‘My H&M parcel didn’t arrive and it won’t refund me, what can I do?’

Do you have an issue you need to put right? Which? is here to help get your consumer problems sorted.

Dear Which?

I placed an online order with H&M that came to more than £90. I got a message to say my parcel had been delivered  – but it hadn’t been.

Unable to find the parcel, I went on the Hermes app and looked at the photograph the courier had taken to prove that the item had been delivered. I could see the parcel had been left outside a nearby door rather than my own.

When I went to collect the parcel it was no longer there. I was frustrated the parcel had been delivered to the wrong address and in plain sight on a busy road.

I contacted H&M but it refused to reimburse me, and said that too many of my parcels – four in total – had been previously reported as missing.

Having paid using a ‘buy now, pay later’ scheme, I asked for my upcoming payment to be paused while I battled to resolve the issue with H&M.

I’m so frustrated by the situation – they expect me to pay for something I haven’t got. Why is it my responsibility that the parcel wasn’t delivered?

Can you help me get a refund please?

Rachel, Surrey

Put to Rights

Hannah Downes consumer rights expert at Which? says:

Rachel, whether a parcel gets lost in the post or left in a (not so) ‘safe place’, it’s truly irritating when an online delivery mysteriously disappears.

And in your case a string of failed deliveries is enough to put you off ordering online again.

You do have rights to a refund if a parcel doesn’t make it to you safely.

The Consumer Rights Act 2015 requires retailers to send you your goods without undue delay and within 30 days, or you can cancel and get your money back. And if you paid for next-day or nominated-day delivery and it doesn’t arrive in the time frame agreed, you can ask for the additional delivery charges to be reimbursed.

But as you unfortunately discovered, some retailers might have policies that state they won’t refund you if you have a history of missing deliveries. In H&M’s case, four missing deliveries is the limit.

This, understandably, might seem unfair if you live at an address that’s notoriously difficult to find, or if you’ve simply had bad luck with a number of deliveries lately.

We got in touch with H&M to clarify their policy and ask them to issue a refund.

A spokesperson told us H&M monitors the number of missing parcels a customer has and works with customers to resolve delivery issues. If it’s unable to resolve an issue it may make the decision to no longer offer refunds.

Despite this, H&M decided to fully refund Rachel after we explained her situation.

‘I can’t tell you how grateful I am for your help getting this resolved,’ Rachel told us.

Need to know Make sure you complain to the retailer rather than the courier if your parcel goes missing as your contract is with the business you ordered from. Think carefully about giving permission for your delivery to be left in a specified safe place or with a nominated neighbour – if your parcel goes missing, you’ll still be considered to have received the delivery. You can use our undelivered goods tool to start a complaint with a retailer.

Get in touch. If you’ve got a consumer rights problem you need put right email us at yourstory@which.co.uk

Please be aware that we cannot help with, or respond to every email that we receive. The inbox is monitored periodically during office hours, Monday-Friday 9am-5pm.

source https://www.which.co.uk/news/2021/07/my-hm-parcel-didnt-arrive-and-it-wont-refund-me-what-can-i-do/