Debenhams refusing me a refund

Mezza1979

Hi everyone.
I'm new to the forum and needing some advice.

I bought a Evening dress in the sale form Debanhams on Boxing day. It was to wear to a News year eve ball that we were going to in reading (I live in Swindon)

I tried it on in the store and it fit fine but it had no labels attached so when i went to the till i asked then if they had another of that dress that did have labels cause i knew that not having labels could be difcicult to return. the lady at the till said that as it was sale stock all their dresses were alreadyu out and that was the last in my soze but not to worry because if the item needed to be reyrned i just needed to keep my reciept and would be offered a excahange since the dress had more 50% off. I bought the dress thinking that it would be fine.

On news year eve we drove to reading to friends and like all girls do , immeditaly wanted to see each others dress's. i pulled mine out the bag and thats when i noticed that the dress has a very noticeable thread pull in the back. I did'nt want to wear it damaged so i rushed into the shops and ended up buying another dress from another shop since i could not return as i didnt take my reciept with me to reading.

When i got back to swindon i returned to Debanhams with my reciept and firstly spoke to the cashier who looked at the dress and asked where the tags were. I told her all of the above about having spekn to the previous sales member and being told that that was not going to be a problem with the reciept. She told me that thsi was incorrect and that the sale member who served me should have written on the reciept that it had no labels !!! (How was i suppossed to know this ?? ). She said she could only exchange it for something else in store to whicjh i told her was unacceptable. I already had to rush out an get another dress as it was for New years eve!. she went off and spoke to another woman who came over and said the dress looked like it had been worn. I told her it had not been worn because i had noticed the snag in the back! I told her it had only been tried on in their changing rooms (not even by me at home! ). She then went off and got the store manager who came over and told me that they could not do anything as there are no lables on the dress, the dress looks worn and the snag is not enough the deem the dress as faulty!

They told me that the dress should have a label right at the bottom of the skirt also... which is missing. I told them i had no idea what labels should be on the dress other than the normal price label so how would i know to check that was on there when i bought it ??

Please can someone tell me if this is legal? I can't believe that having not worn the dress, kept my reciept, asked at the time of purchase about the labels and finding the dress to be faulty.. i am still being told i'm in the wrong.

The dress was £65. The replacment dress was over £100 cause i had no time to shop around. In total i'm out £165 due to them selling me a faulty dress .

Please can someone help?

Thanks, mary:(

zppp

Mezza1979 wrote: »

I bought a Evening dress in the sale form Debanhams on Boxing day. It was to wear to a News year eve ball that we were going to in reading (I live in Swindon)

I tried it on in the store and it fit fine but it had no labels attached so when i went to the till i asked then if they had another of that dress that did have labels cause i knew that not having labels could be difcicult to return. the lady at the till said that as it was sale stock all their dresses were alreadyu out and that was the last in my soze but not to worry because if the item needed to be reyrned i just needed to keep my reciept and would be offered a excahange since the dress had more 50% off. I bought the dress thinking that it would be fine.

When i got back to swindon i returned to Debanhams with my reciept and firstly spoke to the cashier who looked at the dress and asked where the tags were. I told her all of the above about having spekn to the previous sales member and being told that that was not going to be a problem with the reciept. She told me that thsi was incorrect and that the sale member who served me should have written on the reciept that it had no labels !!! (How was i suppossed to know this ?? ). She said she could only exchange it for something else in store to whicjh i told her was unacceptable. She went off and spoke to another woman who came over and said the dress looked like it had been worn. I told her it had not been worn because i had noticed the snag in the back! I told her it had only been tried on in their changing rooms (not even by me at home! ). She then went off and got the store manager who came over and told me that they could not do anything as there are no lables on the dress, the dress looks worn and the snag is not enough the deem the dress as faulty!

They told me that the dress should have a label right at the bottom of the skirt also... which is missing. I told them i had no idea what labels should be on the dress other than the normal price label so how would i know to check that was on there when i bought it ??

You can request that a remedy under the Sale of Goods Act. It is up to the retailer whether they want to repair, replace or give you a refund.

Mezza1979 wrote: »

Please can someone tell me if this is legal? I can't believe that having not worn the dress, kept my reciept, asked at the time of purchase about the labels and finding the dress to be faulty.. i am still being told i'm in the wrong.

The dress was £65. The replacment dress was over £100 cause i had no time to shop around. In total i'm out £165 due to them selling me a faulty dress .

You won't get the £100 back I'm afraid, so I very much hope you like the replacement dress you bought. As mentioned above, you can request a remedy under the Sale of Goods Act as faulty, but it is up to the retailer which remedy they wish to use. It may involve an exchange, so don't hold your breath to get a £65 refund.

Mezza1979

Hi, Thanks for the reply. I actually spoke to the store manager about the fact that if i could not get a refund then what other options did i have and she said and i quote ' i should go home and google 'faulty'. A snag in the material is not enough to deem the item faulty and therefore they are offering nothing. No refund, no exchange, no repair !

bris

I can see it from their point of view tbh, if it was such a noticeable snag, why didn't you notice it in store or when trying it on? The fact the labels were missing and not written on the receipt didn't help either.
The way they see it is that party time is now over and you are trying it on to get a refund. Something they will see on a regular basis at this time of year.
I'm not saying thats what happened here, but thats how they see it, so don't hold out much hope.

CoolHotCold

If the item is not faulty, and is deemed not faulty under industry standards then the retailer does not have any obligation to refund or exchange or give a credit note. Most stores do this as a goodwill gesture but theres no law stating consumers have a "Change Of Mind".

Unfortunately if the retailer is refusing to budge then best bet is to write via recorded delivery a letter to Debenhams head office stating the facts and what you would like as a remedy.

Mezza1979

Thanks for the replies.

I would never have knowingly bought a damaged / faulty dress... even had it been further reduced. I don't wear items that are not 100% perfect condition.

Party season or not does not give debanhams the right to refuse to exchange/refund/fix... Just beacuse there are scammers out there does not mean that they can refuse everyone tjheir consumer rights when i have my reciept and the dress HAS NOT been worn. Its essentially my word against theirs.

Watch this space.. i'll update once i have a response.

Thanks all

McKneff

just a question, you went in, saw the dress, tried it on, fine. I'll buy it.

Why at that time would it even enter your head about labels not being on and it being difficult to return it.

You exaimined the dress, perhaps you snagged the dress getting it out of the bag or showing yur friends.

Your not £165 out, you have the other dress.
Could a decent dressmaker not do something with the 'snag'

Hintza

The reason it was probably on sale was the snag on the back?

If I wanted to only wear things that were 100% I wouldn't have many clothes left

Chimpofdoom

Quick question.. (i may be stupid here) but if there were no labels on it (eg: barcode etc) then what does the purchase say on the receipt???

Surely if the dress had a barcode then the full product description would be on the receipt (you know, brand of dress etc, instead of something like "dress "£65").

Of course.. I repeat.. I could be being stupid here (second day back at work.. explains that one :rotfl:)

go_cat

I wouldn't have bought it without the sales asst writing on the receipt that it had no original tags just on case of issues like this

keith1950

Hi, as the dress was greatly reduced in the sale and had missing labels it will be a dress that had previously been sold/worn and returned.This would explain them saying that it looked as if it had been worn. As such sale items are offered on a 'sold as seen' basis. If you did not snag the dress your self then it should have been apparent when you purchased it. Most stores in these circumstances would probably give the customer the' benefit of the doubt' but it would seem Debenhams do not value you as a customer.