Santander Refused Me a Section 75 Refund

rhinestonemaiden

Recently I bought some Creed perfume from the London Perfume Company as it was a bargain price (not much over £100). I tried to use my Nationwide and American Express credit Cards to process the transaction, but mysteriously neither worked, however my Santander credit card did work and the transaction went through. I really wish it hadn't! The perfume when it arrived was in a box that was plainly not in mint condition and bent on one side. With trepidation I tested the perfume which did not smell beautiful like the genuine article (with which I am familiar) and left behind an unpleasant bleach aroma. It had either been kept in a poor environment or was fake. I had some correspondence with the LPC who wanted the perfume returned. There was no initial assurance that I would get an unconditional refund with the return which perturbed me, it was like, well if we agree there is nothing wrong with it we will give you a refund. After applying some pressure, LPC appeared to agree to make the refund upon receipt of the product, but still, I was wary. It's just a small company I discovered from an online search, with a lot more debts than assets. As well as the risk that I would not in fact get a refund, I would have given up my only evidence that the product was defective. I explained this in email to LPC and told them I was going to refer the dispute to Santander. I sent photos of the perfume and box plus my detailed reasons for saying the product was faulty/fake to Santander's Section 75 Team. It all took a few weeks and not a little pressure just to get a NO from them, on the ground that I had not returned the product to the Seller and that somehow this meant there had not been a breach of contract. As a last resort, I emailed the Complaints Team. The Santander Executive Office then wanted to speak to me on the phone. Their staff member reiterated the same rigmarole as the letter from the Section 75 Team, so it was another NO. During the conversation, I explained that I did not have to pursue the Seller, as under S75, the credit card provider is jointly and severally liable for my losses. I confirmed I would be pursuing Santander and not the Seller, so the fact that I had not returned the product to the Seller was irrelevant. At the same time I offered to allow Santander to test the product (by comparing it with the genuine good quality perfume). The Executive Office staff member was not interested in taking up that opportunity. He simply announced he would write a letter confirming that Santander would not accept my losses. I replied that I would be taking Santander to the Small Claims Court. It's not a huge sum, but it's a matter of principle. It is wrong that Santander can simply dismiss a customer's claim for a faulty product out of hand and without any proper investigation. And it is also surprising as you would not expect a big company like Santander to wish to upset a customer in this way over what to that company is rather a trifling sum. In fact, it's not just surprising, it's scary. And I do wonder how many times they have done this to their other customers.

andyuk01

Little hard to read, paragraphs would help people read this more easily

I suspect santander are rejecting this as they believe you haven't taken reasonable steps to resolve this, which they are entitled to do (s75a, part 2, d)

Just return the perfume to the supplier, if they refund you problem solved

If they don't refund you Santander will more than likely honour the S75 claim

meer53

What exactly are you claiming ? That the perfume is fake ?

Why don't you just send it back as per their instructions ?

Your review on Trustpilot is a little silly. Accusing Santander of not wanting to test the perfume is slightly ridiculous and saying that other credit card issuers would have acted differently is also ridiculous. How would you expect someone in a bank to know whether a perfume is genuine ?

Why would you expect a refund when you still have the goods ? If you have proof the perfume is fake, Santander would probably be more than happy to help you. As it stands, you just sound like someone who wants stupidly expensive perfume for free.

There are comprehensive returns T & C's on LPC website, did you follow these at all ?

grumbler

rhinestonemaiden wrote: »

....It is wrong that Santander can simply dismiss a customer's claim for a faulty product out of hand and without any proper investigation. And it is also surprising as you would not expect a big company like Santander to wish to upset a customer in this way over what to that company is rather a trifling sum. In fact, it's not just surprising, it's scary. And I do wonder how many times they have done this to their other customers.

Why would they voluntarily pay you from their own pocket? This is how s75 claim works.
Simple chargeback is far more reasonable in this case, when your card provider takes the money from the supplier's bank. However, understandably, you are supposed to return the goods first and claim chargeback only if the supplier refuses to refund you.

MSE article: Visa, Mastercard & Amex Chargeback

chanz4

Have you got any proof that its fake? Or has your sense of smell changed...

Anthorn

Before you action a section 75 claim you should actually give the company/retailer a chance to put it right. A section 75 claim is very much a last resort.


Anyway, a quick money-saving tip: If that was Creed Silver Mountain Water you could get something very similar for under a fiver ( amazon.co.uk ) - Al Rehab Silver unisex Eau de Parfum or as it's labelled "Eau De Perfume". The H in Rehab is that Arab throaty sound not as in Rehab Clinic.

eddddy

So the retailer said something like "return the product and we'll give you a refund" - but you refused to return it.

On that basis, I don't think the small claims court would find in your favour.

If you are concerned about protecting other consumers from a dodgy retailer who seems to be selling fake pefume, perhaps you could phone trading standards and say "I've bought a perfume which I think is fake - do you want to investigate, or shall I just return it for a refund?"