DSR & Collection Charge

flea72

Bought a wooden storage box online, and now that it has arrived, i dont think the quality of the item is worth the money charged, so want to return it

however, on the back of the delivery note, it states they charge a £30 collection fee. having spoke to the company concerned, they state i can only return the item via their approved courier, and this is the fee for doing so

can they charge this fee, under DSL?

I ready the T&C relating to self-assembly furniture, which said it can be returned, as long as you havent built it, which i naively though meant you could return it without any recourse if you didnt like the item - however, it seems they have a whole other section of T&C that predominately refers to sofas, but also includes furniture

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Ivory_Tinkler

If they state that you are liable for return costs then you are liable for them although I don't know that they can make you use their courier. However, if it is a large item, £30 is probably a reasonable charge.

neilmcl

You have to pay for the return, either by paying them to collect it or by organising the delivery yourself. I'd imagine it could cost you nearly as much to do this using your own method so I'd be inclined to pay them for the recovery. How big/heavy is the box?

flea72

well as the item cost less than £30, looks like its gonna be cheaper to keep it

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yummymummy79

If you're returning under Distance Selling regs then you have to foot the bill (unless seller has agreed to cover all or part of it). Doesn't necessarily have to be by the method they recommend, but if you use another one be confident they'll do it safely as you'll have to sort out any probs with damage if any occurs.

Policy and law are 2 different things, some businesses choose to have them as far away from each other as they possibly can though!

bingo_bango

When did they tell you about the £30 charge?

If it wasn't pre - contract, and only on the delivery note you got, then it isn't a valid term under DSR. certain pre - contract information is required to comply with DSR, and this is one of them. Check the T's & C's online to see if the info is there. If so, then you'll have to pay up.

woody01

1. It is definitely your responsiblity to pay the postage return charges.

2. You can use carrier pidgeon if you want to in order to return it. The seller has no input in who you use for this as long as it arrives undamaged.

flea72

bingo_bango wrote: »

When did they tell you about the £30 charge?

If it wasn't pre - contract, and only on the delivery note you got, then it isn't a valid term under DSR. certain pre - contract information is required to comply with DSR, and this is one of them. Check the T's & C's online to see if the info is there. If so, then you'll have to pay up.

as ive said, now ive hunted high and low on their website, it does mention the £30 collection charge - however it wasnt pointed out in the details for the item

eg, if buying a tin of baked beans, and they had a section titled 'T&C of buying baked beans', i would read them - i wouldnt then think to hunt through incase they they also ha a section titled 'T&C for canned goods'

i read the T&C for buying flat pack furniture, but didnt know i also needed to read through the T&C for buying sofas & selected furniture

my mistake i know

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yummymummy79

Rules under DSR and their T&Cs are 2 completely different things in this case though, so it really doesn't matter what their T&Cs say as the law is always going to override any policy. The T&Cs would only apply if you were returning them outside DSR rules, i.e. outside the 7 days, or if item was personalised for example.

A lot of retailers either don't know about DSR or don't care and think that their policy is gospel.