Returning swimwear to Tesco

tids79

Two days ago I purchased some swimwear from Tesco. Total cost came to £25. I didn't have time to try them on in the store, but when I tried them at home all the sizes were completely wrong and one item is damaged, so I decided to return them to a different branch (closer to me) and exchange them. This branch didn't sell any of the items and so I went to customer services to ask for a refund. Imagine my horror when the assistant pointed out an A4 sized notice saying that they no longer refunded OR EXCHANGED underwear or swimwear. I saw no such notice when I purchased the goods and wasn't informed by the SA when paying that the items were non-returnable. I would never have bought them if I'd known they had implemented this new policy. They said that the decision had come from HO and they couldn't override it. I asked them to phone HO so that I could speak to them and was told by HO that the assistant was correct and they could not override the stores decision to uphold the policy. I was told that all I could do was write a letter complaining about the policy, for all the good it would do me. I'm now stuck with £25 worth of goods that are of absolutely no use to me.

As it is a new policy I would expect a certain amount of leeway, until it is reasonable to say that customers should be aware. A small notice at the customer services desk, which is only shown to you after you have purchased the goods, does not seem to me particularly reasonable. Has anyone else had a similar problem or got any ideas on how to recoup my money? Needless to say I am gutted because I had no idea about this new policy and would never have bought anything if I had known.

I have written to HO complaining about the lack of advertising of the policy and hoping that other customers don't get caught out. I have also requested a gesture of goodwill in this instance, but I won't be holding my breath!!

^!£$&

I think it really depens on the store, and no matter what their policy is if the item is damaged faulty- ie not fit for purpose they should refund it!! I'd try again in another store!

stugib

snowbrow is right - if they were not as advertised (different size as to what they told you) or damaged then you're entitled to a refund.

Check the in-store notice again - it should say 'your statutory rights are not affected'. You have to be clear when talking to them that you're not returning them under their policy, you're exercising your statutory rights and rejecting the goods. The store manager should be more aware of the difference. They can not take away your statutory rights, and take a note of their name etc if they try to claim Tesco policy overrides them and speak to your nice local trading standards officer.

Note, you're on solid ground with the damaged item (unless that was made clear before you bought it), but with the 'wrong size' you could only really return it if really was completely misleading as to what size it was. If you got it home and it kind of fitted you but you didn't like the cut/whatever then that's going to be more difficult as you wouldn't be entitled to a refund just because you didn't like it or it wasn't a perfect fit.

But as always, give them a chance to sort it out the nice way before starting ranting and getting legal

hjb123

I always thought that whereever you bought swimwear that it was nonreturnable? Isnt it a hygeine thing?

impy78

Does it still have the plastic gusset protector in it??

Minky2Slice

impy78 wrote:

Does it still have the plastic gusset protector in it??

Swimwear normally has this for hygiene protection, if it has this still stuck on, i dont see why they wouldn't want to take it back.

But i think this is purely for fitting-room try-on's. Wouldnt really want to buy swimwear that has been worn or tried on without the protective plastic by someone else and then returned to the store for re-sell!?!

I always take note of underwear and swimwear policies or ask SA about it before buying, in any shop. saves me hassle and money later on...

But, if there is any defect in the product, (like manufacturing fault) they should give you a refund without questions, as this product would be returned to manufacturer, not reshelved for resale..

superscotsman

The problem with supermarket-bought clothes is that they are made in Far East or South American sweat shops. You may buy a pair of jeans with a 34 waist, but when you get it home, you find that it might have a size 34 label, but they are actually 30.
Tesco thus are being totally unreasonable.

boogiemaster

Would you wear a costume that some other woman had worn? I wouldn’t want my wife catching some disease from someone else.
If they had taken back the swimming costume they would have had to throw it away because they aren’t allowed to sell any item that has been worn because of personal hygiene.
I’m sure you would have known if the costume would have fit you or not? You could have damaged the costume at home trying to get into a size that wouldn’t fit you and that’s how the store will see it.
My wife knows if a size will fit her or not and she also knows a shop will not offer a refund.
Most clothes have American sizes and English sizes so its just using your eyes and making sure it will fit you.
You also have a tongue in you mouth so if you are in any doubt about a size ask someone in the store instead of moaning when it doesn’t fit you!

pin

superscotsman wrote:

The problem with supermarket-bought clothes is that they are made in Far East or South American sweat shops. You may buy a pair of jeans with a 34 waist, but when you get it home, you find that it might have a size 34 label, but they are actually 30.
Tesco thus are being totally unreasonable.

As opposed to clothes made by any other stores companies?

You will find the MAJORITY of clothing made for the high street is made in the Far East / South America.

davelewis

I think that you can only get a refund on these items if they are faulty or damaged. (We have just covered this in Contract law in my course!!!!!). They cannot refuse to refund fault or damaged goods. However if you have simply changed you mind and there is nothing wrong with the goods - i think they are entitled to refuse refund. Sorry.

Stonk

davelewis wrote:

I think that you can only get a refund on these items if they are faulty or damaged. (We have just covered this in Contract law in my course!!!!!). They cannot refuse to refund fault or damaged goods. However if you have simply changed you mind and there is nothing wrong with the goods - i think they are entitled to refuse refund. Sorry.

Quite right.

Too many shoppers think they can effectively borrow stuff from a shop and just return it if they change their mind. You DO NOT have this right. If a shop lets you do so - and many do - then they are doing so purely out of good will, and not because of any legal requirement. They are well within their rights to refuse any particular return, or whole classes of returns - and it doesn't take much thought to understand why they would refuse swimwear returns.

I do not agree that shoppers should be specifically informed that a shop will not accept returns - the shopper is wrong to automatically assume that returns will be permitted. Again, good will means that you often see such notices, but they are above and beyond what is legally required.

They DO have to refund anything that was damaged when purchased, or which was not fit for the purpose sold. An item which is mislabelled with the wrong size might fall into the latter category.