’m really not letting it get me down. I’m not quite sure where you’ve extrapolated that from my posts. I specifically said I’ve been laughing about it.

I only keep coming back to this thread because I keep getting tagged / quoted (understandably as I’m the op!)

and aibu would be dead on its arse if people didn’t post about inconsequential annoyances, and then where would we be eh?

I think the same. I also agree with you about responding to posters who continue. It does seem as though we go over the same ground again.

It has happened to me a lot on other threads. They are so accusatory and if you don't respond it looks as though you deserve whatever they throw at you.

Yes @llizzie and I hate it when people post once and never return to their own thread. Pet peeve of mine.

Well I heard nothing back from the police despite their (frankly unbelievable) promise on the form that they’d get back to me in 24 hours. I think I need to lay those gym leggings to rest and hope that they chafe her fanjo if she does wear them.

I live next door to a lunatic who accused me of stealing a parcel because the courier had uploaded a photo of me receiving my parcel as her parcel. She called the police on me, I'd already called them on her as her behaviour was verging on harassment. I didn't want her shitty parcel!

The police did visit but I think that was only because we'd reported each other.

The people that bought your house are skanky thieves. I think you were right to submit an online police report. It's pretty bloody obvious that she's stolen it. She would have said if she'd given it back to the courier. People shouldn't be able to get away with this stuff so brazenly.