Problems getting refund from River Island

harrysmith_2

My student daughter ordered an item to be collected from River Island in Guildford. She received an email to say the item was there, but when she went to collect it from the store, the staff couldn't find it. The staff were very unhelpful.

When my daughter got home, she called customer services. She received another email to say the item was now in Guildford and at the bottom of the email it said that the item would be returned to the warehouse and she would be refunded if it wasn't collected. There is no other way to cancel the order.

My daughter wasn't planning on going to Guildford for a while so she ordered the item in the same size to be delivered to Kingston instead. She collected that order with no problems.

Problem is she didn't receive her refund for the order she didn't collect from Guildford.

River Island are being very unreasonable. They said the order was collected and they have CCTV of someone doing this.

River Island won't "investigate" further until my daughter signs a declaration to say that the item was never delivered to the Guildford store (even though they say they have CCTV of it being collected!!). How could my daughter know whether it was delivered there? She is happy to sign a form saying she never collected the item but they won't give her a form which says that.

The amount in question is £35 and my daughter paid by debit card.

My daughter is so fed up about being given this run around that she is thinking of giving up even though this is a lot of money to her.

Any advice as to how to get River Island to give my daughter her money back?

cono1717

Your daughter could modify the form before signing and say "The item was never delivered, to me". Also I can't really see the point in the form because lets assume it were to go to court, your daughter would have no clue if it was delivered because she never went to collect it.

Ask for a copy of the CCTV, if it is your daughter she has a right to request it under the data protection act, either they have to comply as they agree its your daughter, or if they reject your request because they can't verify its her for definite, then they can't hold her to a collection either.

ThumbRemote

Tell her to contact her bank about a chargeback. (It may not work if the retailer disputes it, but it's worth a try)

bris

I take it they need something to collect an item such as an order statement or receipt.


River island are saying someone collected the item, they will believe it to either be the buyer or someone on their behalf.


Playing devils advocate who else would know what and where to collect it. From their point of view you must be able to see why they are suspicious.

unholyangel

What they're basically wanting is something like a statutory declaration - possibly so it can be used in criminal proceedings later to prove intent & dishonesty for fraud charges if your daughter had been lying.

What sort of checks do they do before handing a parcel over when its collect in store? Signature? Confirmation email? Surely they don't just hand it to just anyone that asks for it?

harrysmith_2

Many thanks everyone for taking the time to reply.

My understanding is that they are supposed to ask to see the email confirmation of your order either printed or on your phone when you collect in store.

However, just thinking of the last twice I had store collections from M&S and Next, I just gave my name and they handed me the parcels. I didn't need to sign for them and I don't think River Island get a signature either.

Bearing in mind though that someone would have to know that the item was there, I do find it unlikely that someone did actually collect it. My daughter definitely didn't get it. I was shopping with her when she went to the store and she came out empty handed.

At the end of the day, we can't prove we didn't collect it. If River Island claim someone collected it and therefore my daughter has to pay for it, I think it is only reasonable that they show us this footage or a still image of the person who is meant to have collected it. They are after all implying my daughter collected it.

My daughter is happy to sign a declaration saying she didn't collect the item and no one collected it on her behalf, but I feel uncomfortable with her signing a declaration to say that the delivery company never delivered it to the store as that may not be the truth.

Maybe we could amend the declaration by hand as Cono1717 suggested if River Island refuse to give the correct wording.

unholyangel

harrysmith wrote: »

Many thanks everyone for taking the time to reply.

My understanding is that they are supposed to ask to see the email confirmation of your order either printed or on your phone when you collect in store.

However, just thinking of the last twice I had store collections from M&S and Next, I just gave my name and they handed me the parcels. I didn't need to sign for them and I don't think River Island get a signature either.

Bearing in mind though that someone would have to know that the item was there, I do find it unlikely that someone did actually collect it. My daughter definitely didn't get it. I was shopping with her when she went to the store and she came out empty handed.

At the end of the day, we can't prove we didn't collect it. If River Island claim someone collected it and therefore my daughter has to pay for it, I think it is only reasonable that they show us this footage or a still image of the person who is meant to have collected it. They are after all implying my daughter collected it.

My daughter is happy to sign a declaration saying she didn't collect the item and no one collected it on her behalf, but I feel uncomfortable with her signing a declaration to say that the delivery company never delivered it to the store as that may not be the truth.

Maybe we could amend the declaration by hand as Cono1717 suggested if River Island refuse to give the correct wording.

Its always possible someone overheard your daughter ask for it the first time or (not saying this is what happened, just a possibility) a staff member got an acquaintance to collect it. Or possibly they've even handed the wrong parcel to the wrong customer!

I think I'd be asking some questions though. What time/date the parcel was collected (not in any way identifiable information but you could perhaps counteract it with evidence your daughter was elsewhere). Possibly what the person looked like who picked it up (might be someone known to you or perhaps will be significantly different from your daughter photo ID might convince them it wasnt her that collected it). I'd be asking what security measures they take - given they are bailees of your daughters property (where you pay online, the store is merely a delivery point from a legal perspective) and you believe they've failed in their statutory duty to take reasonable care of your daughters property and their negligence has caused her a loss.

harrysmith_2

unholyangel,

Thank you so much for your reply. What you say makes a lot of sense and explains why stores are so lax about who they hand these parcels to. I use store collections all the time for convenience but I will think twice about it now.

The item in question is a size 6 swimsuit so a tiny, tiny parcel. Easy for a member of staff to accidentally sweep an item that small into the bin thinking it is an empty bag or something of that nature.

Like you say though, I think it is only fair that they explain when the person was meant to have collected it and what evidence they showed.