Company not refunding return postage

zcacogp

Chaps, First post here - please be gentle! I bought an item from an on-line shop. The item was mis-described (it didn't do what it claimed to do) and as such was not what I wanted. Delivery was free (the shop offered free delivery for orders over a certain value.) I spoke with the shop when the item arrived, and they accepted that the mistake was theirs and told me to post it back to them. I asked who would pay for the return postage and they said they probably would as the fault was theirs. The item has now been returned, and they have refunded the purchase price, but are refusing to refund the cost of the return postage. They claim that they have refunded the cost of the postage to deliver the item to me (which was free), and therefore won't refund the cost of returning it. I have spoken with consumer direct, who were quite clear that the cost of the return postage has to be paid by the seller if the item is mis-described or faulty, but the company in question still refuses to refund the cost. What do I do now? The cost of the return postage wasn't much (£4), but being unemployed I'd quite like that £4 back! Do I go the whole hog and start a small claims court action? I'm sure it would work, but it seems quite a lot of effort for £4. Or are there other options? All advice welcomed - thanks. Oli.

PZH

Hi Oli

Welcome to the Forum

Send them a Letter Before Action (LBA) stating the facts and what you exect them to do (i.e. You ARE entitled to return postage costs and you want them to refund it). Also state that you give them x days to respond (usually 14 days) or you will start Court action against them.

If they fail to respond - then you will either have to start a claim (Can be done online) or give up. You will have to decide whether it is worth proceeding.

If you win the court action, then you will get your costs back - but, that is assuming that they pay following a successful win. If they still do not pay, then further action would be needed to reclaim your money.

zcacogp

Phoodless, Thanks - that's pretty much what I thought would be the case. Thanks for confirming it. No options other than small claims court. I guess the question then is a subjective one; is it worth going to that extent of hassle? It's only £4. OK, £4's worth fighting for at the moment, but at what point do I roll over and give up (which is what the company is hoping I will do I suspect.) Hmmmm. Decisions. Thanks again for your post. Oli.

PZH

Well, you never know - perhaps the LBA will spur them into action without the need to go further...

zcacogp

Phoodless, It's possible. I remain hopeful ... I seem to have had contact with the same guy there every time, who is polite but ultimately unhelpful. He refuses to put me through to anyone else, although has given me the name of their MD ... I suspect that if I can speak to someone more senior then it may yet go somewhere. And a LBA may just manage that. Thanks. I'll keep this thread updated. Oli.

arcon5

Its out of order I know but would you really bother going to court over £4 when you could be putting your time and effort into other things that matter in your life, finding employment for example?

And if your skint as it then spending another £25 to begin proceedings is a little counter-productive. Okay, you would probably win and get the money back. But after you have a CCJ and if they don't pay you have the task of enforcing it. And for the £29 (court fees + postage) I doubt you will actually find a company willing to take it on tbh.

Send a LBA by all means, but if that doesn't work just leave some bad reviews, name and shame and move on.

clarkey3262

arcon5 wrote: »

Its out of order I know but would you really bother going to court over £4 when you could be putting your time and effort into other things that matter in your life, finding employment for example?

Where does the OP say they are unemployed? Or is it only unemployed people who complain about companies ripping them off?

nobodyspecial

zcacogp wrote: »

What do I do now? The cost of the return postage wasn't much (£4), but being unemployed I'd quite like that £4 back! Do I go the whole hog and start a small claims court action? I'm sure it would work, but it seems quite a lot of effort for £4. Or are there other options? All advice welcomed - thanks. Oli.

clarkey3262 wrote: »

Where does the OP say they are unemployed? Or is it only unemployed people who complain about companies ripping them off?

in the bolded bit

clarkey3262

Point conceded, sorry

zcacogp

I am unemployed (and did say so in my original post!) Arcon, I guess this is the sort of question I am trying to answer; is it worth it? I've no idea how much it would cost to pursue (£25 you say? Thanks - that's helpful) but I am tempted to go for it. I guess the flip side of being unemployed is that I have a lot of time to do this sort of thing, and am willing to trade some of it for money (if that makes sense.) I guess the next step is to send the LBA and see what happens, on the hope that they will pay up. Snag is that, if I am not willing to push it all the way, why bother even to go that far? I notice that the promised call-back from the MD hasn't materialised today. Did I expect it to? Probably not. Thanks again for your input. Oh, and a question - how do I get my posts here to appear in paragraphs; I type in paragraphs but they all come out as a block? Oli.