How long to wait for a refund - when does the clock start ticking?

slickrock

After a not inconsiderable amount of time, energy and grief I have finally managed (a week ago) to get a retailer to collect a faulty product that originally arrived in that condition. The retailer has admitted it was faulty and told me that he would now refund me.

I contacted the retailer yesterday to ask why, after a week, I had not yet seen the refund in my account. The reply was that refunds are processed in 30 days.

After a bit of searching around I can see that they may have a point, but I cannot find confirmation of when the clock starts ticking. Is it the point at which the item was collected or is it the point at which I originally rejected the item as faulty. The latter is some time ago owing to feet dragging and generally lame excuses from the retailer. Alternatively, it could be another time altogether I suppose.

Thanks for any opinions on this.

Hintza

30 days from when you reported it. But in reality if they take 30 days from when it was received back there is not much they can do.

Off course once you get your money back you can leave reviews to attest to their poor customer service on every website you can think of.

InsideInsurance

It depends under which legislation it was returned as to when the "clock starts ticking"

To the best of my knowledge the vast majority of these types of peices of legislation require "reasonable" action rather explicitly stating a timescale.

dalesrider

There is no reason that the refund cannot be processed straight away. Same as they take the debit straight away.
30 days is the legal max they can take.

Get them to put in writing that they have...
Refunded £££ on X date and to the last 4 digits of your card.
If its not recieved in 15 days of the date stated contact your card provider to do a chargeback.

slickrock

Thanks. This 30 days is pretty soon so I will contact them again and explain when the clock starts ticking and if I get no agreement from them then I will pursue a section 75 claim against my credit card provider I guess. Unless anybody has a better suggestion.

As an aside, when you make a claim against your credit card provider in this way, does anybody know what they do as regards the retailer? I assume they then pursue them for the cash?

dalesrider

slickrock wrote: »

I will pursue a section 75 claim against my credit card provider I guess. Unless anybody has a better suggestion.?

There is no need for a S75 claim. There are chargeback options avaiable which are much quicker and require you to do far less work.

slickrock

InsideInsurance wrote: »

It depends under which legislation it was returned as to when the "clock starts ticking"

To the best of my knowledge the vast majority of these types of peices of legislation require "reasonable" action rather explicitly stating a timescale.

Sale of Goods Act 1979. Satisfactory Quality.

arcon5

The only time limit given is from the Distance Selling Regulations, in which case the 30 days thing is not actually a target, just a limit... a refund should be issued as soon as possible

(3) The supplier shall make the reimbursement referred to in paragraph (1) as soon as possible and in any case within a period not exceeding 30 days beginning with the day on which the notice of cancellation was given.

SoGA doesn't set a time limit, although it's commonly accepted that up to 30 days in acceptable.

Otherwise your CC company will assist

InsideInsurance

The SoGA is much more wooly compared to the DSR. My memory says that it is all a matter of reasonableness and I'd take a stab at 30 days from the date of it being confirmed faulty (which itself would have to be done in a reasonable timescale)

slickrock

Just thought that I would post an update.
I have just telephoned my credit card company and they said that they will refund me the purchase price of the item that I purchased as the retailer never refunded me. In the end I made a section 75 claim (using the template letter I downloaded from this site). It was very straightforward and I just sent my full email trail along with the letter.
I have heard nothing from the retailer since.

As a matter of interest, does anybody know if the credit card company now goes to the retailer to try to get the money back? Surely there must be some sort of sanction applied?