Purchased on Credit Card Refund in Cash?

fivefingers

Hi all,

I purchased (in person, not online) a orthopaedic mattress on my credit card which cost a packet, after 3 weeks of use it seems some of the internal springs have collapsed making the mattress extremely uncomfortable and visibly distorted.

As per the sales of goods act the item is not fit for purchase and i am entitled to a refund. The problem is that i paid on a credit card which has now expired, I recently paid off and closed the credit card account as I no longer wanted access to credit.(trying to tidy up my credit report a bit)

I went back to the store to complain about the problem and I want a full refund, the assistant and then the manager refused to give me a cash refund because they insist on refunding only in the form of the original payment method i.e the exact credit card I used. This is despite me having receipts and credit card statement to prove my purchase.

I can find nothing in the sales of goods act, nor could i find anything of substance on google or via the search. Can anyone advise on exactly what the law says my rights are? or point me in the direction of something i can read up on?

I have to admit there is a part of me that enjoys these consumer challenges

Any help is much appreciated!

emmell

When I worked in retail it was exactly the same, refunding only in the form of original payment. Have they offered you a credit note?
ML.

4743hudsonj

Whilst this is common practice, in law, their is no restriction on the form of refund, if you are entitled to one (which it sounds you are) then thats it, you can have a refund, tough to them if its not the right method, it will cause accounts discrepancies but they are legally bound to provide your refund and cannot add rules. I suggest printing off the relevant bits of SOGA and reminding them that it does not stipulate this "term" and as such they cannot stipulate extra conditions on law.

If they refuse further, put it in writing and send it recorded delivery. Title it letter before action and state that if they do not comply within 7 days you will take them to county court for the refund and costs of issuing the proceedings. They should realise your not messing around and "remember" theyre legally bound to give a refund.

fivefingers

Thanks hudson, useful info. I certainly oculdnt find anything in the SOGA that would limit them to only crediting my credit card. I was offered a store credit but that is unacceptable for me as this was the only orthopaedic mattress they sell and i beleive it to be of poor quality.

somethingcorporate

Did you have any proof that you had closed the account? It might be worth taking something in that shows the account as closed so they can see that it's impossible for them to refund to that card.

Could they refund to a different card?

DVardysShadow

The problem for the shop is that they have paid a percentage to the credit card company which would be refunded to them if they refund you. So if they refund you cash, then they are out of pocket.

I suggest a quick call to the credit card company to find out how they can refund you if the retailer refunds them. Obviously, you won't have the card, but it is worth checking out this angle, because it will make it clear whether this method will deal with the retailers problem or whether it is a complete non starter.

Weirdlittleman

Their Merchant terminal agreement will not allow them to do this either. If people could do this it would be open season for fraud by shopmerchants and so on. The Merchant banks are very strict on this term.

As for the SOGA it may not be mentioned but this doesnt mean they would order a cash refund as they would not see this is reasonable. Closed or not the shop can key a refund to the card and it is then your responsibility to get hold of the cash from the credit card company. This could prove trick for you however as they may charge for a cheque or bacs or such.

Takecareofthepennies

To avoid the hassle of legal action, maybe you would consider accepting a cash refund minus the commission the shop paid the credit card company? This ought to be in the region of 2 % - 3 %. Might be worth asking the retailer if they would settle for this.

Tim_Deegan

Did you at any point consider that you might just have a faulty mattress, and that if you had taken an exchange then there may be no problem with it? Or that you could get it exchanged for a different model?

It seems that it is often the case that people don't give a retailer the chance to resolve a problem before they start going down the legal route. Any good retailer would have been happy to resolve the problem.

As you have decided to go for a refund, then you need to contact you credit card company and let them know the situation. I've had a similar situation recently where the card had expired. So I was told to refund to the card anyway, and then they would pass the money on to the customer's bank account.

As someone else said, if they refund you cash, then they will have still paid their merchant fees, and will be out of pocket (remember it's not the retailers fault that the mattress was faulty), so they could refund you in cash, minus their charges.

So as I said, the first step is to see if the retailer can provide a replacement or an alternative. If not then speak to the credit card company to see if they can still refund to the cancelled card. So there is no need to start seaching through SOGA at this stage.

wealdroam

Tim_Deegan wrote: »

remember it's not the retailers fault that the mattress was faulty

That is true.

It is up to the retailer to resolve that issue with their supplier... who also may not be the manufacturer.

The OP has no need to consider this.

Tim_Deegan

wealdroam wrote: »

The OP has no need to consider this.

True the OP doesn't need to consider this, but before taking the agressive legal route it would be a good idea to consider it, as it would solve all the complications that the OP mentioned.

Why do many people seem to think it has to be a battle, with them against the retailer? Most decent retailers would be happy to bend over backwards to help solve problems.