M&S Refund Nightmare...any help appreciated

viswindon

Hello,

I am having a nightmare of a time with Marks and Spencers over a pair of trousers I purchased.

On April 18th 2012 I purchased a pair of trousers (Andy 1 Zip Str/Ltrousers (06711351T57)) from M&S at The Orbital Shopping Park, Swindon.

Unfortunately they were too long and I had to returnthem. However, due to ill health, I was unable to return them until today, May24th 2012.
At first the assistant, who dealt with me, said, 'not toworry, you still have the reciept and they're only a day out of M&S refundpolicy, I'll refund you the money'.
I was quite happy with this, as I thought I'dhave to accept a voucher.
However, I was offered a refund of not the original £25,but just £6!!!
The reason given was that the item was now in a sale; hadI returned them yesterday I would have been given the full amount!

I declined this 'offer' as I cannot afford to lose £19; I'm an 85-year old pensioner on a basic state pension.
I am absolutely amazed, and disgusted, if this is the'correct' M&S return's policy; it is not as though I have returned the itemafter 3 or 6 months!

I was ONE day over their 'limit', for which they tried to penalise me £19.
This was the gist of what I emailed M&S earlier.
I've just received the following reply from them:

"Thank you for your email about the jeans you returned to our Swindon Orbital store. I’m sorry to hear you’re unhappy by our position. Please see below the terms and conditions of our refund policy as requested.

If an item is faulty or doesn’t match the description on the packaging, we will normally offer you an exchange or a full refund in accordance with your legal rights.

If an item is simply unsuitable, we will normally offer you an exchange or a full refund, provided you return the product with a valid receipt, within 35 days of purchase and in a re-saleable condition (for a product to be re-saleable, it must be unworn and have the original labels and/or tags still attached).

If you return an unsuitable item after 35 days, or without a receipt, we will normally offer you the current selling price on a credit receipt.

Please note that we are not legally obliged to offer an exchange or a refund unless an item is faulty or doesn’t match the description on the packaging.

I know this will come as a disappointment, but I’m afraid there’s nothing further we can do for you.

Please be aware this email is from a ‘no reply’ email address. If you would like to respond, please contact us via our website and we will be happy to assist you further.

Thanks again for taking the time to get in touch.

Kind Regards

Martin Woods
Marks & Spencer Customer Services
Registered office: Waterside House, 35 North Wharf Road, London, W2 1 NW.
Registered Number: 214436 (England and Wales)"

Can anyone help me, or do I have to accept that M&S have virtually stolen £19 from me?
All I want is my original £25 returned, I'm not asking for the world!!

Thank you,
Vi

mynameistallulah

M&S have not stolen £19 from you, you still have a pair of £25 trousers. You attempted to return the item outside the well publicised returns period, they did not have to offer you anything.

McKneff

You must have liked them to buy them

You said you were taking them back because they were too long. Why didnt you just take the hem up,

mildred1978

Will they let you exchange them for a shorter pair?

mynameistallulah

mildred1978 wrote: »

Will they let you exchange them for a shorter pair?

If they were reduced to £6 they will be end of line, so unlikely to get another pair.

Nothing to stop the OP getting them shortened though ...

pmduk

viswindon wrote: »

Can anyone help me, or do I have to accept that M&S have virtually stolen £19 from me?
All I want is my original £25 returned, I'm not asking for the world!!

Thank you,
Vi

M&S are prepared to give you more money back than you are legally entitled to and you call it theft! This attitude is probably why so many companies are sticking by the letter of their policies.

viswindon

mynameistallulah wrote: »

M&S have not stolen £19 from you, you still have a pair of £25 trousers. You attempted to return the item outside the well publicised returns period, they did not have to offer you anything.

I have a pair of unwanted trouser which I attempted to return just 24 hours outside of M&S's returns period.
Where is this 'well publicised'????

viswindon

mildred1978 wrote: »

Will they let you exchange them for a shorter pair?

Unfortunately, they didn't have another pair in stock.

Thank you for your sensible answer, first one I've received on here!

Some of the posters are extremely hostile and totally unhelpful; I'm amazed!

Once again, thank you

viswindon

McKneff wrote: »

You must have liked them to buy them

You said you were taking them back because they were too long. Why didnt you just take the hem up,

Of course I liked them...do you buy things you don't like??

The all-round fit is poor.

Dunroamin

viswindon wrote: »

Of course I liked them...do you buy things you don't like??

The all-round fit is poor.

Perhaps you should suggest to your local store that they could be really revolutionary and introduce changing cubicles?

wealdroam

viswindon wrote: »

28 days is reasonably good.
However, if YOU had read my post fully, you would have seen I was ill (in hospital) for an entire 30 days.

Or, perhaps, you can't read??

I didn't read that you were in hospital for thirty days, did I?

In fact, I didn't read that you were in hospital at all.

Please explain why that should be of interest to M&S.

Also, if you made the purchase on 18 April and tried to return the goods on 24 May, you were seven days outside their 28 day return period.
Not as you claim...

viswindon wrote: »

I was ONE day over their 'limit'...