Is this sellers refund policy legal?

shelovestobuystuff

I bought 2 corsets to try for my wedding dress fitting,never had one before so I didnt know that rather than make me smaller as the listing says they can reduce natural waist size by 4-5",they actually made me 3" bigger as the fabric and boning is so heavy.So I want to return them.The seller however wont accept return.The corsets came with a FREE GIFT,a thong(or eyepatch according to hubby:p)and this according to the seller makes the item non-returnable unless faulty.
Heres their policy
Return policy By law, due to Health & Safety regulations there are restrictions on the return of some intimate garments – Corsets with Thongs WILL NOT BE EXCHANGED OR REFUNDED (unless faulty), so please check ALL measurements carefully before buying. PLEASE SEE ITEM DESCRIPTION FOR FULL RETURNS POLICY.Most Buy It Now purchases are protected by the Distance Selling Regulations, which allow you to cancel the purchase within seven working days after the day you receive the item. Find out more about your rights as a buyerand exceptions.

I checked exceptions from distance selling returns regs and lingerie is not mentioned at all.Also I do remember somewhere reading that any FREE GIFT cannot make an item exempt from any return policy,Where did I read that?

What do you think?Is this policy legal and should I be able to get a refund?

they also state that their refund policy is the same as that of Marks & spencers,Next and Ann Summers etc but this is not true.I have checked the returns policy re thongs in particular with all 3 of these retailers and all 3 do accept returns as they say in accordance with EU distance selling regulations.There are some exceptions to the return policy for hiegene reasons such as earrings for pierced ears,cosmetics and toiletries unless sealed.

VanyaHargreeves

I think it depends if it's returned within 7 days, and if it's a private or business seller.

shelovestobuystuff

Its a business seller ,infact and ebay power seller,and it would be well within 7 days,although E.U regs(which ebay goes by) now states 14 days cancellation period for distance selling returns.
I contacted them within 4 days of recieving and they said no returns.Should I just open paypal dispute to that its all logged within the 7 days.

soolin

What dispute are you going to open though?

This doesn't appear to be either an item not received nor an item not as descriebd claim.

Since you bought two I assume you always intended to return one anyway and with hindsight it may have been better to contact the seller beforehand to say that your really only wanted to order two to see what the fit was like and then to get their agreement that you could return th eone if not happy. That way maybe you could have negotiated buying a corset with a thong and therefore getting round any rules about knickers not being returnable.

I don't know how DSRs apply to intimate items, but personally I would hate to think that I might buy from a seller who allows people to return intimate underwear..after all they can't be 100% certain that it hasn't been tried on and whilst you are an honest buyer there might be many who are not.

bingo_bango

You likely can't return these as they could be excluded in S.13(1)(c) of the DSR.

(c) for the supply of goods made to the consumer's specifications or clearly personalised or which by reason of their nature cannot be returned or are liable to deteriorate or expire rapidly;

This applies to all garments to be worn close to 'intimate' body parts. Also covers sex toys, earrings which are not clip on, etc, etc. The reason that underwear isn't specifically mentioned in the regs is because there are too numerous items falling into this category. The law will therefore look at the opinion of a reasonable person in such a matter.

As for the returns deadline, DSR gives 7 working days from the day after you receive the goods (assuming you have been supplied with notification of those cancellation rights).

If you think that there is new legislation extending this to 14 days then please share with us. A link to the legislation will suffice.

shelovestobuystuff

I do remember getting a message from ebay saying that business sellers now had to extened return period to 14 days in line with new EU regs,will look for link.

bigheadxx

shelovestobuystuff wrote: »

I bought 2 corsets to try for my wedding dress fitting,never had one before so I didnt know that rather than make me smaller as the listing says they can reduce natural waist size by 4-5",they actually made me 3" bigger as the fabric and boning is so heavy.So I want to return them.The seller however wont accept return.The corsets came with a FREE GIFT,a thong(or eyepatch according to hubby:p)and this according to the seller makes the item non-returnable unless faulty.
Heres their policy
Return policy By law, due to Health & Safety regulations there are restrictions on the return of some intimate garments – Corsets with Thongs WILL NOT BE EXCHANGED OR REFUNDED (unless faulty), so please check ALL measurements carefully before buying. PLEASE SEE ITEM DESCRIPTION FOR FULL RETURNS POLICY.Most Buy It Now purchases are protected by the Distance Selling Regulations, which allow you to cancel the purchase within seven working days after the day you receive the item. Find out more about your rights as a buyerand exceptions.

I checked exceptions from distance selling returns regs and lingerie is not mentioned at all.Also I do remember somewhere reading that any FREE GIFT cannot make an item exempt from any return policy,Where did I read that?

What do you think?Is this policy legal and should I be able to get a refund?

they also state that their refund policy is the same as that of Marks & spencers,Next and Ann Summers etc but this is not true.I have checked the returns policy re thongs in particular with all 3 of these retailers and all 3 do accept returns as they say in accordance with EU distance selling regulations.There are some exceptions to the return policy for hiegene reasons such as earrings for pierced ears,cosmetics and toiletries unless sealed.

Sounds like a seller who thinks they have found a clever way out. Why else would you give a free thong, which costs pence, with such a purchase. I would argue that the thong is not a substantive part of the contract and therefore does not exempt the purchase from the DSR.

fatherazhara

It doesnt matter at all what a sellers return policy is, it aint worth jack, the only rules are paypals, you got 60 days on ANYTHING

soolin

fatherazhara wrote: »

It doesnt matter at all what a sellers return policy is, it aint worth jack, the only rules are paypals, you got 60 days on ANYTHING

Um, no you don't.

Just for starters you only have 45 days to claim, not 60.

Hintza

soolin wrote: »

Just for starters you only have 45 days to claim, not 60.

And that is only on EBay otherwise 7 days from the day after delivery.

Enterprise_1701C

Surely you did not BUY the thong, it was a free gift.

I would consider the corsets as Significantly Not as Described as they increase your waist size rather than decrease it.