Online purchases that never arrived

How the law usually works

The usual starting point is the sales contract: the seller agreed to provide particular goods for a stated price, and you agreed to pay. Delivery terms may appear in the order confirmation, checkout page, shipping policy, or the seller’s messages.

If the goods were never delivered, common legal issues include:

• Late delivery: The seller may have missed a promised delivery date or a legally required reasonable delivery period.
• Non-delivery: The seller may have breached the contract by failing to provide the goods at all.
• Misleading conduct or fraud: A seller may have advertised goods it did not possess, used a false identity, or accepted payment without intending to ship.
• Payment disputes: Your card issuer, bank, payment service, or marketplace may offer a dispute or chargeback process. These processes are often subject to short deadlines and contract terms.
• Risk during shipping: In many consumer-law systems, the seller remains responsible for the goods until you receive them, especially where the seller selected the carrier. This can differ where you arranged your own carrier.

A seller’s “no refunds” policy usually cannot remove mandatory consumer rights. However, the result can depend on whether you bought from a business or a private individual, whether the seller is in another country, and whether the goods were custom-made, digital, perishable, or otherwise covered by special rules.

If the seller appears to be operating a scam, preserving evidence is important. A failed delivery may be a genuine shipping problem, but warning signs include a newly created website, copied reviews, pressure to pay outside a marketplace, changing explanations, or a seller that stops responding after payment.

Common processes

1. Review the order and delivery terms. People commonly check the confirmation email, receipt, advertised delivery date, tracking page, and seller’s cancellation or refund policy. Screenshots can preserve information that later disappears from a website.

1. Contact the seller in writing. A short message commonly identifies the order, payment date, promised delivery date, and the remedy requested. People often ask for a tracking explanation, delivery by a reasonable new date, or a full refund. Written communication creates a record and may satisfy a requirement to give the seller an opportunity to fix the problem.

1. Check with the carrier and delivery location. Tracking records may show a delay, incorrect address, attempted delivery, or delivery to another location. People commonly check with household members, building management, neighbors, and the carrier, while avoiding confirmation that a parcel was received if it was not.

1. Use the marketplace or payment platform’s process. Marketplaces often have buyer-protection programs with their own time limits. A dispute may require order details, messages, tracking information, and proof that the goods were not received. Payment platforms may distinguish between “item not received,” unauthorized payment, and a transaction where the item differed from the description.

1. Ask the card issuer or bank about a dispute. People commonly ask whether the payment qualifies for a chargeback or statutory billing dispute. The issuer may request a written statement, evidence of contacting the seller, and a description of the transaction. A chargeback is not always an automatic legal refund, and the issuer may apply scheme rules or its account agreement.

1. Report suspected fraud. Depending on location, reports may be made to a consumer-protection agency, police or fraud-reporting service, the marketplace, and the website’s hosting or domain provider. Reporting does not guarantee recovery, but it can help identify patterns and protect other consumers.

1. Consider a formal claim. If the amount justifies it, people may send a formal demand and use a small-claims or civil court process. The claim commonly includes the contract, payment proof, delivery evidence, communications, and the refund or loss sought. A judgment may still be difficult to enforce against an overseas or anonymous seller.

Deadlines and time limits

Deadlines vary substantially. Common examples include:

• U.S. credit-card billing disputes: Federal law generally requires written notice of a billing error within 60 days after the statement containing the error was sent. Non-delivery disputes may also be handled under card-network rules, which often have different time limits.
• U.S. online orders: The Federal Trade Commission’s rule generally requires shipment within the promised time or, if no time is stated, within 30 days. If the seller cannot ship on time, the consumer generally must be offered a choice to consent to the delay or receive a prompt refund.
• England and Wales: Consumer contracts commonly provide remedies when goods are not delivered within the agreed period or, if none was agreed, within 30 days. Card and marketplace dispute deadlines may be much shorter.
• Canada and Australia: Limitation periods and complaint deadlines depend on the province, territory, state, transaction, and remedy. Payment-provider deadlines can expire before a court limitation period.

People commonly confirm the applicable deadline with the payment provider, marketplace, relevant court, consumer agency, or a licensed lawyer where they live. Continuing to negotiate with the seller does not necessarily stop a legal limitation period or a card-dispute deadline.

Documents that usually matter

Useful records commonly include:

• Order confirmation, invoice, receipt, and terms of sale
• Screenshots of the product listing, price, stock status, and delivery promise
• Payment statement showing the merchant, date, and amount
• Tracking information and carrier correspondence
• Emails, texts, chat messages, and call notes
• The seller’s refund, cancellation, and shipping policies
• Proof of the address supplied at checkout
• Marketplace or payment-platform case numbers
• Evidence suggesting the seller is fraudulent, such as copied listings or false contact details
• Any formal demand, complaint, or response

Keeping original files and dates is preferable to relying only on screenshots. People commonly avoid sending unnecessary personal information or sharing passwords and one-time security codes with someone claiming to be the seller.

How it differs by jurisdiction

United States. The FTC Mail, Internet, or Telephone Order Merchandise Rule addresses shipment delays and refunds. The Fair Credit Billing Act can provide a billing-error process for qualifying credit-card disputes, but protections for debit cards, bank transfers, gift cards, and payment apps are different. State consumer-protection and contract laws may provide additional remedies. Federal law generally does not create one universal refund rule for every non-delivery situation.

England and Wales. The Consumer Rights Act 2015 generally treats the trader as responsible for delivery until the consumer, or a person identified by the consumer, physically receives the goods. Delivery is usually due within the agreed period or 30 days if no period was agreed. Consumers may often set an additional reasonable deadline and then end the contract if delivery still does not occur, subject to exceptions. Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974 can provide joint liability for certain credit-card purchases costing between £100 and £30,000.

Canada. Consumer protection is mainly provincial and territorial, so cancellation rights, delivery rules, licensing, and limitation periods differ. Federal competition law can address materially false or misleading representations, but it does not replace provincial contract remedies. Quebec has a civil-law system and specific consumer rules; other provinces have their own statutes and administrative complaint processes.

Australia. The Australian Consumer Law, in Schedule 2 to the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 and applied through state and territory legislation, includes consumer guarantees. Goods generally must be supplied within a reasonable time when no delivery period was agreed. A serious failure, including some cases of non-delivery, may allow cancellation and a refund; other failures may first lead to a reasonable opportunity to fix the problem. State and territory procedures can differ.

When people consult a lawyer

Legal advice can be useful when the amount is substantial, the seller denies receiving payment, the transaction involved a private individual or overseas business, or several consumers may have been affected. Advice is also worthwhile if the seller threatens you, alleges that you accepted delivery, counters a chargeback, or claims that special terms eliminate your rights.

If the situation involves identity theft, account takeover, threats, or immediate danger, contact emergency services where you are. For suspected fraud without immediate danger, the relevant fraud-reporting or consumer-protection authority may be appropriate.