Further to my old post to buy an inflatable I purchased a Hyfield with welded seams and 5 years warranty. I did this with an Inflatable boat company based in Warners Bay (Newcastle ) . I needed the boat by the next day and was advised if I pay $100 express delivery it will arrive over night. If they could not have made this promise I would have bought elsewhere.
Guess what after some communication it arrived 3 days later.
I asked for my $100 back, it took them a few days advising delivery was ASAP deneighing over night.

I have now gone down the Fair Trading path with the out come unsuccessful at the first stage, now if I want to go further it will cost $47.50.

I am after advice on what I should do from here so help please to let them know they need to be ethical.

Only issue is their denial of the verbally promised express delivery being over night and not ASAP as they now claim. If was ASAP I would not have purchased it.

All is lost........?
No, not at all.
Years and years ago l had a BMW bike and a bodged gear box repair worth over three grand by Motohansa.
I took them to the Motor Vehicle Industry Repair Council (l hope l got it right!?) in Five Dock on the recommendation of an insider, a friend of mine who was an NRMA examiner.
The whole exercise was f r e e of c h a r g e !
They made the repairer fix the problem to "t h e i r s a t i s f a c t i o n at h i s e x p e n s e". Which they did. To my satisfaction. This, whoever, and the attitude of Tom Byrnes later Procycle in St. Peters put me off BMW's for life thou.
So not all is lost.
Each industry in NSW should have something like a governing or licensing body which you or me could turn to in cases like yours. It is not widely known but it is there, l was told. Ask or ring around or Google the living daylight out of the subject, you will succeed.
In the mean time hit them where it hurts the most anywhich way you can.
They deserve your worst, no doubt.

In the future I would not buy a PVC inflate - like l did - but only a HYPALON one. They are expensive but last a lifetime even if you leave them in the Sun.

Be persistent, never ever give up! Cheers!

You have a good case and would be likely to be awarded damages for breach of contract. Every state has a civil administration tribunal to hear small claims by unrepresented parties. in NSW it is NCAT http://www.ncat.nsw.gov.au/ncat/index.html

Remember the onus is on you to prove, on the balance of probability, either:
1) 2 contracts existed, one for the supply of the boat and the other for the overnight delivery; or
2) it was a term of the original contract that the boat would be delivered overnight;
3) there was a breach of the contract

The good news is that you only need to prove these points on the balance of probabilities which means more likely than not, or more than 50%. This is a very low bar and as the consumer traditionally you are more likely to be believed than a retailer.

The contract was probably partly written and partly verbal these types of contracts are enforced by the courts every day so don't worry about what you don't have in writing .

On the information you have provided it seems likely that the $100 was paid in consideration for the overnight delivery, it seems unlikely that you would pay $100 for a delivery that could take as long as 3 days.

What is most likely is that the retailer promised you overnight delivery in good faith, but the retailer and then the supplier missed the freight company's cut off times for overnight delivery.

The costs of lodging the claim are recoverable by the successful party. I think the retailer will settle at a pre-heating conference if you prepare your case thoroughly.

Good luck

Thanks guys for your constructive advice, I will do more research on the links and decide from there.
Stay tuned as I do not give up easy.

Frant, Fair Trading confirmed my contract is with the boat company, I paid the boat company for the boat to be delivered overnight, l did not contact or pay the courier .
The boat company's contract is with its supplier. I do not know who organized the courier.

I would not pay $100 for 3 day delivery I would have bought elsewhere, I needed the boat delivered overnight to fit in with overseas visitors and this was explained a couple of times to the boat company.

andy59 said..
You have a good case and would be likely to be awarded damages for breach of contract. Every state has a civil administration tribunal to hear small claims by unrepresented parties. in NSW it is NCAT http://www.ncat.nsw.gov.au/ncat/index.html

Remember the onus is on you to prove, on the balance of probability, either:
1) 2 contracts existed, one for the supply of the boat and the other for the overnight delivery; or
2) it was a term of the original contract that the boat would be delivered overnight;
3) there was a breach of the contract

The good news is that you only need to prove these points on the balance of probabilities which means more likely than not, or more than 50%. This is a very low bar and as the consumer traditionally you are more likely to be believed than a retailer.

The contract was probably partly written and partly verbal these types of contracts are enforced by the courts every day so don't worry about what you don't have in writing .

On the information you have provided it seems likely that the $100 was paid in consideration for the overnight delivery, it seems unlikely that you would pay $100 for a delivery that could take as long as 3 days.

What is most likely is that the retailer promised you overnight delivery in good faith, but the retailer and then the supplier missed the freight company's cut off times for overnight delivery.

The costs of lodging the claim are recoverable by the successful party. I think the retailer will settle at a pre-heating conference if you prepare your case thoroughly.

Good luck

Ha ha spell check strikes again, converting pre-trial to pre-heating

I agree with Frant. As a supplier I know that the freight time is really out of my hands. The biggest carriers are monoliths, and have almost a monopoly, and there is nothing you can do about it. Nobody can absolutely guarantee a delivery time once the goods are in transit.

As a consumer, I am still waiting for a spare part from Europe that should have been here two weeks ago, but it is lost somewhere in the system.

Back to inflatables, I dont think you can still buy Hypalon. I hope I am wrong, but I think it is not manufactured any more. Another symptom of the modern cheap-at- any- cost, World.

Frant my only knowledge of the delivery is that the inflatable boat company promised overnight delivery for a $100 payment and as such I paid them for that as this met my needs. As I stated Fair Trading confirmed my contract is directly with the boat company for the full agreement and no others that may have been involved. At no point did the boat company advise that the delivery may not be met at the time of payment, if they did I would not have agreed to the purchase.

warwickl said..
Frant my only knowledge of the delivery is that the inflatable boat company promised overnight delivery for a $100 payment and as such I paid them for that as this met my needs. As I stated Fair Trading confirmed my contract is directly with the boat company for the full agreement and no others that may have been involved. At no point did the boat company advise that the delivery may not be met at the time of payment, if they did I would not have agreed to the purchase.

This statement appears at odds with your original statement. The shop to my reading may have said "if you want overnight delivery you must pay for an express service" if they provided the goods by express service then you recd what you paid for. As I said it doesn't bother me either way. It's your time effort and angst that appears to be wasted on pursuing the matter. You asked for advice. Mine is let it rest.

It has been suggested that I should send the boat company a link to this forum topic, any comments or strong objections?