One Day Sales - Is this a little cheeky?

donna-j_2

I did this once with a skirt in Laura Ashley.

andyroberts1967

I did this once also with a carton of Um Bongo and a packet of Garibaldi biscuits. The lady in Harrods was most perturbed!

jenniewb

I used to work in high street fashion, people did this at christmas all the time, to the point where in most stores, refunds are not allowed on boxing day.

Wouldn't feel too concerned, shops expect it and I would imagine they add it into the costs. Next as far as I know are the only store to mark their items with a perminant pen so you cannot get the same refund on it. And some stores also mark items with a "damaged stock" stamp for similar refund reasons.

If stores really wanted to, they could protect themselves, trust me, being a retail assistant is so porely paid, you jump 10 feet high for overtime, and marking labels with red pen would be a very easy job to do.

I think stores need to stop with the odd 20% day "sale" (can you imagine if thats the discount they offered after christmas- no one would shop!) and just do 20% off full december. Its fair for everyone then- I wouldn't be suprized if customers resent the stores now for having 1 day "sales" when they have just gone out and bought something! they may decide not to shop with the store for a long while- far more harmful then getting a refund on a few items.

Retailers add in atleast 30% profit, and normally more, I would not worry about a big fat cat not getting his bonus this year!

theowl_2

Sorry to be boring, but you should know that returning a sale item and obtaining a refund higher than the purchase price is actually Fraud by False Representation. So, in one of the cases above, you buy two duvets, return the sale one and are reimbursed the full price value, the offence is actually complete. Here's the legislation:
Fraud by false representation
(1) A person is in breach of this section if he—
(a) dishonestly makes a false representation, and
(b) intends, by making the representation—
B
2 Fraud Act 2006 (c. 35)
(i) to make a gain for himself or another, or
(ii) to cause loss to another or to expose another to a risk of loss.
(2) A representation is false if—
(a) it is untrue or misleading, and
(b) the person making it knows that it is, or might be, untrue or misleading.
(3) “Representation” means any representation as to fact or law, including a
representation as to the state of mind of—
(a) the person making the representation, or
(b) any other person.
(4) A representation may be express or implied.
(5) For the purposes of this section a representation may be regarded as made if it
(or anything implying it) is submitted in any form to any system or device
designed to receive, convey or respond to communications (with or without
human intervention). The test for dishonesty is whether reasonable and honest people would regard the behaviour in question as 'dishonest' and, if so, whether the defendant was aware that the conduct was dishonest and would be regarded as dishonest.
There is a maximum sentence of ten years. !!!
Some will argue that you're only trying to pay for an item at sale price, but the fact is that you're paying a store £80 for a sale item and then getting them to give you £100 back for that same item through the use of a different receipt.

The store would have to be able to prove that the item in question was purchased at a lower value than the refund you're claiming, which may be difficult for them, as some of these posts suggests, but if they can prove it, then they could have you arrested!
I know it's unlikely to happen, but you need to be aware that it's possible. I'd suggest that the 'peace of mind' way to take advantage of these sales is to return the original item for the full price, and then buy the sale item. Inconvenient, but safe.

davetrousers

CHRISSYG wrote: »

is 2.5 % really worth the effort ?

It's less than 2.5%.

Vat will drop from 17.5% to 15%. So a product bought (today at 17.5% VAT) for £100 breaks down like this:

cost of goods - £85.11 and £14.89 VAT

so add 15% VAT onto the £85.11 and it would cost £97.87

The difference between £100 and £97.87 is £2.13

ergo it's a 2.13% saving.

When you factor in petrol and parking or bus/train as well as your time, is it worth it?

shadej

theowl wrote: »

Sorry to be boring, but you should know that returning a sale item and obtaining a refund higher than the purchase price is actually Fraud by False Representation. So, in one of the cases above, you buy two duvets, return the sale one and are reimbursed the full price value, the offence is actually complete. Here's the legislation:
Fraud by false representation
(1) A person is in breach of this section if he—
(a) dishonestly makes a false representation, and
(b) intends, by making the representation—
B
2 Fraud Act 2006 (c. 35)
(i) to make a gain for himself or another, or
(ii) to cause loss to another or to expose another to a risk of loss.
(2) A representation is false if—
(a) it is untrue or misleading, and
(b) the person making it knows that it is, or might be, untrue or misleading.
(3) “Representation” means any representation as to fact or law, including a
representation as to the state of mind of—
(a) the person making the representation, or
(b) any other person.
(4) A representation may be express or implied.
(5) For the purposes of this section a representation may be regarded as made if it
(or anything implying it) is submitted in any form to any system or device
designed to receive, convey or respond to communications (with or without
human intervention). The test for dishonesty is whether reasonable and honest people would regard the behaviour in question as 'dishonest' and, if so, whether the defendant was aware that the conduct was dishonest and would be regarded as dishonest.
There is a maximum sentence of ten years. !!!
Some will argue that you're only trying to pay for an item at sale price, but the fact is that you're paying a store £80 for a sale item and then getting them to give you £100 back for that same item through the use of a different receipt.

The store would have to be able to prove that the item in question was purchased at a lower value than the refund you're claiming, which may be difficult for them, as some of these posts suggests, but if they can prove it, then they could have you arrested!
I know it's unlikely to happen, but you need to be aware that it's possible. I'd suggest that the 'peace of mind' way to take advantage of these sales is to return the original item for the full price, and then buy the sale item. Inconvenient, but safe.

There is always one.:rolleyes:

theowl_2

I'm not usually this boring. . . Honest. Plus, I've got a hangover. And where do you find those faces? I wanted to put some shocked expressions in my post, but had to use exclamation marks instead, thus making my post even duller.

shadej

Use "Post Reply" or "Go Advance" to post instead of Quick Reply.
The icons will be on your right.

Glpark01

Just take it back and rebuy it all, my mum bought my son a little people farm set which was £30, the day after it was £22 so she got it refunded then bought it again.

mrnkar

I have just done this. Bought a book in Borders shop, & wanted another book which they didn't have in stock, so came home to find it on-line. Whilst there I noticed the the books were cheaper, so I ordered them & returned the one I bought in store for a refund. A day later whilst on here & hot deals I discovered a 40% discount code, so on checking my order, found I could cancel it as it had not yet been dispatched. I did this and re-ordered again with the 40% reduction. Doing this I have managed to save over £20. That's what I call money saving.