Is it right I'm being charged a restocking fee for a return?

Kayfersmum

Hi

I've recently purchased a number of items of door furniture and upon delivery have realised that two of the products are not going to work for us. We purchased them online so assumed under the Internet shopping rules, we would easily be able to return them for a full refund. However, reading the suppliers web page it states "If after receiving your purchase you change your mind and wish to return your goods we will refund you with the amount you paid for the item(s) less 25% restocking charge (cost of return is not accepted"

I think that this is incorrect so before I contact them please can someone point me in the direction of where I can find the information that confirms this so that I can quote official lines to them?!

Thanks in advance for your help and apologies if I'm duplicating posts as I've not been able to find if this has been answered elsewhere xx.

neilmcl

You are absolutely correct, restocking fees cannot be charge for goods purchased via distance means. The legislation in question if the Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013 (CCRs)

pinkshoes

neilmcl wrote: »

You are absolutely correct, restocking fees cannot be charge for goods purchased via distance means. The legislation in question if the Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013 (CCRs)

This ^^^^ (so long as you haven't opened the goods, in which case they can deduct a small amount reflecting any loss of value due to not being in original condition)

Kayfersmum

Thank you so much, that is very helpful.

unholyangel

pinkshoes wrote: »

This ^^^^ (so long as you haven't opened the goods, in which case they can deduct a small amount reflecting any loss of value due to not being in original condition)

Sorry, I'm a pedant!

They can only make a deduction if:
1) The handling goes beyond what is reasonable and necessary
2) The value of the product is diminished as a result of that unreasonable handling and
3) They informed you of your rights to cancel, the conditions of cancelling etc (basically everything relating to cancelling)

bris

Or a b2b purchase, can you post the website please.

Kayfersmum

Sure, it's handsomehandles.co.uk (sorry, as a new contributor to this site I've been unable to post the exact url to their returns policy).

They have been a great site to buy from and very helpful over the phone so far. Other half has now got home and said he thinks he will be able to make them work, so return may not be necessary. However, I am still interested in finding out about it in case we come across it again. I'm mostly housebound due to illness so the majority of my shopping is online.

wealdroam

handsomehandles.co.uk/t/shippinginfo

This their Returns Policy in its entirety:

Returns Policy
If after receiving your purchase you change your mind and wish to return your goods we will refund you with the amount you paid for the item(s) less 25% restocking charge (cost of return is not accepted By Handsome Handles). You must inform Handsome Handles within 7 days of receipt via email info@handsomehandles.co.uk and goods must be returned within 14 days. The above does not apply if the return is the through incorrect goods or faulty goods being supplied.When the products have been returned to us in the same condition as they have been supplied we will automatically refund the total outstanding.

Please ensure you write your invoice number clearly on the package.

Please ensure that the items are returned by secure method that may be tracked i.e recorded or signed for, as goods lost in the post can not be refunded.

That policy fails on at least three points:

1) the restocking charge, as already discussed,

2) a consumer has fourteen days, not the 7 mentioned, to inform the seller of their wish to cancel the order.

3) having notified the seller of their wish to cancel, the consumer has another fourteen days in which to return the goods.


Their Faulty Goods and Returns policy is also worthy of comment:

Faulty Goods and Returns
Faulty Goods must be reported within 48 hours.If returning products please inform us by email or telephone.

The Consumer Rights Act gives the consumer thirty days to reject good that do not conform to contract.

Edited to add:
It gets worse.
On their Terms and Conditions page it says:

4. Returns not caused by faulty goods or incorrect items will be subject to a minimum of 25% restocking charge.

Note the word 'minimum' in there.
So they think they could charge a restocking fee of more than 25%. :eek:

At the beginning of March, MSE published an article showing how several major stores got their returns policies wrong. See here.

If big players can get it wrong, then it's probably understandable, but not excusable, that some smaller traders also fail here.