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Coverage

Parcel delay

European Union — delivery rights on consumer sales (Directive 2011/83/EU, Art. 18)

SupranationalEUDerived or secondary source

European Union

Rule id
parcel.eu-consumer
Version
1.0.0
In force from
June 13, 2014
Last read against its sources
August 5, 2026
Countries bound
30 countries

In plain language

What this regime says.

Under EU consumer law a trader must deliver goods to a consumer without undue delay and, absent an agreed date, within 30 days of the contract. The consumer can set an additional period and, if that is missed, terminate and be reimbursed. The risk of loss in transit stays with the trader until the consumer physically has the goods.

Who is covered

Consumers buying goods from a trader where EU consumer law applies.

What you get

Delivery, or termination and reimbursement of everything paid including the delivery charge. For damaged goods, repair, replacement, price reduction or termination.

Where claims go wrong

  • Chasing the carrier. Your contract is with the seller and so is the risk.
  • Terminating without first granting an additional period in writing — unless the date was essential, in which case you do not need to.
  • Letting the card chargeback window run out while negotiating with the seller.
  • Accepting "tracking says delivered" without asking for the proof of delivery.
The official claim route

Authority

Every citation,
with its pinpoint.

A claim that cites “EU law” gets filed. A claim that cites Article 7(1)(c) gets answered. These are the exact coordinates this entry rests on.
  1. Directive 2011/83/EU, Art. 18Directive 2011/83/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council on consumer rightsURL verified 2026-08-05Art. 18 (delivery) — default period and the right to terminate
  2. Directive (EU) 2019/771Directive (EU) 2019/771 on certain aspects concerning contracts for the sale of goodsURL verified 2026-08-05conformity of the goods and the seller’s liability to the consumer

Sources

Where a figure is indexed, converted or published by a regulator rather than fixed in the instrument, the provenance is recorded separately. Anything marked as a modelled estimate is exactly that — a model, not a statutory number.

What it imposes

Clocks, defences and the ladder.

A rule module builds these while it evaluates, because a limitation period depends on which forum is open to you. What follows is the structure this regime produces — deliberately with no dates and no figures, because those belong to your facts rather than to the law.

The clocks it starts

  • Trader’s default 30-day delivery deadlineThe 30 days run from the CONCLUSION OF THE CONTRACT — the day you ordered — not from despatch. We have measured from the despatch date because that is what is on file, which means the real deadline is the same or EARLIER than the one shown here, never later.Directive 2011/83/EU, Art. 18 — Art. 18 (delivery) — default period and the right to terminateResponse due

What it entitles you to, beyond money

  • Set the trader an additional, reasonable period in writingWhere delivery is late, the first step is to give the trader an additional period appropriate to the circumstances, in writing. Doing this — and dating it — is what unlocks the right to terminate, so it is worth doing properly rather than by telephone.Art. 18 (delivery) — default period and the right to terminate
  • Terminate the contract and be reimbursedIf the trader misses the additional period, you may terminate and are entitled to be reimbursed without undue delay. Where the delivery date was essential to the contract — a birthday, a wedding, an event that has now passed — you can terminate immediately without granting an additional period at all.Art. 18 (delivery) — default period and the right to terminate
  • The risk in transit was the trader’s, not yoursA parcel lost or damaged before it reached you is the trader’s problem. "It shows as delivered" is not an answer unless you actually received it; the burden of proving delivery to you is theirs.conformity of the goods and the seller’s liability to the consumer

What the other side will say

Each of these is a refusal this regime lets a counterparty attempt, paired with the answer to it. Reading them before you write is worth more than any amount of polish on the letter itself.

"It is the courier’s fault, take it up with them"

high likelihood

The seller redirects the consumer to the carrier and treats its own obligation as discharged on handing the parcel over.

What answers it

The trader’s obligation is to deliver the goods to the consumer, and the risk does not pass until the consumer has physical possession. Handing the goods to a carrier the trader chose does not transfer that risk or that obligation. The trader can pursue the carrier afterwards — that is their contract, not yours.

Directive 2011/83/EU, Art. 18 — Art. 18 (delivery) — default period and the right to terminate

"Tracking shows it was delivered"

high likelihood

The seller relies on a delivery scan, sometimes with a photograph of an unfamiliar doorstep.

What answers it

A scan is evidence, not proof, and the burden of showing that the goods reached you sits with the trader. Ask for the proof of delivery: the signature, the GPS coordinates and the photograph. Mis-deliveries to a neighbouring address are extremely common and the metadata usually shows it.

Directive (EU) 2019/771 — conformity of the goods and the seller’s liability to the consumer

"You are not our customer — the sender is"

high likelihood

The carrier declines to deal with the recipient of a delayed or lost parcel on the basis that its contract is with the shipper.

What answers it

Often correct, and it points at the better claim rather than closing one. If you bought the goods, your contract is with the SELLER, who is responsible to you for delivery until the goods are in your hands and who carries the risk of loss in transit under consumer law. Stop arguing with the carrier and put the claim to the seller — they are the ones who owe you the goods or the money, and they can take it up with the carrier themselves.

"The service guarantee is suspended"

high likelihood

The carrier says its money-back or service guarantee does not currently apply to the service you used, or did not apply on the date you shipped.

What answers it

This can be true — the large carriers have suspended their guarantees for extended periods, and a suspension in force on your shipping date does defeat the guarantee claim. Two things to do rather than give up. First, ask them to identify the suspension notice in force on the date you shipped and the service it covered; suspensions are usually service-specific and the answer is often that yours was not covered. Second, remember the guarantee is only one route: a suspended contractual guarantee does not touch your rights against the SELLER under consumer law, which is where a late or missing online order is usually best pursued.

Where to take it next

  1. Write to the seller granting an additional periodEmail the seller, state the order and the promised delivery date, grant a specific additional period with a date on it, and say that if it passes you will terminate and require reimbursement. Keep the email.Claim directtypically 14 days
  2. Terminate and demand reimbursementOnce the additional period has passed, send a short written notice terminating the contract and requiring reimbursement of everything you paid, including the delivery charge.Claim direct
  3. Chargeback or, in some Member States, a payment-method claimIf you paid by card, a chargeback for goods not received is often the fastest route and runs on its own timetable, which is usually measured from the expected delivery date. Do not let it run out while you negotiate.Alternative dispute resolution
  4. The European Consumer Centre for your country, and national ADRECC-Net helps free of charge with cross-border purchases inside the EU, and every Member State has certified ADR bodies for domestic ones.Alternative dispute resolutionofficial page
  5. European Small Claims ProcedureBinding on themFor a cross-border consumer claim within the EU this is a paper procedure designed to be used without a lawyer, producing a judgment enforceable across the Union.Small claims

Documents

What this regime can produce.

Every one of these is a document you send yourself, in your own name. Duesday never writes to anybody on your behalf and is never anyone’s agent.

The same claim type elsewhere

CMR Convention — international carriage of goods by road (8.33 SDR per kilogram)CMRTreaty — party states varyCMR Convention, Art. 23Confidence: highHague-Visby Rules — international carriage of goods by seaHAGUEVISBYTreaty — party states varyHague-Visby Rules, Art. IV r. 5(a)Confidence: highMontreal Convention 1999 — international carriage of cargo by airMONTREALTreaty — party states varyMontreal Convention 1999, Art. 22(3)Confidence: highInternational postal items — Universal Postal Convention inquiry and indemnityUPUTreaty — party states varyUniversal Postal ConventionConfidence: lowFrance — La Poste / Colissimo compensationFRNational — FranceCode des postes et des communications électroniques and La Poste’s conditions générales de venteConfidence: lowGermany — Deutsche Post DHL domestic parcelsDENational — GermanyPostgesetz and the DHL Allgemeine Geschäftsbedingungen Paket/PäckchenConfidence: lowDHL Express — service commitments and claimsDENational — GermanyDHL Express Terms and Conditions of CarriageConfidence: lowNetherlands — PostNL compensationNLNational — NetherlandsPostwet 2009 and PostNL’s algemene voorwaardenConfidence: low

Other rights in the same countries

Austria — ÖBB FahrgastrechteATNational — AustriaRegulation (EU) 2021/782 as applied in AustriaConfidence: lowAustria — rental deposit (Allgemeines Bürgerliches Gesetzbuch (ABGB) § 16b, and the Mietrechtsgesetz (MRG))ATNational — AustriaAllgemeines Bürgerliches Gesetzbuch (ABGB) § 16b, and the Mietrechtsgesetz (MRG)Confidence: lowBelgium — action en réparation collective (Code de droit économique, Book XVII)BENational — BelgiumCode de droit économique / Wetboek van economisch recht, Livre XVII, Titre 2 (arts. XVII.35 et seq.)Confidence: lowBelgium — rental deposit (Regional housing codes: Vlaams Woninghuurdecreet, Décret wallon relatif au bail d’habitation, Code bruxellois du Logement)BENational — BelgiumRegional housing codes: Vlaams Woninghuurdecreet, Décret wallon relatif au bail d’habitation, Code bruxellois du LogementConfidence: lowBelgium — SNCB/NMBS compensation for delays and for repeated delays on season ticketsBENational — BelgiumRegulation (EU) 2021/782 as applied in BelgiumConfidence: lowBulgaria — rental deposit (Закон за задълженията и договорите (Obligations and Contracts Act), наем)BGNational — BulgariaЗакон за задълженията и договорите (Obligations and Contracts Act), наемConfidence: lowCroatia — rental deposit (Zakon o najmu stanova and the Zakon o obveznim odnosima)HRNational — CroatiaZakon o najmu stanova and the Zakon o obveznim odnosimaConfidence: lowCyprus — rental deposit (Rent Control Law of 1983 (23/1983) for controlled tenancies, and the general law of contract)CYNational — CyprusRent Control Law of 1983 (23/1983) for controlled tenancies, and the general law of contractConfidence: low

Does this one reach your facts?

The engine runs every regime that could apply at once and reconciles them, rather than making you guess which page to read.

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Not a law firm. Not legal advice. You send it yourself. This page describes a law; it is not advice about your situation and no outcome is promised.