The goods are not received
In June 2014 Elizabeth contacted FSCL to complain about a door to door sales company, Delivery to You. Elizabeth said she bought goods from a salesperson from Delivery to You in December 2013, and was told that she had to make 16 weekly payments towards the goods before they would be delivered.
By the time Elizabeth called FSCL she had made 25 payments. Elizabeth had been calling Delivery to You over the previous three weeks to ask where her goods were and was told each time that she just had to make one more payment. Elizabeth wanted to cancel the contract with Delivery to You, or receive the goods.
FSCL assists
We referred Elizabeth’s complaint to Delivery to You’s internal complaints process. Elizabeth contacted us again on 23 September 2014. One of the goods, the television, had been delivered at the end of July, but she had not received the free tablet and phone which were supposed to come with the television.
We contacted Delivery to You and asked it to try again to resolve the complaint through its internal complaints process.
The wrong address
In early October 2014 Elizabeth contacted us again. During that conversation it came to light that Elizabeth had moved down the road to another house on her street. We asked whether there had been a mix up and the free goods had been delivered to the wrong address.
The missed payments
It also transpired that Elizabeth had missed a few payments towards the goods and this may have contributed to the delay in delivery. Delivery to You was looking to repossess the television as a result of the missed payments.
Options for resolution
We asked Delivery to You whether it was an option for Elizabeth to make up the missed payments and then have the tablet and phone delivered.
Delivery to You said that because the payments had been missed by Elizabeth recently it had held up the delivery of the goods. We asked Delivery to You why this was relevant because the goods should have been delivered in June 2014, in any event.
The complaint remains unresolved
On 8 October 2014 our case manager asked Delivery to You to send through a copy of the contract showing the total price of the goods and a full account statement with a running balance, so that the investigation of the complaint could progress. Delivery to You said on Friday 10 October 2014 that it would deliver the outstanding goods by the following Tuesday.
A problem with a plug
On 17 October 2014 Elizabeth contacted us and confirmed that the two free products had been delivered, but the plug for the tablet did not fit New Zealand sockets.
By 10 November 2014, Elizabeth still had not received the correct plug/charger from Delivery to You. We followed this up, and found Delivery to You had delivered the plug/charger to Elizabeth’s old address. Delivery to You confirmed it would have the plug/charger re-delivered.
We did not hear further from Elizabeth and assumed Elizabeth had received the correct plug/charge. We closed our file.
Lesson to be learned
It was a shame that it took so long to resolve Elizabeth’s complaint and that FSCL’s assistance was required. Delivery to You had the ability to deliver all the goods and resolve the complaint, but its internal complaints process was inefficient. Delivery to You needed constant prompting from our case manager to resolve the complaint.
An efficient internal complaints process is a must for any organisation striving to provide effective service to its customers.
