My neighbour signed for my parcel but it was stolen. What can I do?  

I bought roughly £200 worth of clothes from online fashion brand, Fashion Nova.

Currently I am still going into my workplace and couldn’t be there to collect my order. 

Yodel, who were the courier company, asked my neighbours to sign for it, which they did.

However, they said they didn’t want to be responsible for the package and left it in the hallway of our flat block.

The parcel was stolen and now Yodel are saying it’s Fashion Nova’s responsibility and Fashion Nova are saying vice versa. What can I do?

Grace Gausden, This is Money, replies: This situation has understandably left you very frustrated – and without your parcel or your money.

You did not give Yodel permission to leave your parcel with anyone other but yourself, the recipient.

When you spoke to a Yodel customer service representative it stated it is in their policy that it could deliver it three doors either side of your property if you were not home.

However, your neighbour was three floors below you and left it out in the corridor, not wanting to take responsibility of it.

It was stolen and you have been left with no clothes and no refund.

This is Money contacted Yodel and Fashion Nova about the situation.

A Yodel spokesperson replies: We appreciate Ms R’s concerns, however our driver followed protocol by delivering the parcel to her neighbour, who accepted it on her behalf, as she wasn’t home.

We have since attempted to get back in touch with Ms R to discuss the issue and her preferred safe places and encourage her to contact the retailer.

Grace Gausden, This is Money, adds: Fashion Nova were more helpful and said it issued you a full refund. 

The site said it did file a claim with the carrier on the missing item which ultimately resulted in the carrier indicating that the shipment was delivered.

However, it said it went ahead and made an exception and issued a refund.

While you have confirmed the money is now back in your account, you say it was actually Paypal who returned the funds after you complained to it about the situation.

You added you are still unimpressed with both firms handling of your issue.

Package: Delivery drivers will be told whether to leave a parcel in a safe place or take it away

But who is actually responsible?

A consumer contract is with the retailer so it’s their responsibility to get deliveries to you.

However, for those who do give permission for their delivery to be left in a specified safe place or received by a nominated neighbour and something goes wrong, they will still be considered to have received the delivery.

If your item was delivered by the Royal Mail, it will usually leave most deliveries with a neighbour unless you’ve told them not to. 

If your item was lost after being left with a neighbour, it’s not the seller or Royal Mail’s responsibility.

You can choose not to have future deliveries left with a neighbour by completing a form on the Royal Mail website.

If your item was delivered by a courier, such as Yodel, customers should check their terms and conditions or account details as they might include other places for delivery, like your porch or a neighbour’s house.

If you agreed to them, it’s not the seller’s responsibility if your order has gone missing.

However, if your item wasn’t delivered to the location you agreed, it’s the seller’s legal responsibility to sort out the issue.

The first thing to do if there is a problem is contact the companies customer services team.

If the response is not good enough or what you hoped, you will need to escalate your complaint to a manager responsible for complaints.

In the scenario your complaint still can’t be resolved, you can ask the independent postal redress scheme (POSTRS) to investigate your case.

Only regulated postal operators are covered by this scheme. Non-regulated mail services are sometimes covered, provided both the company and customer agree to use the service voluntarily.

If you’re still unhappy with the response to your complaint, you’ll need to seek independent legal advice.