Marisota charging unlawful P&P on returns?

Alison_42

I've just reported Marisota to Consumer Direct for exactly this reason and they agreed that what Marisota is trying to do is illegal. The DSRs do take precedence over a company's T&Cs. They're looking into it.

tomwakefield

wealdroam wrote: »

Yes, you were right.

I am not sure there is anything technically wrong with having 'dubious' terms in T&Cs.
They are just not enforceable.
The problem is that they can get away with it because some people do not know their statutory rights.

Report to Consumer Direct if you want to.

For that reason it's morally wrong IMHO and, if not legally wrong, it should be illegal to knowingly have T&C that contradict the DSR.

paddyrg

From the Office of Fair Trading - http://www.oft.gov.uk/shared_oft/business_leaflets/general/oft913.pdf

Returning goods

Only if it is covered in the contract and the written information
can you require the consumer to pay for the cost of returning
the ordered goods. If the consumer then fails to return the
goods, or sends them at your expense, you can charge them
the direct cost to you of the return, even if you have already
refunded the consumer’s money. You are not allowed to
make any further charges, such as a restocking charge or an
administration charge.

Yes, DSR's take presedence, but they also say that if an item is being returned and their contract (the terms of purchase you have to click past) say that you have to pay return postage costs, then you have to pay return postage costs (unless the goods are faulty, not as described, substitutes, etc., no automatic exemption for 'I didn't order the right size').

More info: http://www.oft.gov.uk/shared_oft/business_leaflets/general/oft698.pdf

3.55 If you want the consumer to return the goods and to pay for that
return, you must make it clear in the contract and as part of the
required written information – see paragraph 3.10. If the consumer
then fails to return the goods, or sends them at your expense, you
can charge them the direct cost to you of the return, even if you
have already refunded the consumer’s money. You are not allowed
to make any further charges, such as a restocking charge or an
administration charge.

£3.99 may well be the direct cost of having a courier pick up the items.

The battle may well come down to whether the £3.99 charged was the original £3.99 delivery, or the £3.99 it cost them to take your return!

bod1467

There are two aspects here, both of which the DSR cover ...

#1 Initial postage costs. If you reject (return) something under DSR then the supplier must refund both the purchase cost and the postage cost.

#2 If the supplier T&Cs say the consumer must pay to return an item then the consumer pays (but only the actual postage cost, not including any admin fees etc). If the T&Cs make no such reference then the supplier must pay.

... In this case the complaint was regarding item #1 (wherein the supplier weren't refunding the initial postage cost), not item #2.

tomwakefield

As an aside, I don't think

If, at our sole discretion, we do accept your late return, we reserve the right to make a charge to cover our costs in processing it - currently, this charge is £3.00 per item. We'll issue you with a credit on your account for your late return, which you can apply to orders you place in the following six months.

this term is enforceable. It's entirely possible for someone to notify Marisota within 7 working days their intent to return and it not get back there until the 15th calender day (or later), but they wouldn't be entitled to levy a £3 charge.

Out of interest, is there any time limit between telling someone you want to return an item under DSR and actually doing it?

The_Pedant

is there any time limit between telling someone you want to return an item under DSR and actually doing it?

There is nothing explicitly stated, and the receipt of returns goods is interpreted to be entirely separate from the obligation to refund a cancellation within 30 days. I would imagine though that those same 30 days would be seen as more than enough time to return goods for any orders that you have cancelled.

shaun_from_Africa

Out of interest, is there any time limit between telling someone you want to return an item under DSR and actually doing it?

Nope. No time limit whatsoever.
All you have to do is to inform the retailer within the required 7 working day period then they are legally obliged to refund you within 30 days.
This refund must be given even if the retailer hasn't even received the goods back. (Stupid I know, that is exactly what the OFT state).

aloise

I have emailed Eastex about the same problem and they haven't even had the grace to reply. Kaleidoscope did the same and wouldn't reimburse the postage. About time these firms were made to follow the law on this.

aloise

well i eventually had a reply from eastex, as below.
Dear customer,

Thank you for your email and I apologise for the delayed response,

Unfortunately this rule only applies when an order is cancelled, however your order was successfully received and therefore we are under no obligation the refund the postage costs. This is also stated on our website.

But the rules are as i read it
[FONT=&quot]
5.1. Under the Distance Selling Regulations you have a "cooling off" period of seven working days (beginning the day after confirmation of your order) to cancel your order and receive a full refund, including delivery costs.]][/FONT]
So who is right, and is it worth fighting for?
I am so angry with them, their customer service is c**p.
BUT, they do have brilliant sales so i do want to keep ordering from them. Have to say M&S refunded right away when i brought their attention to the same thing.

bod1467

With reference to my previous post ...

bod1467 wrote: »

There are two aspects here, both of which the DSR cover ...

#1 Initial postage costs. If you reject (return) something under DSR then the supplier must refund both the purchase cost and the postage cost.

#2 If the supplier T&Cs say the consumer must pay to return an item then the consumer pays (but only the actual postage cost, not including any admin fees etc). If the T&Cs make no such reference then the supplier must pay.

In respect of #1, the supplier must refund both the purchase cost AND the postage. Their T&Cs are irrelevant - they cannot take precedence over the law.

However they CAN charge you for you returning the item to THEM (#2), as long as their T&Cs state this. If they don't then they must also reimburse you the return postage costs. Again they cannot take precedence over the law.

So what exactly are they saying they won't pay you? The postage costs to return the item or the initial postage costs?