If the retailer arranged delivery, the retailer normally remains responsible for getting the goods to you. A courier scan, photograph or internal investigation does not by itself decide whether that obligation was fulfilled.
Delivery disputes turn on more than whether tracking says “delivered”. The important questions are what delivery was agreed, where the parcel actually went, whether you authorised a safe place or another person, whether timing was essential, and whether the goods reached you intact.
Key points
- For a normal consumer sale, the trader must deliver the goods and usually bears the risk until you or a person you identified takes physical possession.
- If the retailer chose or offered the courier, it cannot normally make you pursue that courier as though the courier were your contractual supplier.
- A “delivered” scan is evidence, not an automatic answer to a non-delivery dispute.
- An authorised safe place or nominated neighbour can materially change responsibility, so preserve exactly what you agreed.
- If no delivery time was agreed, the default rule is delivery without undue delay and within 30 days. An agreed or essential earlier date can matter instead.
First: what actually happened?
Do not let every delivery problem collapse into a generic “parcel missing” complaint. Identify the scenario first because the evidence, remedy and retailer response can be different.
| What happened? | The first issue to check |
|---|---|
| The parcel never arrived and tracking still shows it in transit | What delivery date or period was agreed, and has it expired? |
| Tracking says delivered but you have nothing | Where does the proof of delivery actually place the parcel, and who supposedly received it? |
| It was left outside, in a bin, porch or other “safe place” | Did you expressly authorise that location, or did the carrier choose it? |
| It was handed to a neighbour | Did you identify or nominate that neighbour to take possession? |
| It went to the wrong house or wrong address | Was the address you supplied correct, and does the delivery evidence match it? |
| Only part of the order arrived | Which items or quantity are missing, and are the items a single commercial unit? |
| The parcel arrived damaged | Was the damage present when the goods came into your possession, and does it make the goods non-conforming? |
| It arrived too late to be useful | Was the delivery date essential or otherwise contractually agreed? |
| The retailer says it must wait for the courier | Is this merely the retailer's evidence-gathering process, or is it being used to delay a remedy you are already entitled to? |
The legal starting point: retailer responsibility and passing of risk
Section 28 of the Consumer Rights Act 2015 places the delivery obligation on the trader in a consumer sales contract unless something different has genuinely been agreed. Section 29 then deals with risk: as a general rule, the goods remain at the trader's risk until they come into the physical possession of you or a person you identified to take possession.
The important exception is where you independently commission a carrier that the trader did not name as an option. In that situation, risk can pass when the goods are handed to your carrier. That is very different from choosing one of the retailer's own delivery options at checkout.
The retailer cannot simply contract out of this.
The Act restricts contractual terms that try to exclude or restrict the trader's liability for the statutory delivery and risk rules. A term such as “risk passes on dispatch” should not be accepted at face value in an ordinary consumer sale.
If the parcel never arrives
If the retailer arranged the delivery and the goods do not reach you, start with the retailer. You can cooperate with a courier enquiry, provide a declaration of non-receipt or answer sensible questions, but the retailer should not turn its own carrier relationship into your problem.
If the agreed delivery period has not yet expired, the immediate remedy may simply be delivery. If the delivery deadline has passed, the next step depends on whether timing was essential. Where it was not essential, you will usually need to give the trader an additional appropriate period before treating the contract as at an end. Where the statutory conditions for termination are met, the trader must reimburse payments without undue delay.
If tracking says “delivered” but you did not receive it
A tracking event is part of the evidence. It is not necessarily conclusive proof that the goods came into your possession. Ask the retailer for the underlying proof of delivery rather than arguing only about the word “delivered”.
Useful material can include the delivery photograph, precise delivery location where available, signature or recipient name, delivery timestamp, safe-place instruction, neighbour record and any driver notes. Compare those records with your address, entrance, doors, bins, communal areas and any CCTV or video-doorbell footage.
If a photograph clearly shows another property, or the supposed recipient is unknown, say so specifically. If the retailer relies on GPS data, ask what that data actually establishes. A location near the property may support the driver's account, but it is not the same thing as evidence that the parcel was handed to you or an authorised recipient.
Wrong address and address-entry disputes
If you supplied the correct address but the carrier delivered somewhere else, responsibility normally remains with the retailer where it arranged the carrier. Preserve the order confirmation showing the address you actually gave and compare it with the retailer's despatch record and proof of delivery.
If you entered the wrong address yourself, the position is different. The retailer may have performed the delivery exactly as instructed, particularly if it had no realistic opportunity to correct the address before despatch. Contact it immediately because a practical recovery or redirection may still be possible, but do not frame a consumer-input error as though the retailer misdelivered to a different address.
Do not accept a vague “address issue”.
Ask which address appeared on your order, which address appeared on the shipping label, and where the carrier says it delivered. Those can be three different facts.
Safe places: authorised and unauthorised are not the same
A parcel left in a bin, porch, shed, behind a gate or on a doorstep raises a central factual question: did you authorise that location? If the carrier selected a place without your agreement and the goods never came into your possession, you have a materially stronger case that the retailer's delivery obligation remains unresolved.
If you expressly nominated the place, your position can be much weaker if the carrier followed that instruction and the parcel was later lost or stolen. Consumer guidance commonly treats an agreed safe-place delivery differently from an unauthorised one. Check whether the instruction applied to this order, whether it was carried over from an old account preference, and whether the carrier actually complied with what you specified.
Do not let the phrase “safe place” do all the work. A photograph of a parcel on an exposed front step does not prove that you authorised the front step. Conversely, if your account says “leave in locked rear porch” and that is exactly where the parcel was left, the dispute is no longer the same as a parcel abandoned somewhere chosen by the driver.
Neighbours and other people receiving the parcel
Section 29 expressly refers to a person identified by the consumer to take possession. If you nominate a particular neighbour or other person and the goods are handed to that person, risk can pass even though the parcel has not yet reached your own hands.
If the carrier independently chooses a neighbour you did not nominate, do not assume that is legally identical. Record whether your checkout terms, account preferences or delivery instructions authorised neighbour delivery. If the retailer says “your neighbour has it”, ask who, when and on what authority they were treated as your nominated recipient.
Communal reception desks, concierge services, parcel rooms and workplace deliveries can be fact-sensitive. The question is often whether that recipient or arrangement was identified or authorised by you and whether the parcel was in fact handed over as agreed.
Parcel stolen after delivery
The phrase “stolen after delivery” can hide the real dispute. If the parcel was placed exactly where you authorised it and was then stolen, the retailer may have a strong argument that it fulfilled the agreed delivery arrangement. If the driver left it somewhere you did not authorise and it disappeared before you obtained it, the retailer's position is much weaker.
Preserve the timeline. A delivery photograph, doorbell footage showing the driver leaving the parcel, later footage showing removal, and your account's delivery instructions can establish whether the dispute is really non-delivery, unauthorised safe-place delivery or theft after an authorised delivery.
Only part of the order arrived
Partial delivery can mean a missing parcel, a missing item inside a parcel, or the wrong quantity of goods. Start by checking the retailer's packing list and whether the order was intentionally split into separate consignments.
The Consumer Rights Act has specific rules where a trader delivers less than the quantity contracted for, and section 28 also deals with cancelling outstanding goods when delivery obligations are not met. Where several goods form a single “commercial unit”, cancelling only part may not be possible if division would materially impair the unit's value or character.
Do not allow the retailer to close the complaint merely because one tracking number shows delivered. Identify the exact SKU, quantity or parcel that is missing and ask it to reconcile the warehouse/despatch record against what you actually received.
Damaged in transit
If the goods are damaged before the risk has passed to you, the retailer remains the relevant contractual counterparty. Damage can also mean the goods fail the Consumer Rights Act standards for satisfactory quality, fitness or description, so the normal faulty-goods remedies may apply.
Photograph the outer packaging before disposing of it, then photograph the item, internal packaging, labels and serial numbers. Report the damage promptly because delay can make evidence harder, but do not confuse a courier's short notification window with the entirety of your statutory rights against the seller.
If the retailer says the damage must have happened after delivery, the condition of the packaging and the timing of your photographs become especially important. For expensive or technical goods, preserve all packaging until the dispute is resolved if reasonably possible.
Late delivery: work out which deadline actually applies
“The law gives us 30 days” is an incomplete answer. Thirty days is the statutory backstop where no different delivery time or period was agreed. A retailer that promised next-day, named-day or delivery by a specific date cannot automatically replace that promise with a generic 30-day period after the event.
If delivery at the agreed time was essential because of the circumstances, or you told the trader before contracting that it was essential, failure can allow you to treat the contract as at an end without first giving a further period. The Act also allows that where the trader refuses to deliver.
In other cases, if the trader misses the relevant delivery time, you normally specify an additional period that is appropriate in the circumstances. If it misses that too, you can treat the contract as at an end. If you do so under section 28, reimbursement must be made without undue delay.
Examples of timing evidence
- A checkout page promising delivery by Friday.
- An email confirming a named delivery date.
- A pre-contract message explaining the item is required for a wedding, trip, birthday or installation date.
- A paid next-day or timed-delivery option shown on the order confirmation.
Paid premium delivery that was not provided
If you paid extra for a premium delivery service and the trader did not provide what was agreed, identify the delivery promise separately from the goods themselves. You may still want and keep the goods while disputing the additional delivery charge, depending on the facts and contract.
Do not assume every late parcel automatically produces compensation for inconvenience. The stronger starting point is the actual contractual loss, for example, an additional charge paid for a timed service that was not delivered, or other reasonably foreseeable loss caused by breach where ordinary contract principles allow recovery.
The retailer says its courier investigation must finish first
A retailer is entitled to investigate a disputed delivery and should not be expected to ignore credible evidence of receipt. But the investigation is evidence-gathering for the retailer's decision; it does not transfer the contract to the courier or create an unlimited right to delay.
Ask what is actually being investigated, when the retailer expects to decide the complaint, and what evidence it is waiting for. If you have already reached a statutory right to terminate for non-delivery, say so and ask the retailer to explain the legal basis for withholding reimbursement rather than merely citing an internal courier timescale.
Likewise, the retailer's ability to recover money from its courier is separate from your rights against the retailer. “We cannot refund until the courier compensates us” should be challenged by asking where your sale contract makes your remedy dependent on the retailer first recovering its own loss.
Common delivery refusals, and what to check
| What you may be told | What to test |
|---|---|
| “Tracking proves it was delivered.” | Ask for the photograph, recipient, location and delivery instruction. A status code is not the same as proof of physical possession. |
| “The GPS shows the driver was at your house.” | Being near the address may support a delivery account, but ask how it proves where the parcel was left or who received it. |
| “Contact the courier: it is their problem.” | If the retailer arranged the courier, your contract and statutory delivery rights remain against the retailer. |
| “It was left in a safe place.” | Which place, who selected it, and what evidence shows you authorised it for this order? |
| “A neighbour accepted it.” | Did you identify that person or agree to neighbour delivery? |
| “By law we have 30 days to deliver.” | Was an earlier time agreed or made essential? Thirty days is the default where no different time applies. |
| “You had to report damage within 24 hours.” | A reporting rule may help the trader investigate, but it should not automatically be treated as extinguishing statutory rights. |
| “Our terms say risk passes when we despatch.” | Consumer Rights Act delivery and risk protections cannot simply be excluded by a standard term. |
| “We have to wait until the courier pays us.” | Ask why your contractual remedy is said to depend on settlement of a separate retailer-courier claim. |
Build the evidence before the tracking page changes
Delivery evidence is unusually perishable. Tracking histories can disappear, photographs can become inaccessible and account preferences can later be changed. Capture the record while it is live.
What to write when the retailer refuses
Tracking says delivered, but you did not receive it
“I have not received the goods and they have not come into my physical possession. Please provide the complete proof of delivery you rely on, including the delivery location, photograph, recipient information and any safe-place or neighbour instruction. I did not authorise delivery to [location/person]. Please resolve the non-delivery under our sale contract rather than referring me to your carrier.”
The agreed delivery date has been missed
“Delivery by [date] was agreed / was made essential before the contract. The goods were not delivered by that time. I am therefore [treating the contract as at an end under the applicable delivery provisions / giving you an additional appropriate period until [date]]. Please confirm the remedy and timescale in writing.”
The retailer says it must wait for the courier
“I understand that you may investigate with your carrier, but my contract is with you. Please explain what factual issue remains under investigation, the date by which you will decide the complaint, and the basis on which you say my remedy depends on completion of your separate carrier claim.”
What to do
A practical next-step plan
- Identify the exact delivery scenario: missing, misdelivered, safe place, neighbour, partial, damaged or late.
- Save the order confirmation, delivery address, promised date and every tracking screen.
- Get the underlying proof of delivery rather than accepting a status code.
- State clearly what you did and did not authorise.
- Tell the retailer the remedy you want: delivery, redelivery, replacement, refund, cancellation of outstanding goods or another appropriate remedy.
- If timing is the issue, identify whether the date was essential or whether you need to set an additional appropriate delivery period.
- If the retailer refuses, answer its stated reason rather than repeating the original complaint.
- Escalate through the retailer's complaint process and consider the relevant payment or court route if it remains unresolved.
Common traps
Do not let these points derail the complaint
- Do not treat the courier's compensation limit as a limit on your contractual claim against the retailer.
- Do not say you never authorised a safe place if an old account setting shows that you did; deal with the actual instruction and whether it applied.
- Do not assume every neighbour delivery is unauthorised or every neighbour delivery is authorised. Identify the agreement.
- Do not rely on “30 days” without checking the promised or essential delivery date.
- Do not discard damaged packaging before the retailer has had a reasonable opportunity to assess the evidence.
- Do not allow a chargeback request to become a substitute for first identifying the underlying breach and evidence.
If the retailer still will not resolve it
Use the retailer's formal complaint route if one exists and ask for a written final position. For a card purchase, chargeback may be relevant under card-scheme rules. A qualifying credit-card purchase may also engage Section 75, which is a separate statutory route and has its own conditions. Marketplace or payment-provider dispute procedures can sometimes provide an additional practical route, but their policies do not replace the underlying contract analysis.
If there is an applicable ADR scheme, consider whether it has jurisdiction over the retailer and the dispute. Otherwise, a contractual claim may ultimately be a court matter. Consumer advice services can also help identify the appropriate enforcement or advice route; Trading Standards is not simply a substitute forum for obtaining an individual refund.
Keep the escalation issue-focused.
The strongest escalation is usually not “my parcel is missing”. It is: what delivery was agreed, what the retailer says happened, why the evidence does or does not establish authorised delivery, what statutory or contractual remedy follows, and which part of that analysis the retailer has failed to answer.
Important edge cases
- You arranged your own independent carrier: risk can pass earlier if the carrier was commissioned by you and was not an option named by the trader.
- Marketplace purchase: identify who the actual seller is. A marketplace may provide the platform and dispute process without necessarily being the trader that sold the goods.
- Private seller: the Consumer Rights Act trader-to-consumer framework may not apply in the same way.
- Return journey: a parcel lost while you are returning goods can raise different questions about who arranged the return and which cancellation/faulty-goods rules apply. Use the returns guide rather than assuming the inbound-delivery rule answers it.
- Commercial unit: where several items are legally and commercially one unit, partial cancellation can be restricted.
Official sources
Check the rules behind this guide
The core delivery and risk rules are in the Consumer Rights Act 2015. Consumer guidance is useful for applying those rules to common parcel scenarios such as safe places and neighbours.
- Consumer Rights Act 2015, section 28: delivery of goods
- Consumer Rights Act 2015, section 29: passing of risk
- Consumer Rights Act 2015, section 31: liability that cannot be excluded or restricted
- Citizens Advice: if something you ordered hasn't arrived
- Competition and Markets Authority: online shopping and delivery problems
These sources were checked for this expansion on 10 September 2026. Rules and guidance can change, so check the live source before relying on a formal deadline or procedure.