Liam D.

I purchased an item from Variete.co.uk on 18th December 2012 which stated on their website it would be delivered within 24 hours and they confirmed by email that it would be delivered before Christmas. But on 24th December it still had not been collected by the courier for delivery, so I cancelled it with Variete for a refund, and on 27th December the courier confirmed on their website's tracking system that the trader cancelled the collection of the item from the supplier. (In short, I cancelled my order before it was shipped for delivery.) By 1st January 2013 I had received no confirmation of a refund, so I checked the tracking system again and it stated the item had been delivered on 31st December after being collected from the supplier on 29th December. It stated they had left the item outside without a signature (despite specifically stating at time of order to leave it with a neighbour if not answered, and not to leave it outside). There was nothing outside my property, so I checked with Variete to see if 'successful delivery' meant it had been delivered back to them, which is was not. I am now fighting for a refund from Variete as I never received this item in order to return it for a refund, but they are insisting it was delivered and refuse to refund me until it is returned to them. I am still arguing for a refund on the grounds that I cancelled the item on 24th December and, at that time, the item had not yet been collected from the supplier by the courier, so therefore, as far as the law is concerned, my purchase/contract with them had ended on 24th December, perfectly within my 7-day cancellation window. If the supplier then proceeded, five days after the cancellation notification, to offer the item to the courier and the courier then proceeded to deliver it by leaving it outside my property without signature, which then went missing, I do not consider myself responsible for its lost because I cancelled my order five days before it was shipped so, by law, any continuation of the delivery process would be considered unsolicited post. The fact that the courier has lost the item, even by leaving it outside my property, has nothing to do with me as I cancelled the purchase before the courier even collected it from the supplier. I have spoken to a solicitor and submitted a complaint to the CAB (for forwarding to Trading Standards) and they support my claim for a refund. However, this matter is still ongoing. Very unprofessional company who have very little knowledge of consumer law.