Online seller obliged to refund original postage costs?

gavinm

Hi all,

This is my first post here and I would really appreciate your thoughts.

I ordered a bike helmet online (from a bike shop website). I received it in the post but I wasn't happy with the quality - I thought the finishing on it was poor. On this basis I returned it to the seller (I paid for postage) and asked for a refund.

The seller replied saying that while they would refund the cost of the helmet they would NOT refund ANY postage costs ie neither (i) the postage cost to me for returning the helmet; nor (ii) the original postage cost to them for posting to me in the first place.

They say the item was fit for sale, therefore it was not a warranty or faulty item, and, as such, the postage costs are not refundable.

Unfortunately I have to concede (i) above, as I didn't take photos of the helmet, and the website states "If you return something due to it not fitting or being suitable, you will need to pay the postage costs to return it to us".. Ok fine.

But can someone please confirm whether they are entitled to withhold (ii) - their original postage costs for sending the item to me?

I have tried quoting them the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013, stating that the obligation to refund original postage costs exists regardless of whether or not there was a fault with the helmet, but they aren't having any of it.

Can someone please confirm whether they are entitled to withhold their original postage costs for sending the item to me, and what I can do? This is really annoying and while its not a huge amount of money I want to report them to TS if needs be..

Many thanks in advance..

wealdroam

gavinm wrote: »

Hi all,

This is my first post here and I would really appreciate your thoughts.

I ordered a bike helmet online (from a bike shop website). I received it in the post but I wasn't happy with the quality - I thought the finishing on it was poor. On this basis I returned it to the seller (I paid for postage) and asked for a refund.

The seller replied saying that while they would refund the cost of the helmet they would NOT refund ANY postage costs ie neither (i) the postage cost to me for returning the helmet; nor (ii) the original postage cost to them for posting to me in the first place.

They say the item was fit for sale, therefore it was not a warranty or faulty item, and, as such, the postage costs are not refundable.

Unfortunately I have to concede (i) above, as I didn't take photos of the helmet, and the website states "If you return something due to it not fitting or being suitable, you will need to pay the postage costs to return it to us".. Ok fine.

But can someone please confirm whether they are entitled to withhold (ii) - their original postage costs for sending the item to me?

I have tried quoting them the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013, stating that the obligation to refund original postage costs exists regardless of whether or not there was a fault with the helmet, but they aren't having any of it.

Can someone please confirm whether they are entitled to withhold their original postage costs for sending the item to me, and what I can do? This is really annoying and while its not a huge amount of money I want to report them to TS if needs be..

Many thanks in advance..

You are right.

Regulation 34 of The Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013 state (amongst other things):

Reimbursement by trader in the event of withdrawal or cancellation
34.
(1) The trader must reimburse all payments, other than payments for delivery, received from the consumer, subject to paragraph (10).

(2) The trader must reimburse any payment for delivery received from the consumer, unless the consumer expressly chose a kind of delivery costing more than the least expensive common and generally acceptable kind of delivery offered by the trader.

So if you didn't pay for express delivery, or any special delivery service, the the seller must refund the outward postage cost.

If you paid by card, you could seek a chargeback from your card issuer.

You could send a letter before action to the seller seeking the postage cost before court action, but that might be a little heavy handed for what may be a small amount. On the other hand, just sending the LBA may be enough to get the seller to do the right thing.

If you just want to report the seller to Trading Standards, then this may best be done via the CAB Consumer Helpline.

shaun_from_Africa

wealdroam wrote: »

So if you didn't pay for express delivery, or any special delivery service, the the seller must refund the outward postage cost.

Even if a different, more expensive delivery option was chosen, the seller is still obliged to refund the cost of their standard delivery. It is only the extra cost for the express/special delivery that doesn't have to be refunded.

gavinm

Thanks a lot for your replies. I probably won't pursue such a small amount but will def be reporting them to TS.

Thanks again