House of Fraser - wrong refund

Philnicholson

Hi all, first post and hope it is in the correct section.

I bought 2 items from HoF online for collection, this was a vase for mothers day and a polo shirt priced as follows:

Polo top £32.50
Vase £20.00
Total £52.50

Additional 20% off home items added at checkout:

Polo top £32.50
Vase: £16.00 (£4 discount)
Total £48.50

I then used a £5 reward I had accumulated and paid the £43.50 on my debit card.

I then returned the polo shirt because it didn't fit well but was only given £30.02 as a refund. Upon questioning this I was told I was wrong at the till but with no explanation, this then lead to a complaint email I sent them.

Much to my surprise the response I got from HoF was:

"Whenever you place an online order and receive a discount for any item in this order, the discount obtained is applied evenly across all the items in the order.

This is why a portion of your total discount of £4.00 has been taken from both the top and the vase."

Upon questioning why this isn't clear at point of sale or on my online acknowledgement HoF responded:

"Unfortunately as this was the terms of our sales and we are unable to amend this at all, I apologise for any inconvenience you caused."

So I am basically £2.48 worse off currently because I returned the polo top and not the vase as well. The vase my mother loved so I am not going to be returning any time soon.

Obviously had I of known this was the case I could have returned the vase instantly and bought it back on a separate transaction for a £2.48 profit.

Has anyone else had a similar issue with HoF and got the difference refunded?

Now I know how the system works is there anything stopping me or other people from using it for my own advantage in the future?

bod1467

If you had simply bought the Polo top, would you have received a 20% discount? No; the discount was purely for the homeware item, evidenced by the £4 discount value.

Are their T&Cs regarding how they apply discounts available for review prior to completing payment for the order? If not then their policy on this is irrelevant.

Was there a minimum spend requirement to be entitled to the 20% discount?

As far as I can see, they owe you £2.48. Whether it's worth the time and effort pursuing this though is your call.

ERICS_MUM

How is the £4 discount shown on the receipt ? Are the prices of both items reduced "pro-rata or is it shown only against the case ? How did you know about the discount, what were it's t&cs ?

I suspect their system was set up like this in error and it's easier for them to change their "rules" rather than tweak the system.

Philnicholson

No minimum spend required, I could have bought the items in two transactions and still paid the same but would have then been able to get the correct refund when returning items.

The terms and conditions of sale are available on a link at the bottom of their page when you click through to pay for an item, although even if I had of read this it still isn't clear to me.

The £2.48 isn't worth the hassle, its the principle and being told that I am wrong that makes me want to pursue it further though.

Now knowing this, if I did this to make a profit is that fraudulent?

NotRichAtAll

if your reciept says the top was £32.50 i would want £32.50 back, its a matter of principle.
could of been worse if you'd shopped at sports direct you do not get refund's

Philnicholson

ERICS_MUM wrote: »

How is the £4 discount shown on the receipt ? Are the prices of both items reduced "pro-rata or is it shown only against the case ? How did you know about the discount, what were it's t&cs ?

I suspect their system was set up like this in error and it's easier for them to change their "rules" rather than tweak the system.

The discount was just advertised on their site and via an emails. I cant link the T&C's as I am a new user but it doesn't mention it within the offer T&C's.

On my online receipt it is as follows:

SubTotal£52.50
Delivery Charge -
Buy & Collect FREE RECOGNITION 20% OFF-£4.00
Reward value- £5.00
Total to Pay£43.50

The actual collection recipts then had it split out as I was refunded but I didn't notice this at the time as it was within the box.

unholyangel

Could possibly try pointing out that you didnt get 20% off your order, you got 20% off the vase? Therefore as the discount wasnt applied evenly across both items (else you would've been discounted more than £4), it should not be deducted evenly.

It all really comes down to how much time you're willing/prepared to spend on it.

Philnicholson

Thanks everyone for your thoughts and responses. Whilst the £2.48 isn't a lot the principle bothers me.

I think in the meantime I will wait until another offer comes on and see if it does actually work both ways.