I placed an order on Samsung’s website for an £850 mobile phone, and got a discount for trading in my old one. On delivery day, I was at home and looked out for the DPD driver but he never arrived.
After the delivery was rescheduled twice, a driver turned up and handed me a parcel wrapped in a plastic mailing bag.
I thought it felt light, and upon opening it there was no phone inside – just a plastic envelope to return my old phone.
Samsung investigated, but told me it had concluded the phone had been sent, and that was the end of the matter. I felt physically sick – I am £850 out of pocket and have no phone. Please help.
M.F., Surrey.
Dodgy delivery: A reader splashed out £850 for a new mobile phone, only to receive an empty package
Sally Hamilton replies: A new Samsung phone is a substantial outlay, so having an empty box delivered was a worry to say the least.
You initially felt reassured on contacting Samsung that your complaint was being taken seriously, so you were astonished when it was later dismissed.
You had to chase up the firm several times before it came to the conclusion it would not be compensating you for the missing phone.
By rejecting your claim, you felt Samsung was suggesting you lied about the empty package. This was all the more galling because you were certain the packaging had been tampered with.
When I contacted them to explain your situation, they quickly reversed the initial decision and told me they would send you a new phone after all.
But the replacement never made it to you, either.
You told me a DPD van arrived at your house, but the driver didn’t come to the door with any package – he rifled around in the back, you say, and returned to the driver’s seat. Before he drove away you confronted him and there was a debate about whether or not he had your parcel.
While he finally agreed that there was a parcel for you, you asked to film yourself unboxing it in his presence, so that you had proof in the case it was another empty box. The driver refused and drove away.
You got back in touch with Samsung to report this unusual exchange. Another delivery was arranged, and it was a case of third time lucky as the package arrived containing the phone.
A Samsung spokesman says: ‘We pride ourselves on our customer service experience and regret that we did not meet those standards in this case. We are conducting a full investigation with our delivery partner, which may also lead to a criminal investigation.’
Samsung apologised and agreed to refund you the delivery charge of £5.99, to honour the £50 trade-in for your old phone without you needing to send the phone, as well as giving you a partial refund of £130 on the new phone. You are happy with this outcome.
A DPD spokesman says: ‘We can confirm that a full investigation was launched relating to these deliveries and we have been working closely with Samsung throughout. That investigation is still ongoing.’
EDF won’t refund £1,250 accidental payment
At the beginning of each month, I use my banking app to pay rent to my landlord via the managing agent.
On my payment date, in my haste to get it done before a work call, I accidentally paid the £1,250 to my energy supplier, EDF.
My heart sank as I realised my mistake. I rang EDF and explained my blunder. I was told it was no problem and I would get a refund within five days.
Luckily, my landlord confirmed he was happy for me to delay my rent payment until the refund was made.
The day the refund was due came and went without it showing in my account. I chased EDF and was told that it had definitely been paid.
EDF said it would check the details and get back to me. It’s now three weeks on and after many phone calls chasing this up, I can’t help feeling this payment is never coming.
I have never been late with rent, and I don’t like the feeling of being behind on payments. Is there anything you can do to help?
Anon
Smartphones can be such a blessing for making payments speedily on the move – but they can also be a curse.
I can only imagine the horror you felt when you tapped ‘confirm’ and realised your hard-earned rent money was heading to the wrong place.
I confess I had a similar fat finger episode recently and accidentally transferred money to His Majesty’s Revenue & Customs instead of to my own savings account. I got it back within a few weeks after several long calls.
I contacted EDF on your behalf and it quickly investigated. The team unearthed that it was ‘human error’ that left you without your reimbursement.
Perhaps this individual also had a fat finger moment and pushed the wrong button on the computer – or failed to push one at all.
True to its (original) word EDF returned your £1,250 a few days later plus a payment of £50 by way of apology.
An EDF spokesman says: ‘We’re really sorry for the delay in sorting the refund. Unfortunately, this was a human error in progressing the refund.’
You were mightily relieved and swiftly made your rent payment. Clawing back money sent to the wrong place will often require a degree of chasing as there’s no standard process.
Martyn James, an independent consumer expert, says: ‘It’s common for businesses to claim it takes up to ten working days to process a refund – or even longer. This is simply not true.
‘The faster payments service operated by banks and financial institutions means money transferred between accounts can take place almost instantaneously.
‘So there is no excuse whatsoever for a business to not process a refund immediately.’
- Write to Sally Hamilton at Sally Sorts It, Money Mail, Northcliffe House, 2 Derry Street, London W8 5TT or email sally@dailymail.co.uk — include phone number, address and a note addressed to the offending organisation giving them permission to talk to Sally Hamilton. Please do not send original documents as we cannot take responsibility for them. No legal responsibility can be accepted by the Daily Mail for answers given.
