Are they, kind of, thieves?

[SoniaSwanners]

My husband and I ordered £150 of products from an online shop. We were out when the delivery guy came, and he left the parcel with our neighbour. He posted a note through our letterbox saying he’d left the parcel at number 22. When we enquired with no. 22, they said they’d initially taken the parcel up to their flat, but then they had brought it downstairs again and left it on our doorstep on the street, leaning against our front door. When we got back from work, the parcel wasn’t there, and we could only assume it had been stolen - because it was standing right there on the street for anyone to steal! And the neighbour at 22 admitted that they had left it there. When I suggested to them that they had created conditions in which our parcel got stolen and that they therefore owe us £150, they got very angry, called us unreasonable and are refusing to reimburse us. Am I being unreasonable to think they should pay us back the £150?

I don’t think you have a hope in hell of getting them to pay but they are definitely in the wrong.

They agreed to take the parcel, accepting responsibility for it and to leave it back on your doorstep was just stupid if that is indeed what happened!

They are either thieves who are lying and have stolen your property. Or they are idiots who thought twice about doing you a favour and moronically left your package lying around for other people to steal it. Thank goodness for my neighbours, we take stuff in for each other all the time and text each other to let one another know. I don’t think you have a hope in hell of getting the parcel or the money back I’m afraid. But the next time you order something definitely make sure you put “DON’T DELIVER TO NO. 22” in the additional details box.

Could you take it up with the retailer, as you’ve not received the goods, (and didn’t authorise them to leave it in a safe place. )

i wouldn’t expect a neighbour to pay if goods got lost or damaged in their care.

Of course they won't reimburse you, did you have the option of being at home when it was delivered or being left in a safe place like a parcel shop, post office or named neighbour who had agreed to take it.

You might get better responses on the legal board but it is possible they have a duty of care.

They shouldn’t have left it on your doorstep, but they aren’t thieves and they don’t owe you £150.

Sympathies. My neighbour did this with a phone years ago.

The network were very good and gave me another handset as they could see that the one issued to me was being used by someone else.

I had this exact situation happen to me before with our next door neighbour. They usually take things for us no problem (and we do the same for them) but for some reason on this occasion they decided to just leave it on our doorstep and it got stolen.

Luckily I explained what happened to the retailer and they sent out my order again no problem. I was quite surprised they did this as it was nearly £200 worth of stuff.

When you order something online, you can never be sure that it will be delivered on the day they say it will. Sometimes it’s late, sometimes it’s early and people can plant to be at home, but it isn’t always possible.

I’m not sure how much success you’d have with claiming from the company. The goods were delivered, but not to you. I’d try though and see if the delivery person took a photo.

No, your neighbours don’t owe you £150 and aren’t responsible for your stuff. Unless you can prove they stole it and want to pursue them in court.

You shouldn’t allow parcels to be left with neighbours unless you’ve discussed and agreed it with them in advance and trust them to look after your stuff. You can usually instruct couriers about what to do with your parcels if you’re not in.

Packages go missing in all sorts of ways so just ask the shop to send another.

Leaving stuff with neighbours is risky but they do it because the odd lost/stolen package costs less than repeated attempted deliveries.

Not your problem.

Also, the neighbours probably did nick it.

Did you specify that they could leave it with a neighbour. If not it's a problem for the seller and delivery company and not you.

Never allow companies to leave in a 'safe space' as they rarely make it there

Did you ask for the parcel to be delivered to a “safe place” and specify this neighbour or any neighbour, either on a courier specific app or as a one off for this particular order? If that’s the case then at the point your instructions are followed you accept responsibility for what happens to the parcel in your specified “safe place”. If you didn’t specify a safe place then your argument is with the retailer who is responsible for delivering the parcel to you safely (not leaving it on your doorstep or handing it to an unspecified person). Your neighbours may be daft or dishonest or both but you won’t ever get them to reimburse you.

Have you or anyone else around you got ring doorbell footage you could check, to see if these neighbours did indeed leave it at your door?

I think your best bet is to go back to the retailer and tell them you never received it / it has been stollen. If you put your neighbours down as a safe place to leave it then you might not have much luck though.

why is it the sellers responsibility that the neighbours are thieves?

Its not their loss. If anything its the delivery company but they did their job too. Its the neighbours fault...

This!

Take it up with the retailer. You haven’t received the product. You’ve checked with number 22, they don’t have it. You didn’t authorise it being left there.

That’s not true. Look up the legal principle of bailment.

The item has been stolen. Therefore a crime has been committed. It’s not the neighbours responsibility to pay the £150 but I would still report this, get a crime reference number. The. Either send this to the retailer to suiport your claim, or claim on your house insurance

Because the it is the seller who has the contract with the delivery company. If the delivery company can't show they delivered it in accordance with instructions then the seller and the delivery company have to get it sorted between them.

@toomuchfaff because OP’s contract is with the retailer. The retailer is responsible for getting the goods safely to the customer, either into the customer’s hands or to their designated safe place. The courier’s contract is with the retailer. If the neighbours stole the parcel (and there isn’t evidence they did) then you’re right and it’s terrible behaviour but it doesn’t change the above. You could argue that the neighbours have actually stolen from the retailer but I doubt they would pursue the possibly guilty neighbours for £150.

But op’s contract is with the retailer, not the delivery company (or neighbours). She needs to check the delivery T and Cs.

Quick internet search:

• “If you nominated that neighbour (or agreed that parcels could be left with neighbours), the risk usually passes to you once the parcel is delivered there. The retailer is generally not responsible if it later goes missing.
• If you did not authorise delivery to a neighbour, the retailer normally remains responsible for the goods and should provide a replacement or refund if the item cannot be found.

This happened to me with some curtains I bought which were left with our neighbours who denied knowing anything about it but still hung them in their lounge window.

To be fair we can’t know that. They could well be thieves. They could have decided to keep the parcel and lied about putting it on the doorstep.

As somebody who deals with this stuff for a living, contact the retailer and see if they can help.
At least, they should raise a dispute with the courier.
if they won’t replace or refund your order because it has technically been delivered, initiate a charge back.
The retailer can fight the charge back but at least you will know you have tried.