Can I get a refund on this phone order?

mhill11

Hi all,

Wondering if anyone can help.

I placed an online order over the phone back in April and picked up the goods from the retailers shop 14 days ago from today. A few days after that I emailed them back to say I was not happy with the goods as they differed slightly to what I really wanted so what could they do about it. They said they would come back to me.

Today I called them back to find out what their decision was and was told that I would not be able to get an exchange or a refund. This is quite upsetting as the goods purchased totalled £500. On their website it states that if you're unhappy with the purchase to notify them within 7 days of receipt and they would issue a full refund. Upon telling them this I was just laughed at.

Is there anything else I can use to convince them to offer me a refund (now I want a refund, not exchange with the way they spoke to me)? Does the Distance Selling Regulations come into effect here (items are not perishable or personalised)? I still have the email where I told them about the issue. The items are not damaged or anything but I just do not want them anymore. Or am I just stuck with them now? The retailer is a very small shop so may not be aware of liability but then neither am I so am asking for advice from you guys!

Any help would be much appreciated!

Caz3121

mhill11 wrote: »

On their website it states that if you're unhappy with the purchase to notify them within 7 days of receipt and they would issue a full refund.

That should indeed apply for items ordered on the website and delivered to you but do not believe it applies to phone orders or orders collected from the store.
Sounds like, if there is no fault with the item, this is a change of mind and will depend on what the company offers (as legally you have no rights to refund for change of mind but many companies do have their own policy)

agrinnall

Caz3121 wrote: »

That should indeed apply for items ordered on the website and delivered to you but do not believe it applies to phone orders or orders collected from the store.

Luckily for the OP you're wrong on this occasion. The CCRs apply to:

Contracts for goods or services (including digital content) of any value ordered from an EU-based business via mail order, phone or online.

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/shopping/consumer-rights-refunds-exchange?_ga=1.250248068.34353075.1398175728#web

frugal_mike

agrinnall wrote: »

Luckily for the OP you're wrong on this occasion. The CCRs apply to:

Contracts for goods or services (including digital content) of any value ordered from an EU-based business via mail order, phone or online.

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/shopping/consumer-rights-refunds-exchange?_ga=1.250248068.34353075.1398175728#web

The CCR's do not apply here because the order was made in April. This would still be covered by the Distance Selling Regulations I believe. These do apply to orders made on the phone though (as long as the contract concluded/became binding on the phone, not in store).

System

Surely it depends on whether they were paid for at the time of the order over the phone or in the shop on collection.
If pay in shop then the wording in CCR seems to say that as this was concluded on premises then this is not a distance contract

mhill11

Hi both,

Many thanks for the quick replies.

I have two possible problems though:

- As I picked up the items (I didn't check as they were sealed up) would it then be seen as accepting the goods? Are they likely to argue on this point?
- As the order was placed before 13th June and therefore is subject to the older Distance Selling Regulations where it says I have only 7 working days would it be too late now (it has been 10 working days since receipt today although I did email them a few days after receipt of the order indicating I was not happy with the goods and then later phoned them where they then told me to wait while they sort out)?

Thanks again!

mhill11

Thanks !!!!!! for the reply.

To let you know it was paid over the phone back in April.

frugal_mike

It certainly sounds like it was a distance sale so the Distance Selling Regulations will apply. Picking the goods up in the shop does not mean you lost your right to cancel the contract, but you did only have 7 working days to cancel. I imagine it will depend on the exact wording of your email.

mhill11

Thanks frugal_mike

The email states that I was not happy with the received goods as they were different to what I expected them to be and I would like them to rectify this problem as soon as possible. I didn't mention that I wanted a refund although didn't expect there to be this problem. Phone call follow ups last week, which I appreciate are worthless since there is no evidence, suggested they were working on it...until today where I got a rather blunt answer.

Common sense in reading the email clearly shows that I wanted an exchange (or refund as it so happens to be now) as I was not happy although this was not explicitly said, "We would like a refund", more "We have a problem, please sort it out".

So in your opinion is this enough to confidently go back to them, worth a go on the chance they just 'give in', or just have to face up to it?

Thank you

bris

You also have to remember if it's a small shop that is not set up for distance sales and just do the odd 1 here and there then they are not subject to the old DSR.

Do they have a website to order from, or a telesales department, if not then you are stuck.

mhill11

Hi bris,

Thank you for your input.

They do have a fully operational website where you can place orders which is where I read about their returns policy so thought if I was unhappy I would have no issues. In fact I think they do a fair amount of their business online as they sent me an email saying they closed on an afternoon to deal with email orders when I asked them when I could pick up the order. I was going to order online but they suggested calling up as I was ordering a large number so thought nothing of it.

It is actually 9 working days as forgot about the bank holiday although this is still longer than the required 7 days...although all this was waiting for them to get back to me to resolve the problem.

Thanks