During this health crisis, one issue that is frequently raised is that of justifying deliveries and disputing them.
Indeed, the intent ofthe March 19, 2020, executive order—which supplements the March 14 order on measures to combat the spread of the COVID-19 virus—is to prioritize contactless deliveries. This applies to both business and residential deliveries. As you may have noticed, many delivery drivers and carriers are leaving packages at the entrance to homes, businesses, or construction sites without having customers sign the delivery receipts, which under normal circumstances serve as the primary proof that the contractual obligation has been fulfilled.
Consequently, two questions arise from this situation:
- How can you prove that goods were delivered to the recipient?
- How long does the customer have to dispute a delivery?
How can you prove that goods were delivered to the recipient?
Regarding the first question, what should be done—as far as possible—is to send, through the sales department for example, a confirmation email stating the delivery date and including the order number. And this leads to the second question:
How long does it take for a delivery to be considered accepted by the recipient, and, consequently, how long does the recipient have to dispute the delivery?
If the recipient wishes to dispute the delivery, they must comply with the public policy provisions set forth in the order of March 19, 2020. Based on the text of this order, two scenarios are possible:
- If your contract or general terms and conditions of sale specify a deadline for filing a complaint, your customer must submit their complaint within the timeframe set forth in that document.
- That being the case, there is no specified timeframe for filing a claim in either the contract or the Terms and Conditions. In this instance, your customer must take action no later than noon on the first business day following delivery. Otherwise, your delivery will be deemed to comply with the contract. For example, if a delivery was made on Monday, May 4, your customer had until noon on Tuesday, May 5, to dispute it.