Warning : A photo at your address is you receiving an order

[Roy124]

Online has several advantages.   You mentioned Next.  A pair of trousers there cane in 8 waist sizes,  3 leg lengths, 4 styles and 10 colours.  That is almost 200 in just one pair.  If your 34 regular straight leg in black was sold you have a wasted journey

 

[Big_D]

I recently bought something off AliExpress. It hasn't arrived, and they want proof of this.

Proof my parcel wasn't received. If it was delivered, it would be here

How else do I prove I never got it?

 

 

[Gren]

45 minutes ago, Big_D said:

I recently bought something off AliExpress. It hasn't arrived, and they want proof of this.

Proof my parcel wasn't received. If it was delivered, it would be here

How else do I prove I never got it?

 

 

Tell them that this photo does not prove it was delivered.  It might have been taken by the delivery driver, but there's no image of the parcel.  Is that even your door?

[Big_D]

9 minutes ago, Gren said:

Is that even your door?

Firstly, no. It's not my door. Just a generic door I pulled off the Interweb to prove a point.

I will however, send them a photo of my actual door, with nothing on the doorstep, in other words, my "proof" that nothing was delivered.

They can't prove it was delivered, and the AliExpress policy is that I have to prove it wasn't delivered. Apart from a photo of an empty doorstep where my parcel should be, there is no way I can prove it wasn't delivered - Catch 22.

[Guest]

On 12/8/2023 at 5:31 PM, Roy124 said:

Online has several advantages.   You mentioned Next.  A pair of trousers there cane in 8 waist sizes,  3 leg lengths, 4 styles and 10 colours.  That is almost 200 in just one pair.  If your 34 regular straight leg in black was sold you have a wasted journey

 

That’s true. They rarely have my stuff in stock - smallest length of men’s sizes. Rarely stocked. 
 

I order that in online and do click and collect (usually free to a store versus delivery charge) and use that as a reason to go into town

 

I get your point though. Sometimes for the likes of other purchases online is the only option though 

[Guest]

1 hour ago, Big_D said:

I recently bought something off AliExpress. It hasn't arrived, and they want proof of this.

Proof my parcel wasn't received. If it was delivered, it would be here

How else do I prove I never got it?

 

 

They need to prove to you that it was delivered.  Burden of proof is on them in this case.  
 

if they have a photo from when it was placed outside.. they then need to either: show where you signed or authorised them to do that (which I presume you haven’t) OR provide evidence that they left it somewhere secure (within reason). And a photo of it out in the open is something they can never claim to be ‘secure’ by any reasonable definition 🙂 

[Big_D]

I agree. If I remember correctly, the law states that the burden of proof is on them.

[Haliotis]

When it comes to the responsibility of the supplier/courier to ensure that customers have received their orders, I think that the legal side of the matter has not kept up with technology.  Therefore many on line traders and the supporting carriers are interpreting the law to suit themselves.  In numerous cases, the couriers themselves, most likely because of their time schedules, simply do not take proper care to make certain the parcel(s) are safely delivered.  This can be by directly handing the goods to the recipient in person, or left with a neighbour and an appropriate note put in the addressee’s letterbox. 

As I have previously said, a photograph on the doorstep is NOT proof of delivery - any parcel could then be taken by a dishonest courier, by a passerby, or left at an incorrect address.  Companies who employ the couriers, and the suppliers, are fully aware of these factors.

Some suppliers/delivery companies give an estimated delivery date, and some couriers follow this up on the day with an email stating a time slot (typically in a 2-hour time frame), but this on its own does not absolve them from ensuring safe delivery.

If on line suppliers and courier companies wish to remain in business, then they need to apply a strict code of practice for safe delivery (government laws would help), and failure to adhere to the code automatically protect the customer (the victim) from loss.

[Guest]

18 hours ago, Haliotis said:

government laws would help

I agree 100%. 
 

but it’ll have to get much, much worse before they catch on to it 😖

[mpm235]

Few weeks ago, Wife was expecting a delivery from Evri. We were in the house when she got a text saying it had been delivered. Thing is, it hadn't been to our house. The photo showed it in someone's garden. On the, ground, under a bush (?!). I went out in search of it. Found it a while later, the garden it was in, was of a house with our door number, but a different street. Had just been thrown on the ground in the garden. Not good.

When I order anything off eBay (e.g brake discs and pads, for my Auris, from Snows Group West). I always do the "Click n Collect" thing and pick it up from Argos, as I drive past on my way to / from work. Job done.

[Haliotis]

Doorstep delivery has become very big business. No responsible government can ignore the needs for stricter security measures and, if the on line suppliers want to continue trading in the future, they should also be making loud noises for system improvement.

Without doubt, much difficulty will be required to develop a secure delivery system, but difficulty is not an excuse to do nothing.  For example, Ofgem recent warning that energy costs will rise by £16 per customer to cover bad debts is a classic example of idleness.  It should be remembered that, if Ofgem can get away with this, then any branch of public services will be able to use this method of recompense, instead of pursuing the real bad debtors.

In the case of doorstep deliveries, security must start with courier companies thoroughly vetting their drivers for having no criminal record. Then use of photography must show a receiving person; be it the customer or a neighbour.

Customers can do their bit, by providing the name and address of a neighbour for alternative delivery at the time of placing their order.  In acknowledging an order, a supplier could give a one-time code which the customer could also give to an approved neighbour, and the receiver pass that code on to the courier in exchange for the item being delivered.  In the case of non-delivery, a courier would not know the code, and the supplier would be aware of suspicious circumstances when the customer complained that he/she had not received the item.

OK - perhaps not flawless, but better than what we have at present.

[PCM]

Last year, near Christmas, I eagerly awaited a food delivery at our house.

In anticipation, and in the Christmas spirit, I had readied a crisp Tenner, as a tip.

When the driver delivered the shopping bags, 'he' did a drop and run. Never waited.

His loss...

[Big_D]

Firstly, I was refunded for the non-delivery of the apparently delivered item.

What I don't understand, is that right next to my door, I have a large plastic box, with a lid that can be easily opened. Why delivery drivers don't put any of our parcels in there is a total mystery. I have a Ring doorbell, and watch them walk up to the front door. leave the parcel on the doorstep, and walk off. No knock on the door, no Ring (excuse the pun) of the doorbell either.

Surely it can't be that difficult to put something out of sight in a box, next to the door where they are delivering, and to either knock or ring the doorbell?

 

[Haliotis]

It may be that a delivery driver could think that the plastic box is for use by another party, and the delivered parcel get taken away by same.  Also, none of us know what basic instructions are given to the drivers by the courier bosses. What is really needed is a strictly laid down standard of procedure, and this closely observed by delivery rivers.  And receiving customers also need to be included in following procedure.

[Big_D]

But, he's used the box before 😀

Let's face it, delivery drivers can be a law unto themselves.

[Gren]

I remember when we were at primary school, we played a game where we'd run up to some wifiies door, ring the bell and run away before she answered the door.  They still play that game nowadays, it's called Parcelforce.

[Big_D]

At least Parcelforce knock and run, unlike Evri ...

[Haliotis]

Our house is a semi, where the neighbour’s door and ours are adjacent to each other.  At the boundary between the two front gardens, our garden has a bed of London Pride. Frequently, to deliver to our neighbour, the driver will walk across this bedding of plants in our garden.

Now, what can only be seen during the winter months, are a few granite rocks among this bedding.  When the London Pride is in full bloom these rocks cannot be seen.  One day, such a driver is going to twist his foot on a rock, and he needn’t knock on my door for sympathy!!!

[PCM]

11 hours ago, Big_D said:

At least Parcelforce knock and run, unlike Evri ...

Evri - 'knock and thumb'.  I often receive a box, slightly opened by a thumb. Presumably just to check that the contents are safe and sound.

Very thoughtful of them!

[Haliotis]

8 hours ago, PCM said:

Evri - 'knock and thumb'.  I often receive a box, slightly opened by a thumb. Presumably just to check that the contents are safe and sound.

Very thoughtful of them!

Or to check if they were worth nicking!