Your rights if a delivery goes wrong
If there’s a problem, your contract is with the business you bought from, not the courier. So don’t get fobbed off by an online retailer who tells you to take your complaint to the company that either delivered or failed to deliver. Picture: iStock
When you buy online or over the phone, you want to know that whatever it is you’ve spent your hard-earned money on will arrive intact, on time and as described. So what can you do if a delivery goes wrong?
The Competition and Consumer Protection Commission confirms that businesses must ensure the delivery gets to you on time and that you get what you paid for. The delivery should arrive on the date you agreed, or within 30 days if you did not agree a date.
Here’s a key point. If there’s a problem, your contract is with the business you bought from, not the courier. So don’t get fobbed off by an online retailer who tells you to take your complaint to the company that either delivered or failed to deliver.
If a delivery fails to reach you on time, you have the right to cancel the contract immediately and get a full refund. If you ask for the delivery to happen later and the goods still fail to arrive, the same rights apply. If the business turns around and tells you they cannot or will not deliver for whatever reason, you can also cancel the contract and get a refund.
The business arranging the delivery is responsible for any damage that might occur before it gets to you. This applies no matter which type of delivery service is used.
If an item arrives damaged or with parts missing, your faulty goods rights kick in. The first step is to contact the business and explain the issue: the goods arrived broken, or damaged, or with missing parts. Most problems can be sorted out quickly with an exchange of emails.
The Consumer Rights Act 2022 requires that a business supplies a product that is fit for the purpose it is normally used for, works for a reasonable time with normal use, can be used for the purpose the business knew you bought it for and matches what is outlined in your contract. It must also match any descriptions or samples you saw, and — if this applies — it must be correctly installed by the business.
If a business has not met its legal obligations to you by delivering a faulty item, they have to fix the issue. The Consumer Rights Act 2022 outlines the actions you can take:
You can cancel your purchase – this applies when you contact the business about the fault within 30 days of receiving the goods. You inform the business that you want them to either repair the product, replace the product, or issue a full refund. This last option applies when you have a major fault or if a repair/replacement is not an option.
You’ll obviously need to do this in writing and remember too to keep tabs on all of your communications with the business just in case you need those details down the line.
Damaged goods need to be returned within 30 days of receipt, and the business is required to pick up the tab for the return journey.
The business must then issue a refund within 14 days of receiving the returned goods. They have to use the same payment method you used to buy the product unless you agree otherwise. They must also cancel any other service you ordered with the goods — an insurance policy for example.
You don’t have to seek a refund of course. You can ask for a repair or a replacement — but again, you’ve got to do it within 30 days of receiving the faulty product. The repair has to happen free of charge, ‘within a reasonable time’ and without any major inconvenience to you.
No matter what you decide to do, it’s important to do it promptly. Under the Statute of Limitations, you have six years to take a case against a business. In real life, you’ll need to act a lot more quickly than that.
If the dispute ends up in court, your case will be stronger if it is clear that you took action to seek redress quickly. During the first year, if you have a dispute with a business, they have to show that the product was not faulty when you received it.
Also, it’s important to remember that any damage that might result from you misusing the delivered item or accidental damage/wear and tear is not covered.
Your consumer rights kick in if an item goes missing en route. The same concept applies here: the business is responsible from the moment an item gets sent on its way until the moment it reaches you.
By law, you should be informed of the full extent of your delivery costs. The business selling to you must explain this in a clear, upfront manner. It must include any hidden charges that apply.
When buying online or at a distance, you must have all of this information before paying.
If you buy from outside the EU however, there may be extra customs charges and taxes to be paid on delivery. These rules at play here are quite complicated — more detail is available from revenue.ie.
If your order does not reach you as expected, your first step should be to contact the business directly with a formal complaint, asking them to cancel the contract and refund you.
If they refuse, you might be able to get a chargeback authorised by your debit/credit card provider. You have grounds for a chargeback if the transaction was not authorised by you, or was put through more than once, or if the supplier did not deliver the goods or services you paid for.
If the supplier refuses to refund you, and you paid using a credit or debit card, your card provider — usually your bank — may agree to reverse the transaction. In order to start a chargeback, you should contact your bank or credit card provider as soon as possible. Give them the details of the disputed transaction and request that they follow it up.
Where chargeback won’t work, your other option is the small claims court. This is a service provided by District Court offices and is designed to handle consumer or business claims inexpensively without involving a solicitor. The claim can’t exceed €2,000 and the current fee to make a claim is €25. More details on courts.ie.
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