Excessive Return Charges - Legal?

JohnTheCandle

I wonder if anyone can advise
I bought some bar stools from Bar Stool World ( AKA world of barstools / world stores) on the web . They were £ 69.95 each with FOC delivery . I paid online with paypal.
They are not suitable and I am trying to return them(notified within 7 days ) but the company is saying I can not return only they will collect (I cannot send them) and they charge 15% of the RRP (not purchase price) .RRP is £ 159.99 so for the three its £ 71.99
Is this legal !!
Any help advised as it seems daylight robbery as I can Interlink them for £10
Many thanks

somethingcorporate

Is the charge they are quoting the cost of returning or a "restocking fee"?

The cost they can deduct from a refund should only be the cost they incur to collect. It should have (little to) no relationship to the value of the goods (nor the RRP) so it does sound (to me) like they are trying to pull a fast one.

Ask for a returns address and that you will send them via your own courier. Keep it in writing and keep records.

tomwakefield

I found this
http://www.barstoolworld.co.uk/x/page.php?page=terms

Unwanted goods / wrongly ordered:
In the unlikely event you should want to return an item to us we are pleased to offer all customers our 7 Day No Quibble Refund. With our 7 Day No Quibble Refund you have 7 working days in which to decide to keep your ordered items or return them to us for a refund. BarStoolWorld will deduct from any refund the cost of recovering goods from customers. This is typically £40 per item and is the direct cost to BarStoolWorld of recovering the item.

I can't see how the return cost is directly proportional to the RRP and would agree with somethingcorporate that they're taking the mick.

Incidentally

REFUNDS WILL NOT BE PROCESSED UNLESS (a) THE GOODS ARE PACKAGED IN THEIR ORIGINAL PACKAGING AND ARE IN A SALEABLE CONDITION (b) THE GOODS ARE ACCOMPANIED BY A FULLY COMPLETED RETURNS FORM WHICH MUST BE PLACED IN AN ENVELOPE AND AFFIXED TO ONE OF THE BOXES.

Is not legal, as they can't add their own conditions to a DSR refund, so don't let yourself be conned if they decide that it's not packaged correctly. If they feel they have a case for you breaching your duty of care they still have to refund you, then must try and claim for damages to get the money back.

arcon5

op, buy some decent and heavy-duty packaging to secure the items (unless you have the original packaging, in which case extra packaging is always useful), get yourself over to ParcelMonkey.co.uk and pay the £5-£20 (depending on weight/overall size/how many packages your sending them as) to return them.

Then tell them to shove their unreasonable costs for returning the goods

JohnTheCandle

Thanks for your input,

JohnTheCandle

THey wont give me a returns adresss ! And the address on the website is just a office not a warehouse although i may send them there anyway . I have never bothered to look at returns info before as i assumed most compaines were fairly fair and honest , not Bar Stool World . Should have looked at some reviews i suppose,. Off to post some reviews now for them

pendulum

How did you pay?

JohnTheCandle

I paid via paypal on my amex (credit) card

texranger

contact consumer direct for their advice as thyey will have templated letters etc. that you could use and wil know more on how you can return them.
if you want to return i am sure they have to provide a returns address

somethingcorporate

I agree, the fact they do not have a returns address (or will not provide one) demonstrates they are making money from customers by charging them an excessive amount to return items via the only method they say they will accept. It does not cost £40 to return a bar stool!

I'd give it a chase up and then contact Amex to discuss disputing the transaction (not sure whether going via paypal means you can not do a charge back).

This company appear like a right bunch of shysters that are putting in terms that are against the DSR and ripping off customers on returns. Shameful behavior!

tomwakefield

somethingcorporate wrote: »

I'd give it a chase up and then contact Amex to discuss disputing the transaction (not sure whether going via paypal means you can not do a charge back).

If the OP loaded up paypal with their Amex card then paid through paypal then the card company probably won't do anything as they only have a transaction with paypal.