What should I do? - Courier collects and delivers the wrong item.

[daKlone]

I recently purchased some wheels on eBay which were located at the other end of the country. The seller was happy for me to arrange a courier to collect them and I paid him for them.

 

I put a request for some quotes on Shiply and accepted one from a company with plenty of positive feedback, who claimed to be insured and would only take payment once the item was delivered. I paid a deposit of £8 immediately via PayPal.

 

Shortly after this, I recieved a message from the courier saying that because of Coronavirus they were no longer accepting payment at the door on delivery and would instead require payment by bank transfer two days before delivery. I paid the remaining fee of £44 as requested.

 

The day before delivery, I get a message from the seller say that he thinks the courier has collected the wrong items. I contact them immediately, and yes, they have collected the wrong items. They tell me that the seller was not present when they collected but had left a message at his works reception directing them to collect those items (the wrong ones). After I point out that they are wrong, they stop texting back.

 

I then get a message from the seller asking for my phone number so that we can figure out what to do. I send it, but have heard nothing from him since.

 

Today, while I was out, the courier has delivered the wrong items to my house an hour earlier than expected and my son has accepted them.

 

So, I wonder how to sort this out...

 

No doubt the courier will argue that they have done as directed and are not to blame. The seller will argue that he did not leave such a message/the courier misunderstood and he is not to blame either. So I get the sinking feeling that I will end up having to foot the bill for the wrong items to be returned AND the right ones to be delivered - only tripling the delivery cost!

 

Any suggestions??

[BankFodder]

Is the seller of the wheels a private seller or a commercial seller? It seems to me that the responsibility lies with the seller.

How much are we talking about here in terms of wasted delivery fees?

[daKlone]

Thanks for the reply, BankFodder.

 

So far I've spent just the £52 on delivery. He sells a lot of stuff on eBay but I think he's classed as a private seller. 

Edited October 24, 2020 by daKlone

[BankFodder]

Whatever his cast on eBay is frankly not relevant. It sounds as if he is trading and that means that he is subject to consumer regulations.

That means that if you have to sue him in the County Court, if there was a hearing then he would be obliged to come to you. However, hearings are conducted mainly virtually at the moment.

If I were you, I would reduce the problem as much as possible and that means that I would get the tyres sorted out so you have the items that you want. You can send the seller a message saying that you are putting everything in hand in order to get the tyres but you are unhappy about it.

Then once you have got the tyres and you know exactly where you are financially – then you should think about suing the seller for the delivery fees which you have incurred.

We will help you. On the basis of what you say your chances of success are much better than 90%