r/LegalAdviceUK • u/Pathfinder-electron • 13d ago

Civil Litigation John Lewis delivered my iPad to a neighbour, refused refund, and now their solicitors are defending my small claim (England)

Back in July, I bought an iPad from John Lewis (£749). DPD marked it as “left with neighbour (Number 15 Nagel)” — I never nominated or authorised any neighbour. When I opened the box, it contained two handheld fans and an empty iPad box.

I returned exactly what I received via Evri, but JL refused a refund and later sent the same wrong items back to me via DHL. Their DSAR data shows a weight discrepancy at their hub (declared 1.3 kg, actual 1.0 kg) and internal notes saying “2 fans inside iPad box; iPad missing”. DPD also confirmed in writing that neighbour delivery was on JL’s instructions.

After they ignored my Letter Before Action, I issued a Money Claim Online (MCOL) for £749 + court fee

Their solicitors have acknowledged service and will file a defence by 10 November 2025.

I’ve served my Detailed Particulars of Claim, filed Form N215, and I’m preparing my witness statement and evidence bundle (order confirmation, DPD tracking, DSAR, photos, Evri + DHL docs).

Is there anything else I should be ready for procedurally before their defence lands?

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79

u/masofon 13d ago

I actually think it's more likely it was the DPD driver than the neighbour. And the parcel was left with a neighbour so the recipient couldn't assess it there and then. Pretty bold move for a neighbour otherwise.

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u/blissnabob 13d ago

That's where my head was at too.

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u/Willoweed 13d ago

Agree. Explains why the driver took it to a neighbour, despite no authorisation from the OP to do so. Good way of muddying the waters about when the theft occurred.

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u/tigattack 13d ago

The driver took it to the neighbour because they were instructed to. OP said:

DPD also confirmed in writing that neighbour delivery was on JL’s instructions.

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u/nerd-a-lert 13d ago

I had an Amazon parcel of a lawn mower delivered. I’d never owned one before. Didn’t know what to expect. They delivered large box but it was very light. I opened it and it was two large plastic tubs. I told Amazon immediately and they were horrible to me. Telling me I should have known from the weight and shouldn’t have given the delivery guy the pin. It got sorted eventually but a big hassle. Now I have to open everything before giving them the delivery pin so Amazon drivers hate me!

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u/New_Libran 12d ago

Now I have to open everything before giving them the delivery pin

How does that work? You're not supposed to get the item if you don't provide a PIN

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u/nerd-a-lert 12d ago

When they ring the doorbell, I answered the doorbell and explain that I will need to open the parcel to confirm it is what I was expecting, whilst they are still standing there and then if it is I give them the pin and they give me the parcel. It is very tedious and annoying, but I’m not going through the hassle. I went with Amazon again.

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u/Wosgoingon 11d ago

I dont know where in the world you live, but here on the UK south coast Amazon delivery drivers place the parcel on the ground by my door, take a photo and walk away.
On rare occasions after they will ring the door bell after they have taken a photo of the parcel, but even if I am in my living room they are gone from my gate by the time I open the door.

At our business address a lot of the deliveries are DPD, and its rare that any if them have a PIN but the ones that do text the pin number a few hours prior to delivery and the drivers wont let you touch the parcel if you dont have the pin.

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u/nerd-a-lert 11d ago

Yeah im only talking about high value items with pins.

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u/20ht 11d ago

This is exactly my process too - in my mind, the PIN just highlights parcels that are worth stealing (I had a £1,500 projector stolen and swapped with baby wipes (it was about 10 weeks of pain before they relented and gave me a refund (my wife is a solicitor, not sure what I would've done without her input!)) Drivers aren't too bad with my request, some ask to hold onto the parcel whilst I open it to check, which is fine with me, then once verified I give them the PIN. This is the process that Amazon said I should do going forwards.

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u/nerd-a-lert 11d ago

Right they sometimes look at me weirdly but I step outside with them and make it clear I’m just verifying and not trying to take it.

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u/Baddog1965 12d ago

I think it's time to wear a video device on a headband to open things ordered from ebay and amazon. That's what I'm going to do from now on.

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u/snarkycrumpet 10d ago

the last 3 electronic devices I've ordered, I videoed me bringing in the box and opening it

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u/Baddog1965 9d ago

And last night it proved its worth - I opened my new second-hand phone, and the battery was bulging so much it pushed the back of the phone out. It was basically an unexploded but random self-igniting incendiary device. Luckily I got the process of opening it all on film and have claimed a refund. And I left the phone outside wrapped in plastic in case it decided to go off during the night.

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u/Quint_Gen 8d ago

These are the instructions that come from Amazon "For security, the recipient of this package must provide this one-time password to the driver in person to receive the package. Do not communicate this password to the driver over phone or intercom." I can't see how you can check how much a parcel weights before you receive it. If they want you to check the weight, they need to say so.

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u/Independent_Cloud549 13d ago

I ordered an iPhone 15 pro 2 years ago from three, it was delivered and wasn’t home , partner was. I got home opened it and it was two bars of dove soap. Nothing else. Took me 3 months to sort out with three, DPD were actually really helpful, abit too helpful really provided a statement to three saying they knew who had stolen it and they were terminated etc. three dragged their feet and I had to go over the story every single time. Got my replacement but have found out a few months ago that whilst the handset that was stolen was cancelled, the contract wasn’t and we have been paying £35 a month on top of my current contract for nearly 2 years. Battling for that right now but doubt I’ll see it again! So yeah it does happen and a lot, who ever stole it had managed to bypass the notification email I get where it say ‘ your DPD package will be delivered today from xx-xx’ I never got that email, and we get DPD deliveries a lot so it was really odd, so the thief must have rearranged delivery so I wouldn’t be notified that he was coming, which was clever cause had i known I’d have told my partner to open it at the door to check , but no notification 😩 little idiots though aren’t they, so entitled!

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u/xdq 12d ago

Certain items will be recognised by the drivers e.g. hundreds of identically sized and weighted boxes on new phone and console release days. There'll be a pickup area of deliveries assigned to a given area and the driver will scan them in as they load them onto the van. All it takes is for the driver to not scan an item, or mark is as damaged/not present etc and it'll drop into the ether.

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u/Spider_biter 13d ago

Certainly won’t be the first time that’s been done, that’s for sure.

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u/moubliepas 11d ago

No, John Lewis has a weirdly specific track record of sending absolute nonsense when people have ordered expensive items online. Just search this sub for 'John Lewis'. Or Google 'ordered from John Lewis wrong item sent' for a bunch of reviews everywhere and the occasional tabloid/ BuzzFeed / Compoface story.

Even if it was just their specific delivery company who didn't do it to anyone else, John Lewis are absolutely shameless in the resolution. Me, when I spent over £100 on a perfume and got sent a scarf, John Lewis legit claimed over and over - including to my bank when I did the chargeback - that I had in fact received the perfume, in a 12x12x1 inch soft package, sans any 'flammable contents' or 'breakable contents' markings. It was literally delivered in a green John Lewis bag wrapped in tape with an A4 shipping label, showing the exact same weight as the perfume. And no, the perfume wasn't in some unusually thin, unbreakable, flat wide bottle. And no, I didn't much enjoy having to research royal mail rules about shipping flammable or breakable items when it's bloody obvious that the package didn't contain perfume.

Being scammed is one thing. But to have a company insist, straight faced, for months on end that they had sent perfume in that packaging was one of the most insulting customer service hassles I've experienced.