Sports Direct threatens shoppers with court action over missing parcels – The Telegraph

        Retailer accuses customers of fraud and sends debt collectors for items never received      <br>Copy link<br>twitter<br>facebook<br>whatsapp<br>email<br>Copy link<br>twitter<br>facebook<br>whatsapp<br>email<br>Copy link<br>twitter<br>facebook<br>whatsapp<br>email<br>Copy link<br>twitter<br>facebook<br>whatsapp<br>email<br><em>Have you been chased for payment of undelivered goods? Get in touch with us: money&#64;telegraph.co.uk*</em><br>Sports Direct shoppers have been accused of fraud after parcels were stolen from their doorsteps, Telegraph Money can reveal.<br>Customers who secured refunds through their banks after packages disappeared or were delivered to the wrong address were later threatened with court action by the retailer.<br>Under the Consumer Rights Act, the retailer must replace or refund the item if it goes missing before it reaches the customer.<br>But letters seen by this newspaper show that shoppers who reported lost parcels to Frasers Group, the Mike Ashley-owned conglomerate that owns Sports Direct, were denied replacements and refunds and then pursued by debt collectors.<br>Customers’ details were passed on to a crime intelligence agency, which ordered them to pay hundreds of pounds more than the goods were originally worth to avoid a County Court trial.<br>One customer told The Telegraph that he paid more than £2,000 rather than face a court ordeal.<br>Recommended<br>Adele Peacock, an NHS worker in children’s mental health services, ordered clothes from Sports Direct worth £112.99 in November last year. However, the package was left in her garden and later disappeared.<br>The courier later admitted that the package had been left in “an unsafe location”, despite Ms Peacock, 54, requesting that it be left with a neighbour.<br>She said: “People buy things in good faith and pay for delivery, and parcels are not being safely delivered.<br>“My neighbours are retired – they would always take a parcel in – but the courier didn’t even try. They just threw it over the fence where anyone could take it, and someone clearly did.”<br>Ms Peacock said Sports Direct ignored requests for a refund, so on the advice of a colleague, she appealed to her bank, Santander.<br>She said: “The bank arranged a chargeback, and I got the £112.99 back in March. I thought that was the end of it, because Sports Direct had been completely unhelpful. Then the letters started coming.”<br>In July, Ms Peacock received a “notice of intended criminal and civil proceedings” from National Business Crime Solution (NBCS) demanding she pay £437 by bank transfer immediately or face defending herself from a fraud allegation in the County Court.<br>The email read: “We are instructed that on March 6 2025, you acted contrary to the Policies &amp; Processes of Frasers Group, totalling £112.99 by claiming that you had not received goods which were in fact delivered successfully.<br>“As a result of your actions, our member has suffered loss, damages and costs totalling £436.99 and is considering both a formal complaint to the authorities and preparing to pursue this claim in the County Court to recoup their losses.”<br>NBCS describes itself as “an independent, not-for-profit organisation, created to tackle business crime collaboratively”.<br>More than 100 of Britain’s largest businesses are members, including Frasers Group, which also owns House of Fraser and GAME.<br>Ms Peacock said she received “four or five” letters in the post from NBCS, as well as emails.<br>She added: “The first letter made me look online, and I realised other people were experiencing the same thing.<br>“The letters from the recovery company were really inflammatory. They accused me of fraud and demanded four times the cost of the parcel. They threatened court action. I told them again to take me to court.”<br>Kate Dearden, the Minister for Consumer Protection, said: “Intimidating customers seeking refunds is exactly the kind of rogue practice we want to see the back of.<br>“We’ve already toughened penalties for companies breaching consumer law, and anyone who’s been unfairly treated can contact Citizens Advice for help.”<br>Consumers can ask their bank to launch a chargeback to recover funds when items fail to arrive and a retailer refuses to refund, effectively forcing the payment back into the customer’s account.<br>Credit card users also benefit from a legal right to a refund under Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974.<br>These protections are designed to ensure shoppers are not left out of pocket when retailers fail to deliver goods or resolve complaints, with banks requiring evidence of non-delivery.<br>Recommended<br>Consumer rights expert Martyn James said: “The law makes it clear that the item must be delivered to the recipient, not left anywhere that has not been specified. A photo of you with the parcel proves this. A photo of a parcel outside a closed door does not.”<br>However, The Telegraph found that Sports Direct customers who made use of this scheme were being pursued by NBCS, despite banks deeming their refunds legitimate.<br>Online forums are littered with similar complaints from customers of various Fraser Group brands who allegedly also faced action after using chargeback to recoup their money. Some complaints date as far back as 2022.<br>NBCS did not respond to multiple requests for comment, and Companies House records show the firm collapsed into administration in September. Its website was suspended during the course of The Telegraph’s investigation.<br>Appointed administrators FRP Advisory confirmed that NBCS’s outstanding cases were passed to the National Retail Crime Alliance (NRCA), another non-profit. NRCA did not respond to The Telegraph’s requests for comment.<br>Fiz Aslam, from Birmingham, ordered a £1,900 bike from the retailer in September 2022. Photos later provided by the courier showed that the package was left exposed on his porch and ultimately disappeared.<br>Emails seen by The Telegraph showed that Sports Direct’s digital risk team admitted the bike “should not have been left outside as you weren’t home”. After months of further back and forth, Mr Aslam requested a refund through his bank, Lloyds.<br>He said: “They’re supposed to attempt delivery three times if no one is home. Instead, the driver took a photo of it on the doorstep, marked it as delivered, then left.”<br>The bank approved the refund in February 2023, but later that month, Mr Aslam said a letter from NBCS arrived at his doorstep demanding £2,076.99. NBCS also repeatedly sent him emails, which have been seen by The Telegraph.<br>It read: “We do not seek to profit from the cost of this recovery. Therefore, we will reduce the amount payable to £2,026.99 if payment is made in full within 14 days of the date of this email.”<br>Mr Aslam agreed to pay the money, telling NBCS: “Me paying the amount isn’t admitting any guilt – I just wanted debt collectors not chasing me.”<br>He told The Telegraph: “I felt unfairly treated. The total claim was £150 more than what the bike was worth. I’m just one person – it felt as though no one would listen.”<br>Nichola Green, from Hampshire, ordered £273 worth of trainers ahead of a holiday in February.<br>Photos later sent by her courier as “proof of delivery” showed the package was left outside the wrong doorstep.<br>She said: “I got a message at around 4pm saying the package had been delivered and ran to my door, but nothing was there.<br>“I walked around the whole estate trying to match the door in the delivery photo, and knocked on every neighbour’s door, but no one had received it.”<br>Ms Green, 43, contacted Sports Direct immediately to demand her money back, but the retailer told her it would not issue a refund until an investigation was complete.<br>In April, she raised the issue directly with Michael Murray, Sports Direct’s chief executive, after he responded to a comment she left on an Instagram post.<br>Screenshots seen by The Telegraph show that Mr Murray told Ms Green to email the retailer’s investigations department. However, Ms Green said that when she did so, she was ignored.<br>After 60 days, Ms Green contacted her bank, Monzo, to dispute the transaction and offered the courier’s photo as evidence.<br>Monzo ultimately refunded the money. But in July, Ms Green received a “notice of intended criminal and civil proceedings” from NBCS demanding she pay £597.94 immediately or face court action.<br>The letter read: “Failure to pay the specified amount will result in further proceedings being initiated against you in the County Court, together with costs and interest. A CCJ (County Court judgment) may also be added onto your credit file.”<br>Ms Green said: “If they took me to court, I have all the evidence, but receiving these letters is very frightening.<br>“I’m hoping to get a mortgage next year, and the idea that I could get a CCJ terrifies me. I am desperately hoping it doesn’t come to that, as the stress and worry would really affect me.”<br>Consumer expert Martyn James said retailers were increasingly using debt collection agencies to pursue refunds for items lost through no fault of the consumer.<br>He said: “A number of retailers seem to be taking a more aggressive approach to parcels that have not been correctly delivered.<br>“I’d strongly recommend that people passed to debt collectors contact Trading Standards and the Competition and Markets Authority if they think they have been unfairly treated.”<br>A CMA spokesman said: “Businesses that deny customers their statutory rights could face significant penalties of up to 10pc of their global turnover. Under consumer law, sellers must deliver goods within 30 days unless otherwise agreed. The retailer is responsible if goods have not been delivered, and consumers have the right to seek a refund. It’s not acceptable for customers to be intimidated for enforcing this right.”<br>The Telegraph shared details of the cases with Frasers Group but the company declined numerous requests for comment.<br><em>*Please note that by submitting your content to us, you are consenting to The Telegraph processing your personal data where required by law. For further details, please see our </em><a class="ck-custom-link" href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/contact-us/readers-submission-privacy-notice/"><em>Privacy Notice</em></a><em>.</em><br>Copy link<br>twitter<br>facebook<br>whatsapp<br>email<br><br><a href="https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMiqgFBVV95cUxQSW9lRm5ockhvZ25IOWtqU1I3WGhmc1B5czFhV1YyOEF5S0d1WnBpaTFCbVNlZjI5c2ZTcWZteGNYMG1uUi1RMm9kSTh3RF84NVNCekZiTExZYXpsWGVRS1ZqZHd0d3psdW83LWtfT21zOWJVR25zcnJZZ2pSRWhxa3ZmUnMwdzJDQnpLTDl2LUkzOUo5bG1aZ0FpU2E1NUZrSkdKVmpZZnBlZw?oc=5">source</a>