missrebel in Breach of Distance Selling Regs

mo786uk

it is up to each TS to enforce the DSR in their area. You can report it to them by calling the Citizens advice consumer helpline.

Trinitrotoluene

techspec wrote: »

Personally - i don't think sellers should have to return postage. They paid it out to get the item to you.

The issue here is you would get scrupulous businesses selling an Item for £3 and £59.99 postage to avoid DSR. Ultimately, while not entirely fair I agree, it does make sense to have to refund postage.

arcon5

Sometimes the threat of negative reviews etc will encourage a retailer to refund it

Scaredy_Cat_3

Oh look, they have a facebook page

http://www.facebook.com/missrebeluk?ref=ts

tomwakefield

techspec wrote: »

Personally - i don't think sellers should have to return postage. They paid it out to get the item to you. Of course - most big retailers want you to try things and will not only refund postage - but pay for their return.

But not sure on the law.

Of course, Ebay and paypal make sellers return postage.

I agree that stores should be able to keep a reasonable charge for the postage service they've already provided and can't be "unprovided". But, within the law, they can't.

Scaredy_Cat_3

tomwakefield wrote: »

I agree that stores should be able to keep a reasonable charge for the postage service they've already provided and can't be "unprovided". But, within the law, they can't.

Morally, I'm inclined to agree with you. However, the law states otherwise, and I placed the order in the belief that I was covered by the DSRs. To be honest the DSRs have given me confidence to buy a number of things online where I might not have bought if I knew I was going to lose out on two lots of postage if I wanted to return the item - so although the shop might lose out on postage now and again, I would think overall they benefit by the extra orders that people wouldn't have made without the security of the DSR cover.

As it stands, I've paid out in postage roughly what the item cost to buy. Had I known up front that I would end up spending this amount but have nothing to show for it I might not have bothered.

As this shop is not local to me I wasn't able to walk into town and buy it face to face. Maybe this is the price shops have to pay to attract customers who do not live locally. They can advertise to a much larger audience by being online.

Alias_Omega

3 Outcomes -

1) They refund you, might have to email in many times. Probably will end up with a reply from the MD of the company. May take many hours of emailing back and forth, ideally done in works time..

2) You give up, they refuse to return the £5 postage. You give up that your time is worth more than that. Have a moan on MSE about them, putting the name of the site in the title/first post so it comes up on Google Searches.

3) You dont give up, they fob you off. You issue Letters Before Action, then press onto Small Claims Court (Moneyclaimonline). £5 costs escalate up to £50-60, Settlement outside of court with a gagging order as the cost is less than the cost to send a solicitor to your local court. We don't here the outcome of the case. Takes about 5-6 months to get to court allocation stage.

Have fun... I like (3). :j

Scaredy_Cat_3

If it was a higher amount I'd want to opt for 3 aswell

However, it's only a small amount, as you've said my time is worth more than that! Can't do this sort of thing at work, either.

No, I accept they are not going to refund, but if this is (as I believe) a breach of DSRs then I will just report it to Trading Standards. I just don't like it when people think the law doesn't apply to them. I thought I could also report them to the OFT, which is why I came on here (as I was having difficulty finding an option for this on the OFT website), but it looks like Trading Standards is the best route.

mjm3346

Refunds
The retailer must refund the full amount including the delivery
costs as soon as possible after the consumer cancels, and in
any case within 30 days at the latest. You cannot insist on the
goods being received by you before you make a refund.
Returning goods
Only if it is covered in the contract and the written information
can you require the consumer to pay for the cost of returning
the ordered goods.

From the OFT short guide for business on DSR


http://www.oft.gov.uk/shared_oft/business_leaflets/general/oft913.pdf

Alias_Omega

Scaredy_Cat wrote: »

If it was a higher amount I'd want to opt for 3 aswell

However, it's only a small amount, as you've said my time is worth more than that! Can't do this sort of thing at work, either.

No, I accept they are not going to refund, but if this is (as I believe) a breach of DSRs then I will just report it to Trading Standards. I just don't like it when people think the law doesn't apply to them. I thought I could also report them to the OFT, which is why I came on here (as I was having difficulty finding an option for this on the OFT website), but it looks like Trading Standards is the best route.

I've recently had a shi*ty email from a MD of a company about DSR rules, which ended up with a full refund. Stick with it.