Mad at internet retailers who choose which laws apply!

Ivory_Tinkler

neilmcl wrote: »

Correct me if I'm wrong but the OP has stated that he didn't expect to be refunded for the cost of returning the goods. He's only asked for and received exactly what he's fully entitled to under the prevailing legislation. Why all the criticism.

That was my interpretation too so the OP has only requested what he is entitled to under the terms of the law and does not deserve to be flamed.

That said, although it's nice to get a full refund in cases like this, I do sometimes think it is a little unfair on the retailer that they have to return the delivery charge too. After all, if you go to the shops to inspect goods before making a purchase you pay train/bus fares, petrol and/or parking fees but then I expect that most retailers build a little bit into their mark-up to account for the DSR rules. I have heard that some retailers have "sacked" persistent returners of goods but don't know how true this really is!

neilmcl

By returning the delivery charge some of you seem to be assuming that the retailers making a financial loss, and therefore unfair. Don't forget the buyer has already paid this on top of the price of the goods.

A simplified example for the maths challenged:

• An item is sold for £10 plus a £4 delivery charge, total charge to customer = £14.
• Customer recieves item, decides to cancel under the DSRs and receives a full refund of £14.
• Customer sends item back at a cost to himself of £4.

Total income/expenditure to retailer = £0
Total income/expenditure to customer = -£4.

Whose lost out?

mad-mark_2

Colliefrog wrote: »

Well, I had better let my boss know that the company and it's thousands of employee's are breaking the law as we never refund the postage charges on goods returned under the customer service guarantee and we don't issue a refund until the good are scanned back in at the warehouse. :rolleyes:

Please do. It'll make me a little less mad.

mad-mark_2

Snakeeyes21 wrote: »

How did people ever cope before? thats right people used to take responsibility for their actions.

And companies used to obey the law. Seems to be optional now.

mad-mark_2

Hintza wrote: »

OP you really are wanting something for nothing.

If the seller makes a mistake or item is faulty then I think it is quite reasonable to expect delivery charges to be refunded.

If buyer makes the mistake then I think it only reasonable they pay for delivery charges.

Do you not think that is fair?

It's not about what I, or you, think is fair. I think it's fair for me to be able to shoot an intruder who breaks into my house. But it's against the law, and I'd expect to be in trouble if I did it. :mad:

How about we all do just what we think is "fair" (from our perspective) and ignore the law. That's called anarchy. Wanna go there?

Anihilator

neilmcl wrote: »

By returning the delivery charge some of you seem to be assuming that the retailers making a financial loss, and therefore unfair. Don't forget the buyer has already paid this on top of the price of the goods.

A simplified example for the maths challenged:

• An item is sold for £10 plus a £4 delivery charge, total charge to customer = £14.
• Customer recieves item, decides to cancel under the DSRs and receives a full refund of £14.
• Customer sends item back at a cost to himself of £4.

Total income/expenditure to retailer = £0 - £4 delivery cost paid to RM etc
Total income/expenditure to customer = -£4.

Whose lost out?

Corrected that for you.

Ivory_Tinkler

Anihilator wrote: »

Corrected that for you.

I was thinking exactly the same thing - the carriage has to be paid to a third party both ways. The retailer paid the carriage to send, the customer sends the item back, they have to refund this carriage but they can't claim a refund from royal mail or a courier therefore they DO lose out too!

neilmcl

Anihilator wrote: »

Total income/expenditure to retailer = £0 - £4 delivery cost paid to RM etc

Corrected that for you.

That was paid by the customer originally, he paid £10 for the item + £4 for the postage (Total £14). Can nobody understand this, I thought it was pretty simple myself. The retailer has not made a loss or do you guys need an accountant.

nellytheelephant

Yes, but the retailer paid that out to a delivery company. So they have lost the £4 the customer gave them, then they have to refund it back to the customer too.

So they have paid out twice - once to the delivery company, once to the customer - that equals £8, when they only received £4 from the customer.

negg

No, work it out:

The retailer:

Recieves £10 + £4 postage (money in = £14 less credit card charges, call it £13)
Pays £4 to Royal Mail (money in now = £9)

Customer returns goods and pays £4 out of their own pocket (DSR states that customer must pay this is the seller has this in their terms and conditions).

Retailer (who received £9), now has to refund £14 (DSR states that original postage has to be refunded so that is £10+£4). Leaves them out of pocket by £5 as most credit/debit card companies don't give you fees back on a refund.

Retailer loses out £5 and customer loses out £4.

Summary: Both retailer and customer lose out.

It is completely unfair that the retailer loses out when a customer changes their mind/makes a mistake. If a business charged you when they made an error/mistake (i.e. sent the wrong item), the customer would be fuming!

The laws need changing, drastically.