I purchased an Anya Hindmarch leather bucket handbag I’ve long coveted on the pre-loved goods website Vinted.
But the seller never sent it and now Vinted won’t refund my £100. Please help.
S.H., Battersea, London.
Sally Hamilton replies: You told me how you were on holiday recently in Norfolk, and while in a relaxed frame of mind, were scrolling through the Vinted website and saw the handbag for sale at a very good price (way too good, you now realise).
The style you had your eye on is discontinued and even secondhand can sell for several hundred pounds.
Knowing it wouldn’t stay online for long, you snapped it up. You told me you thought you’d selected the option for delivery to an InPost delivery shop, in case it arrived while you were away.
Missing goods: A reader has been left out of pocket after treating herself to a new leather handbag she had long admired – which never arrived
You received a reassuring email from Vinted the next morning confirming delivery should be expected at a time when you were back home.
The next day, you were therefore surprised to be told by Vinted that your parcel had been delivered, and you had 48 hours to report any issues.
On returning home the next evening and going through your post, you found an envelope full of a few random pages of office stationery. Assuming it was a mistake, you threw it away.
To pick up an order from InPost, you need a QR code, which you hadn’t received. On chasing InPost, you discovered you had mistakenly ticked the home delivery box. Proof of this was a photo they held of the courier posting an envelope through your letter box. Clearly the contents could not have been a handbag!
InPost advised you to contact Vinted, whose robo adviser flatly refused to help as the window to report an issue had passed – by about two hours. It suggested you contact the seller. He blanked you. Embarrassed by having been taken in by the seller, you almost let the matter rest.
But you were so irritated that Vinted had shrugged it off, leaving the rogue seller to rip off other people, that you decided to come to me. I felt more should have been done to support you and stop this man in his tracks. I suggested you get hold of the courier’s photo, which you did.
When you forwarded it to me, I laughed out loud when it showed a small envelope being slipped into your letter box.
There was no way this could be any handbag, never mind your 14 in x 11.5 in x 3 in sought-after designer bucket bag. I sent the photo to Vinted and asked it to reconsider reimbursement and investigate the seller.
A day later, a Vinted spokesman said: ‘Buyers have two days after delivery to confirm everything is OK or report an issue.
If an item is significantly not as described, or is lost or damaged in transit, our support team can step in to help resolve the matter.
While this case was not reported within the two-day window, we have reviewed the additional context and evidence provided.
The buyer has been compensated, and the seller’s profile has been blocked to protect other members.’
You have your £100 back and say you will not drop your guard again when spotting a bargain that looks too good to be true.
FlixBus took my games console for a ride
In early March, I accidentally left my Steam Deck gaming console and memory card containing many expensive games on a FlixBus coach.
The equipment cost me nearly £700.
Although the company found it, my console then went missing from lost property and I cannot get the matter resolved.
My dad is a reader of your column and suggested you might be able to help.
R.T., Liverpool.
Sally Hamilton replies: YOUR search for the lost console had become quite the odyssey by the time you asked for my help, and it even included taking a 350-mile round trip to try to find it.
A FlixBus spokesman says: ‘We are very sorry about this passenger’s experience. This is clearly not the standard of service we expect.
We are working closely with the relevant team to investigate the incident and understand what went wrong.’
You told me how you have been unemployed for a time due to a DVT (deep vein thrombosis) blood clot in your leg.
As you live on your own, you rely on your console to help pass the time, often playing games with friends, including your girlfriend, who lives 180 miles away in Cambridge. You also enjoy using it when travelling.
On March 4, on your way to Somerset to see your parents, you left your beloved device on the bus. You phoned FlixBus and on its suggestion logged a lost-and-found request on its website, citing your booking reference.
A few days later, you were relieved to log in and see that the status of your query had changed to say ‘Congrats! We have found your lost item…’. You were also told that an email would soon be on its way with information on how to get hold of the item.
You received nothing and a few days later made numerous phone calls, attempted live chats and eventually found an email address where you explained your situation to a human being.
Over the next two weeks, nothing progressed, despite further emails back and forth. After a bit of detective work, you found out your item had ended up in the care of a FlixBus partner bus firm situated in Slough.
At the end of your tether with the dilatory customer service, you decided to retrieve the device in person and forked out £140 (with the help of your dad) for a return rail fare from Liverpool to Slough. On arrival at the lost property desk, you presented the email saying your console had been found, and your ID.
The staff member looked on his computer and to your dismay informed you that the console had recently been flagged as ‘missing’.
With no apology forthcoming, he simply told you to request compensation. You returned home empty-handed.
You sent more emails, but when a month had passed with no progress, you asked me to help.
I geared myself up to apply the same tenacious techniques you had shown in your pursuit of your property – not unlike those required to play one of your games, where players face a tortuous journey to reach their goals.
Luckily, I had an easier ride. Once I suggested to the company that it compensate you, not only for the missing console but for the cost of your abortive trip to collect your item and some extra for the inconvenience, it quickly agreed to the request.
About a week later, the firm paid you a total of £850. You were delighted and told me you have already purchased a replacement.
A FlixBus spokesman says: ‘We are very sorry about this passenger’s experience.
This is clearly not the standard of service we expect. We are working closely with the relevant team to investigate the incident and understand what went wrong.’
- Write to Sally Hamilton at Sally Sorts It, Money Mail, Northcliffe House, 2 Derry Street, London W8 5TT or email sally@dailymail.co.uk ¿ include phone number, address and a note addressed to the offending organisation giving them permission to talk to Sally Hamilton. Please do not send original documents as we cannot take responsibility for them. No legal responsibility can be accepted by the Daily Mail for answers given.