Goods stolen from parcel before delivery

[chocolateisavegetable]

Teenager ordered a box of limited edition Prime drinks which were supposed to come with a bandana. Box arrived sealed with tape that says “re-sealed by Yodel”. When he opened it, the bandana and one of the bottles was missing. Luckily we have footage from the Ring doorbell which proves that the box was sealed with Yodel tape on delivery. The company has offered a discount on a future purchase, but there is no stock available on the website, plus he’d have to put in additional money to order anything when they do get stock. Can anyone advise what his rights are and how to persuade them to give a partial refund instead of a discount please?

The company is responsible for safe delivery of the goods. As they have not managed that, the teenager's options under the Consumer Rights Act are:

• reject the goods for a full refund. He would, of course, have to return the drinks that did arrive, but the supplier would have to pay any costs involved.
• demand a repair (i.e. supply the missing elements) or replacement. In this case I think the supplier would say that a repair or replacement is not possible.
• receive a partial refund based on the value of the missing items.

The final one of those options is the one you want. He should make it clear to the supplier that he is exercising his rights under the Consumer Rights Act 2015. If they refuse to budge, the next step will be to send them a letter before action, setting out what has happened and how much he wants from them, giving them a deadline to pay (28 days is normal) and stating that he will take legal action without further notice if they fail to provide a satisfactory response.

As an alternative to legal action, if the drinks cost more than £100 and were paid for by credit card, he can contact the credit card provider for a refund if the supplier refuses.

Thank you so much - that is really helpful