EXCLUSIVE: A delivery service that had been booked to collect a guitar ended up taking off with an entire week's worth of food instead...
A furious couple 'failed to see the funny side' when a 'careless' Royal Mail postie took their stir fry DINNER and posted it instead of a £1,000 guitar.
Grant Gardiner says he picked the 11am-1pm slot last Wednesday [Feb 18] for a Royal Mail worker to pick up an electric guitar he'd flogged online.
When nobody came during the timeslot, the 35-year-old headed to work and left the boxed instrument inside his house in Falkirk, Scotland, believing it would be collected another day.
However when partner Lindsey Mullin arrived home around 5.30pm she realised an £80 Gousto food box that DPD had delivered to their doorstep that afternoon was gone.
The confused 35-year-old messaged Grant who noticed an email from Royal Mail declaring that they'd collected an item from their home.
Glass factory worker Grant connected the dots and realised the postman had mistakenly collected their week's-worth of food including beef tacos and stir fry rather than the guitar.
He complained to Royal Mail that night to rage 'you're away with my f**king dinner' and stressed how different the Gousto-branded box was from his guitar.
He spent the next day trying to post the guitar and stop Royal Mail from delivering his dinners to a music lover in Manchester, England.
The guitar that should have been picked up
Royal Mail have apologised and say their workers are expected to follow 'clear collection procedures' so they'll address the incident and 'put it right'.
Grant, from Falkirk, Scotland, said: "When we realised you could have peeled me off the ceiling because I was pretty furious.
"I wasn't seeing the funny side because this guy in Manchester has put faith in me to get the delivery organised.
"I was thinking this guy is going to think I've scammed him. I've just sent him a box of spoiled food instead of a £1,000 guitar.
"The Gousto box is decorated and has Gousto written all up the side of it.
"That night we didn't know what to do for dinner so we got a takeaway that cost me about £40, which I could have done without spending.
"The site I sold it on recommended I get it shipped within three business days so it was a bit of a time crunch and this wasted a day.
"When I sent the feedback I went a bit daft because I was up to my eyeballs and losing it a little bit.
"When I hear that it's got to the guy in Manchester and it's all okay then I think it'll have a bit of a laugh about it.
"All my pals at work are laughing at me now for them [Royal Mail] getting away with my dinner."
Grant paid £22.65 for Royal Mail to deliver the expensive Ibanez APEX30 guitar but says it's yet to be delivered [as of Feb 25] and he believes it is being returned to his address.
He insists he won't be using Royal Mail in his next attempt to deliver the expensive item.
Lindsey reportedly called the Royal Mail sorting office that evening but couldn't get through to anyone and he left a message in the feedback section of their website.
The following day he says he took the 10kg package containing his guitar to a Royal Mail store to post the guitar and try to stop the food from being delivered.
The baffled Scot is unsure where the missing food is but realises he'll have to throw it away even if it's returned to his address anyway.
He's frustrated that the mix-up could have happened given the size difference in the boxes and the fact his own delivery address was on the Gousto box.
Grant said: "I picked Royal Mail because they offered time slots but I thought that if they weren't going to come today then maybe they'd come tomorrow.
"Shouldn't the driver have the dimensions and the weight of the parcel because I can assure you they're very different?
"It's careless if they haven't got the information or haven't checked the information. It's hard to understand how they can mix that up.
"They should be reading some paperwork to identify what they're looking for is correct.
"I said it wouldn't be left in a safe place but this worker came along, saw the first box and thought 'oh, that'll be it'."
Grant says he's been getting Gousto deliveries around twice a month for two years and they include approximately a week's worth of dinners.
Gousto refunded the missing £80 food box and credited the couple's account with the 40% discount they had used to buy it.
A Royal Mail spokesperson said: "We're sorry that an incorrect item was collected and understand how frustrating this must have been for the customer.
"We are looking into exactly how this happened and will be in direct contact with them.
"Our delivery colleagues are expected to follow clear collection procedures at all times, and we will address this directly.
