Complaint about a parcel not delivered or delivered late (France)
Published byDocMuse
This document is in French
The PDF you download is in French — that is the language it has to be filed in, so it is not translated. Everything on this page is here to tell you what it says.
For a consumer in France whose order never arrived, arrived late or shows as 'delivered' without being received. The letter goes to the seller, not the carrier: the seller answers for the goods until you receive them. You choose either to give the seller formal notice to deliver within an extra period or, once that period has passed, to notify the end of the contract; the seller must then refund everything paid within 14 days (Articles L. 216-6 and L. 216-7 of the French Consumer Code). In French, to send by registered post with proof of receipt.
- Made for use in France
- Last updated October 13, 2026
When to use this document
- You ordered something online in France and the parcel never arrived.
- Tracking shows your parcel as delivered, but you never received it.
- The delivery date has passed and the seller keeps telling you to contact the carrier.
- You want to give the seller a final deadline to deliver, or cancel the order and ask for a refund.
What you fill in
The details the document asks for.
- Customer
- Customer's address
- Trader
- Trader's postal address (customer service)
- City
- Date
- Order number
- Date of the order
- Goods ordered
- Amount paid
- Agreed delivery date (blank if none)
- What happened to the delivery
- Step: demand delivery, or end the contract
- New delivery deadline (formal notice only)
Preview
This document is produced for you. Your answers are typed into it and the finished PDF is yours to keep.
Common questions
- Should a missing parcel in France be claimed from the seller or the carrier?
- From the seller. In a sale to a consumer, the risk of loss or damage passes to you only when you, or someone you named, take physical possession of the goods; a carrier chosen by the seller is the seller's affair. It is different only if you yourself chose a carrier the seller did not offer. UFC-Que Choisir publishes a free model letter for late delivery; this document also covers notifying the end of the contract.
- Can a late order in France be cancelled without giving the seller extra time?
- As a rule, no: first you require the seller to deliver within a reasonable extra period, then, if it does not, you notify it that the contract is ended (Article L. 216-6 of the French Consumer Code). You can end it at once if the seller refuses to deliver, or if the delivery date was essential to you, for example for a set event, and you had made that known. The letter offers both steps: send the formal notice first and then, if needed, the notice ending the contract.
- How long may delivery take in France if no date was agreed at purchase?
- The seller must deliver without undue delay and at the latest thirty days after the contract was concluded (Article L. 216-1 of the French Consumer Code). After that, or after the agreed date, the letter gives the seller an extra period that you set; ten to fifteen days is a common choice. Keep the order confirmation e-mails, the parcel tracking and the letter's proof of receipt: they prove the dates.
How you can sign this document
- Print it and sign by hand. The signature lines in the document are left blank on purpose — sign on them in ink.
- Sign it yourself with a qualified electronic signature. If you already hold a QES — Evrotrust, B-Trust, StampIT, ZealiD or any qualified provider on the EU Trusted List, on a card, a USB token, in a mobile app or in the cloud — our signing guide explains step by step how to sign this exact file without invalidating it. Step-by-step help, and a way to check it worked
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