During the past month, we’ve had a sharp rise in the number of phone calls from people asking us to provide them with an urgent collection or time-critical, same day delivery of their goods that should have been picked up the night before for a next day delivery by one of the large multi-national overnight parcel delivery services such as DPD or UPS, but they failed to do so.

Along with these calls, we also continue to hear stories about missing, late, and damaged parcels. Therefore, we think it’s imperative that you should know your consumer rights when it comes to the subject of failed, late, or damaged deliveries.

When you order goods online, the chances are you won’t get much choice on which courier company carries out your delivery.

However, if the delivery service isn’t to your satisfaction or your delivery doesn’t turn up at all, you need to complain to the retailer - that’s who your contract is with, not the courier company.

Below is some useful info. on the procedures you should follow if your parcel delivery is late, damaged, or doesn't turn up at all.

Contact The Retailer, Not The Courier Company!

Unless you paid a courier company directly for them to carry out your, then it's the shop or online store you bought from that the duty of care lies with. If goods turn up damaged or don’t actually arrive at all, this is when your rights under the Consumer Rights Act 2015 start to kick in meaning you’re entitled to a full refund or replacement item.

Credit & Debit Card Purchases.

If your purchase is worth between £100 and £30,000 and you've paid for any percentage of it using a credit card, then you may be able to make a claim via Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act.

If you've used a debit card or paid for an item worth less than £100 on a credit card, you might be able to apply the Chargeback rule.

If Your Parcel Delivery Is Late You Can Send It Back.

When you order goods online and they arrive late, under the Consumer Contracts Regulations you’ve got 14 days after receiving them to notify the retailer that you’ve changed your mind, whether or not they’re faulty. You then have another 14 days in which to send them back to the seller who should give you a full refund.

However, this doesn’t always apply to certain items – such as personalised goods or perishable items.

You May Be Due Some Compensation If You Waited In For a Delivery And It Didn’t Arrive.

If, for example, you take time off work for a rescheduled delivery and it doesn’t turn up, you may be able to claim compensation for ‘consequential loss’, i.e. loss of earnings or annual leave you’ve taken.

Bear in mind though, you can’t claim for the originally scheduled delivery date, this is about the ADDITIONAL time you’ve taken off.

How Long Do You Have To Wait For A Refund?

Shops can only process a refund once receive the goods back in their hands, so it depends on how long it takes to reach them. Once they've received it, they have to process your refund within 14 days.

Who Has To Pay For The Return Postage Cost?

With online orders, the refund should also include the cost of the postage that you paid for getting the item delivered, as long as you chose the least expensive and most common delivery method.

If you paid for a more expensive delivery option, you’ll only get a refund of the cost of the least expensive delivery charge. You may have to ask for a refund on the delivery charge as most shops won't include this as standard – so chase if you don't get it.

You will also have to pay for the cost of sending the package back, unless the seller doesn't say this in its T&Cs, or the goods were faulty. A number of shops actually offer free returns on orders. Also, if you've bought from a high street shop's website you can often return items in store as well.

If you bought an item in store and had it delivered then it's different and it will be subject to the shops' return policy - so it's best to check with them directly.