River Island Returns

glitter123

I thought there was a report last year that drew attention regulations regarding postage for online purchases.

My understanding was that if you returned an item (within 7 days) you were entitled to a full refund including any postage paid.

My daughter purchased an item online from River Island which she returned to a store. They didn't refund her postage and she emailed the company asking if this was correct. They then refunded her postage saying they would make sure their stores were aware of the rules.

Since then she has returned items to store on a further two occasions without the postage refund.

Having looked at their website its states;

Please note that we cannot refund postage & packaging on unsuitable items

Are they right?

mrputney08

Was it underwear? That would be classed as an 'unsuitable item'...
It sounds like they haven't kept their stores up to date on the return policy and they are going by the 'don't ask don't get' rule.

gordikin

glitter123 wrote: »

I thought there was a report last year that drew attention regulations regarding postage for online purchases.

My understanding was that if you returned an item (within 7 days) you were entitled to a full refund including any postage paid.

My daughter purchased an item online from River Island which she returned to a store. They didn't refund her postage and she emailed the company asking if this was correct. They then refunded her postage saying they would make sure their stores were aware of the rules.

Since then she has returned items to store on a further two occasions without the postage refund.

Having looked at their website its states;

Please note that we cannot refund postage & packaging on unsuitable items

Are they right?

That quote is from the 'Returning goods' section of their T&C's and is totally out of context.

T&C's:-

returning goods

We hope you’ll love every River Island purchase, but if you ever need to return an item you can do so within 14 days of receipt in one of 3 ways:
- Direct to any River Island Store
- Freepost via any UK Post Office™
- Via courier using the River Island Parcel Collection Service

Full instructions appear on the reverse of your order Despatch Note.

It can take up to 28 days for a return to be processed if you choose to send it back to us via Post Office™ or Parcel Collection Service.

Please note that we cannot refund postage & packaging on unsuitable items and are unable to refund costs for any method of posting other than those detailed here.

unholyangel

mrputney08 wrote: »

Was it underwear? That would be classed as an 'unsuitable item'...
It sounds like they haven't kept their stores up to date on the return policy and they are going by the 'don't ask don't get' rule.

Why would underwear be classed as a "unsuitable" item? Underwear isnt excluded from the DSR's AFAIK. DSR's do not link the customers right to cancel with the retailers ability to resell the item. That being said, the customer does have responsibility to take reasonable care of any items they get.

The usage of unsuitable would give me the impression of not appropriate for the customer or not fitting for their needs (ie a change of mind rather than faulty).

Quite misleading but remember, apparently they're absolved providing they have "this does not affect your statutory rights".........load of crap imo. They shouldnt be allowed to mislead in the first place regardless of any phrase they may include elsewhere.

glitter123

No it wasn't underwear - it was a dress.

Gordikin, I take your point but nowhere does it state that your P&P will be refunded. I don't have a problem with the instructions (which was why I didn't include them).

I took unsuitable as meaning not fitting/disliking etc What you would consider "unsuitable" to mean?

mrputney08

unholyangel wrote: »

Why would underwear be classed as a "unsuitable" item? Underwear isnt excluded from the DSR's AFAIK. DSR's do not link the customers right to cancel with the retailers ability to resell the item. That being said, the customer does have responsibility to take reasonable care of any items they get.

I say that because I ordered a bra once off of boobydoo (lol) and they wouldn't accept it back cos it had been 'worn'!! It was marked when I got and before I tried it on but I couldn't prove it as I didn't bother complaining, I just immediately tried it on, arrgh!
I reckon they already had their reply in place. Guess who won't be buying from that site again...:mad:

unholyangel thanks for the info and correction.

unholyangel

mrputney08 wrote: »

unholyangel wrote: »

Why would underwear be classed as a "unsuitable" item? Underwear isnt excluded from the DSR's AFAIK. DSR's do not link the customers right to cancel with the retailers ability to resell the item. That being said, the customer does have responsibility to take reasonable care of any items they get.

I say that because I ordered a bra once off of boobydoo (lol) and they wouldn't accept it back cos it had been 'worn'!! It was marked when I got and before I tried it on but I couldn't prove it as I didn't bother complaining, I just immediately tried it on, arrgh!
I reckon they already had their reply in place. Guess who won't be buying from that site again...:mad:

unholyangel thanks for the info and correction.

Dont always believe retailers! At the end of the day a lot of retailers are great with customer services but a lot are bad and they're in it to make money.

A lot of retailers arent properly trained in consumer law either. Meaning they will try charging restocking fee's, not refunding postage, telling you to go to the manufacturer etc.

The right to a refund under the DSR's is unconditional. Meaning that technically even if you did mark the item yourself, they should refund your money and then claim breach of contract (as you have a duty to take reasonable care of the item).