dcshoes-uk.co.uk - Consumer Contracts Regulations (Formally Distance Selling)

jrourke

Hi,


I recently purchased some items from the DC UK website with a few items that were debatable in size. Upon receiving the items most of them were perfect and fitted like a glove but there were a few items that I would have liked to have returned. Unfortunately these were the heaviest.


Knowing the Consumer Contracts Regulations (formally distance selling regulations) it was my understanding that I could return unfitting items for alternative sizes or a refund. Now I know the return shipping is at my own expense which I have no problem, but the address they have given is in Belgium which makes the returns uneconomical as I would be losing money due to international shipping costs.


Am I missing something here or is this allowed on a technicality, do they have to offer a UK shipping address, as surely this could be abused by many a retailer if so leaving a lot of persons with limited consumer protection due to the associated costs.

The returns policy can be seen on the website

Thanks in advance for your responses.

neilmcl

Just because it has a .co.uk url doesn't mean it's a UK based company.

I'm afraid you'll have to suck it up and send the shoes back to the address given. TBH, you should have checked this out before ordering, particularly when buying items like shoes or clothes.

jrourke

I kind of agree it's very unlike me and I certainly would have checked if it was a unknown company. Being a very reputable large organisation like DC however with their own stores all over the UK I just thought it would be straightforward process. Lesson learned I guess but it does leave a very bitter taste in my mouth as I don’t think they could have used the text ‘UK’ anymore times in the website address which I hope is not a deliberate misrepresentation that you normally only see from dishonest websites.

neilmcl

I've had the same when ordering items for the UK sites of companies like Adidas or Timberland, but thankfully they have always offered free returns.

unholyangel

neilmcl wrote: »

Just because it has a .co.uk url doesn't mean it's a UK based company.

I'm afraid you'll have to suck it up and send the shoes back to the address given. TBH, you should have checked this out before ordering, particularly when buying items like shoes or clothes.

But they are a UK company:
http://www.dcshoes-uk.co.uk/customer-service-terms-and-conditions-of-sale.html

1. LANAI LIMITED, a company registered in England and Wales with company no: 02849221, whose registered address is Z Block Unit 2003, 2nd Floor, 91 Brick Lane, The Old Truman Brewery, London E1 6QL; VAT no: GB 691066035; and represented by Mr. Nicolas Foulet (hereinafter “DC Shoes“, “We”, “Us”, “Our” or the “Vendor”);

vuvuzela

unholyangel wrote: »

But they are a UK company:
http://www.dcshoes-uk.co.uk/customer-service-terms-and-conditions-of-sale.html

And they only accept orders from the UK :

1.3. Territories Any Order placed on the Web Site may only be validly concluded between the Vendor and a Customer residing in the United Kingdom (excluding Guernsey, Jersey, and Isle of Man).

Should the Customer reside outside the abovementioned territories, he or she may not validly place an Order via the Web Site.


So it's pretty disgraceful that you have to return items to Belgium...

jrourke

unholyangel wrote: »

But they are a UK company:

Very interesting... is this then a deliberate ploy to make returns difficult and not cost effective for consumers…?


I’m still unclear then if there is a need to provide a UK address for returns under the Consumer Contract Regulations or have DC found a loophole?

jrourke

vuvuzela wrote: »

And they only accept orders from the UK :

1.3. Territories Any Order placed on the Web Site may only be validly concluded between the Vendor and a Customer residing in the United Kingdom (excluding Guernsey, Jersey, and Isle of Man).

Should the Customer reside outside the abovementioned territories, he or she may not validly place an Order via the Web Site.


So it's pretty disgraceful that you have to return items to Belgium...

Wow this gets worse...

unholyangel

They also try and say the english courts have exclusive jurisdiction which is illegal in consumer contracts due to UK law, EU directives AND EU conventions (rome or brussels if memory serves).

Contact the company and just say that you feel not supplying a UK address to return goods to is a breach of the consumer protection from unfair trading regulations and that it may even amount to a criminal offence. Then ask them for a UK address to return the goods to and see what they say.

In the meantime, report them to trading standards.

tomtontom

vuvuzela wrote: »

And they only accept orders from the UK :

1.3. Territories Any Order placed on the Web Site may only be validly concluded between the Vendor and a Customer residing in the United Kingdom (excluding Guernsey, Jersey, and Isle of Man).

Should the Customer reside outside the abovementioned territories, he or she may not validly place an Order via the Web Site.


So it's pretty disgraceful that you have to return items to Belgium...

They have different websites for different countries. Having scanned those I can understand, all returns are to Belgium.

Sorry OP, you made a mistake, the information on their website is quite clear. Emailing them suggesting they may have committed a criminal offence would be quite ridiculous.

marcarm

jrourke wrote: »

Hi,


I recently purchased some items from the DC UK website with a few items that were debatable in size. Upon receiving the items most of them were perfect and fitted like a glove but there were a few items that I would have liked to have returned. Unfortunately these were the heaviest.


Knowing the Consumer Contracts Regulations (formally distance selling regulations) it was my understanding that I could return unfitting items for alternative sizes or a refund. Now I know the return shipping is at my own expense which I have no problem, but the address they have given is in Belgium which makes the returns uneconomical as I would be losing money due to international shipping costs.


Am I missing something here or is this allowed on a technicality, do they have to offer a UK shipping address, as surely this could be abused by many a retailer if so leaving a lot of persons with limited consumer protection due to the associated costs.

The returns policy can be seen on the website

Thanks in advance for your responses.

See, that's your problem, you want them to fit like shoes