Not given a full refund

CoolHotCold

shaun_from_Africa wrote: »

Normally this could mean that you were screwed as you've not complied with the requirements of the DSR's.
However, you should be okay due to the e-mail that you received from them in which they stated

As this clearly states that they have accepted the return under the DSR's, and it also shows that they have deducted the original shipping costs when it is illegal to do so under the reg's.

Instead of trying to get a refund of the £50 through legal action, you could always open a paypal dispute providing that you have tracked proof that the aircon was returned to the seller.
Open a goods not as described dispute, and in the details section write that the seller is not honouring their terms and conditions, which form part of the contract of sale.

They must tell you in writing, or in another durable medium, if they want to cancel. This includes letter, fax or email. A phone call is not enough unless you say in your terms and conditions that you will accept cancellations by phone.

From OFT.Gov.UK

And as Aircon have not stated in the T&C that a phone call is a alternative to a durable statement (written or email) that point is unfortunately moot. Aircon cannot be held to the statement that they took the £50 for delivery charge "in acceptance with the Distance Selling Regulations"

Andrewhicks

So even though it says in their terms and conditions that


Unfortunately we cannot accept any mistakes made on your behalf due to incorrect buying if for example a product is not suitable for your requirement or you do not like the product. Hence a restocking charge may apply to the total purchase price paid plus any additional costs we may have incurred in the delivery and collection of the goods.

The DSR's override this?

CoolHotCold

Yes the DSR override this.

But you didn't follow the DSR guide and as such they are allowed to then follow their own T&C for returns.

shaun_from_Africa

When you sent the aircon back, did you put anything in writing with it stating that you were returning it for a refund?
If so, then this would cover the requirement for informing the seller (provided that they received the package by the close of business on the 22nd Feb.

There is another thing to check, and this is when or how you were informed of your return rights under the DSR's.
Was there anything written about this on your invoice?
This info must be given to you in a written form (shown on a website is not good enough), and if you didn't receive this 7 day cancellation info, then the period you have to return the aircon gets extended.

All in all, due to the illegal T&C's that this company has, I would still push for a full refund either through paypal or by taking legal action.

Andrewhicks

Shaun

I still haven't received an invoice for this yet, i got a conformation of order by email which doesn't mention T&C's, all i got with the goods was a delivery note which again doesn't mention any T&C's.

shaun_from_Africa

In that case, send an e-mail to aircon247 informing them that as you have not received written notification of your legal rights under the DSR's, the 7 working day notice period has not yet started, and as such you wish to claim a full refund of all monies paid by you for this purchase.

Make sure that you make them aware that anything written on their website is not considered a "durable medium", and is not satisfactory to inform you of your rights and their obligations.
Also tell them that unless you receive a refund of the remaining £50 no later than 30 days from the date of the cancellation e-mail, you will have no option but to report them to Trading standards and to take legal action to recover your money.

arcon5

Can you not open a PayPal case?

I don't think the technicalities of DSRs are even relevant IMO - they accepted the return and didn't tell you of any additional terms either at time of acceptance or when the contract was formed (in their T&Cs), they can't retrospectively change it

shaun_from_Africa

I agree that a paypal case is the way to go, using the not as described route as I described earlier.

I just thought that a final e-mail informing the seller that the OP won't be going away without a fight and showing that they are fully aware of their legal rights might get the money refunded quicker than going through paypal.

Andrewhicks

Just had a phone call from the guys at aircon247.com, after informing them via email of my rights under dsr and that i had not received a copy of their T&C's, basically the guy had a go at me saying that it cost them money to deliver the unit and do i think that's fair and that i had "stitched them up". Good customer service i think not? He said ill leave it with you to think about and i am to send him an email to let him know how i wish to proceed.

shaun_from_Africa

When you send the e-mail, I would be very tempted to state that they were actually the ones trying to stitch you up by depriving you of your statutory rights (something that trading standards would be interested in).

If aircon247 had a good business plan, they would have taken the DSR's into account when deciding their selling prices and should have added a small sum to the price of each item to cover any items returned.

No one forces any company to sell via the internet, but if they decide to do this and get the benefits that come with it (such as low staff numbers, no retail premises, a very wide customer audience etc), then they should also accept that there may be the odd downside to selling this way.