Refund question

DGJsaver · 23 September 2009 at 2:21PM

Hi All

If someone purchases something from me , and says its faulty , and not fit for purpose , and wants a refund , and i am a business , how do i proceed ? Am i in my rights to ask them to pay p& p to return the item and then decide wether to refund or not ?

Thanks

Dan

serbask · 23 September 2009 at 3:14PM

Are you talking about ebay? If so, then if they lodge a dispute through paypal (or even ebay now) they will get an automatic refund including the initial postage. It is up to you if you refund the return postage - it would depend on wether you want to risk negative feedback.

underlay_guru · 23 September 2009 at 3:35PM

Hi,

If its through EBay, you have your answer above.

If you run your own website selling products, then unless you have stated in your terms and conditions the buyer must stump up postage costs if they cancel, then you will have to pay.

The buyer is entitled to a full monetary refund on faulty goods (including any additional postage costs) up to 6 months after they were purchased;
The seller is not allowed to withhold a refund until the goods have been sent back to them;
The onus is on the seller to collect the goods back, therefore you will legally have to pay for their return.

RFW · 23 September 2009 at 4:12PM

underlay_guru wrote: »

Hi,

If its through EBay, you have your answer above.

If you run your own website selling products, then unless you have stated in your terms and conditions the buyer must stump up postage costs if they cancel, then you will have to pay.

The buyer is entitled to a full monetary refund on faulty goods (including any additional postage costs) up to 6 months after they were purchased;
The seller is not allowed to withhold a refund until the goods have been sent back to them;
The onus is on the seller to collect the goods back, therefore you will legally have to pay for their return.

What he said!
If goods are faulty through no fault of the buyer's and not fit for purpose they are within their rights to request you have the goods collected and refund in full. They should not be in a worse position than before they entered into the transaction.

bylromarha · 23 September 2009 at 10:15PM

How about if they insist goods are faulty and upon return you find they are perfectly fine and buyer was lying?

RFW · 23 September 2009 at 10:33PM

bylromarha wrote: »

How about if they insist goods are faulty and upon return you find they are perfectly fine and buyer was lying?

Largely speaking, tough! Having said that I'd be happier receiving returned goods that weren't faulty that I could resell than ones that were that I'd have to throw away.

underlay_guru · 24 September 2009 at 9:19AM

bylromarha wrote: »

How about if they insist goods are faulty and upon return you find they are perfectly fine and buyer was lying?

As above. The buyer is entitled to a full refund (in the same means as their payment to the seller), before the faulty goods are collected from them. The seller should be aware of the exact fault before the goods are sent back to them.

If the fault is not apparent when the product is returned, the buyer has no legal obligation to re-buy from you, although the seller may be able to make a claim for postage costs from the buyer. The nature of distance selling is that the buyer can only inspect the goods after the seller has sent them, and even if they think the goods simply aren't suitable, the seller is responsible for postage costs in both directions.

bylromarha · 24 September 2009 at 10:09AM

underlay_guru wrote: »

The nature of distance selling is that the buyer can only inspect the goods after the seller has sent them, and even if they think the goods simply aren't suitable, the seller is responsible for postage costs in both directions.

How about if your listing is clear that item you're selling will only fit item A.

Buyer buys with item B in mind, realises their mistake and says they aren't suitable for item B. What then-is seller responsible postage on mistaken identity?

underlay_guru · 24 September 2009 at 10:31AM

bylromarha wrote: »

How about if your listing is clear that item you're selling will only fit item A.

Buyer buys with item B in mind, realises their mistake and says they aren't suitable for item B. What then-is seller responsible postage on mistaken identity?

Hi,

I'm not entirely sure what you mean....if you let me know an example of what items A & B are, ill let you know where you would stand!

MrsTinks · 24 September 2009 at 10:32AM

wouldn't it be a lot easier if you just gave the whole scenario

But if you're a business I believe you still have your answer above... is it an Ebay business or a normal internet business? It DOES make a difference on how to procede...

TurkishDelight · 24 September 2009 at 10:47AM

bylromarha wrote: »

How about if your listing is clear that item you're selling will only fit item A.

Buyer buys with item B in mind, realises their mistake and says they aren't suitable for item B. What then-is seller responsible postage on mistaken identity?

Buyers have a 7 day cooling off period on buy it now listings by law, so they can return it for any reason during those 7 days. Unless made clear that the return postage is the responsibilty of the buyer before the buyer purchases the item it is your responsibilty to pay return postage.
Out of that week then you have no legal obligation return postage wise.

You can't however keep the goods and the money- you have to refund if the buyer has sent you back the item.

Refund question

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