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MyGeekBox/"Blind" box consumer rights regarding returns

Can anyone offer advice on one's rights in regards to purchasing things like MyGeekBox - a "blind box" service which sends you random items on a subscription basis. They have told me that as the box that the items come packaged in has been opened and was sold as a blind purchase, it cannot be returned (bearing in mind all the contents are intact/unopened/as new). I felt like this can't be right, so I took this up with them on their Facebook page, quoting their cancellation policy:

"Right to Cancel

You have the right to cancel this contract within 14 days without giving reason.

The cancellation period will expire after 14 days from the day on which you acquire, or a third party other than the carrier and indicated by you acquires physical possession of the goods.

To exercise the right to cancel, you must inform us of your decision to cancel this contract by a clear statement (e.g. by selecting the appropriate option in your account or a letter sent by post). You may use the example model cancellation form below, but it is not obligatory.

Please ensure that the items you are returning are unopened and in any original packaging. Unwanted goods need to be in pristine condition with any retail seals unbroken."


They have responded saying that because I have opened the box that it was packaged in, the "item" is no longer considered pristine (I'll point out that opening this package involved slitting a piece of sellotape, then opening a flap on the box - nothing has been damaged or torn).

I feel like this is deliberately misleading, as it doesn't specify that the box the items come in, for some bizarre reason, is being counted as "item" packaging, and that snipping a tiny strip of sellotape means they will consider it "not pristine". The whole reason I want to return the box is because I feel their original advertising was also misleading, and that the contents of the box are significantly less than what the sign up page suggests one would receive. Moreover, the items were mediocre and mundane. Overpriced tat, basically. What are my rights here? What can I do?
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Comments

  • hollydays
    hollydays Posts: 19,812 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper
    edited 25 October 2016 at 5:25PM
    I don't know how they stand legally, but surely it's not that "it's not in pristine condition ", but the " no retail seals have been broken" that is significant.

    If I opened any seal on a item I'd not expect my money back unless it was faulty.

    As to " its overpriced tat", surely it's all probably overpriced tat in someone's opinion.
  • moosticks
    moosticks Posts: 62 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10 Posts Combo Breaker
    edited 25 October 2016 at 5:40PM
    Apparently it's "overpriced tat" in a lot of people's opinion. ;)

    https://uk.trustpilot.com/review/www.mygeekbox.co.uk

    As for retail seal, do you think the sellotape holding the delivery box closed can even tenuously be considered a retail seal? As I say, all the items inside are packaged/sealed. That's how I interpreted it, and it's not like they indicate otherwise on their cancellation policy. It's quite frustrating as I really do feel like they're scamming people (specifically, me!).
  • hollydays
    hollydays Posts: 19,812 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper
    If it's not a proper seal, rather than slitting it, wasn't it possible to peel it open?
    If you can't peel it off the box without damaging the box, it's a seal.
  • I'm not sure if you're missing my point, or if I'm missing yours.

    My point is that it's a delivery box. Like what Amazon items come delivered in. The items inside it are all individually packaged. Each item is from a different manufacturer, and are factory sealed elsewhere. MyGeekBox picks these items and puts them into a delivery box, which they then sellotape shut, and post to your door. What I'm struggling to understand is how them putting some sellotape on a cardboard box with things from various other companies inside counts as a retail seal?
  • If this box contained software or electronics goods, I'd totally get it. But under long distance selling regulations, does one not have a right to open delivery packaging to inspect the items that are inside it? I don't understand how slapping some sellotape onto a cardboard box can completely render this right null and void?
  • hollydays
    hollydays Posts: 19,812 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper
    edited 25 October 2016 at 5:59PM
    moosticks wrote: »
    I'm not sure if you're missing my point, or if I'm missing yours.

    My point is that it's a delivery box. Like what Amazon items come delivered in. The items inside it are all individually packaged. Each item is from a different manufacturer, and are factory sealed elsewhere. MyGeekBox picks these items and puts them into a delivery box, which they then sellotape shut, and post to your door. What I'm struggling to understand is how them putting some sellotape on a cardboard box with things from various other companies inside counts as a retail seal?

    Ah ok, I thought you meant it was in a seperate gift box.
    It is the subscription they are talking about cancelling rather than the box.
  • hollydays wrote: »
    Ah ok, I thought you meant it was in a seperate gift box.
    It is the subscription they are talking about cancelling rather than the box.

    Ah, but it isn't! And this is kind of my point, it's not clear, which I think is deliberate.
    "The cancellation period will expire after 14 days from the day on which you acquire, or a third party other than the carrier and indicated by you acquires physical possession of the goods.
    If it were just this bit, that would make sense. But they actually have a separate cancellation policy for the subscription, which states that subscriptions must be cancelled within 14 days of the dispatch of the box. Obviously this policy, which comes under the returns section on their website, is slightly different. This is further muddied by this:
    Please ensure that the items you are returning are unopened and in any original packaging. Unwanted goods need to be in pristine condition with any retail seals unbroken."
    So all of the items inside my delivery box are unopened, factory sealed, pristine, etc, but they have said to me that because I opened the delivery box, I no longer have the right to return it with the contents. This is what I think is shady. I received it yesterday, which is clearly inside their "cancellation" period for returns. I understand the need for the items to be resaleable, however the delivery box isn't technically what was "purchased", and they rendered it "unsaleable" by plastering my name and address on to it in the first place. ;)
  • bris
    bris Posts: 10,548 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper
    If it's a subscription then you had 14 Days to cancel the subscription, when you took it out, not the individual parcels. Like a magazine if your contracted to 6 or 12 parcels then that's what you will have to get.


    Did you really think signing up to a blind items parcel was really going to get you iphone 7,s and laptops? This was only ever going to end one way. It defeats the purpose if you can just send back what you don't like.
  • Of course I didn't think I was going to get an iPhone, or anything electronic, actually. The subscription box doesn't include such items. ;)

    What I did expect to receive was a box that was akin to what was advertised. That is not what I received, and is an entirely separate issue.

    This thread is about consumer rights, and I am yet to receive a response actually pertaining to my original question.

    As I have outlined in my posts above, the policy I have posted about is listed on their website under returns. The cancellation of the subscription is a separate policy entirely, and one I have already followed to completion.

    I would appreciate it if anyone who actually knows about consumer rights regarding this sort of subscription would respond, rather than what seems to be snippy people pointlessly commenting to be unnecessarily rude. Sometimes companies don't do what they suggest they will, and sometimes people want to know what they can do about it.
  • unholyangel
    unholyangel Posts: 16,864 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper
    I sell toys online. A customer recently ordered a large toy model to assemble,
    to be sent by express delivery, but changed their mind and returned it. Not
    only was it not returned in the original bubble wrap and brown box I used, but
    the model’s box with photo and description was torn and the plastic packets
    containing the plastic bricks inside had been opened. What can I do?


    16. You cannot deduct for the bubble wrap and brown box since it would
    have been reasonable for the customer to remove these to see the item in the
    way they would in a shop. However, it would not have been necessary to go
    further and open the box nor especially to open the sealed packets. You will
    therefore be able to reduce the refund to reflect the diminished value. In
    addition, you will only need to refund the standard cost of delivery (provided
    this was offered) and not the full cost of the express delivery chosen by the
    customer. And provided that you told the customer that the cost of return
    delivery would fall to them, you need not pay for that

    https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/429300/bis-13-1368-consumer-contracts-information-cancellation-and-additional-payments-regulations-guidance.pdf
    You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means - Inigo Montoya, The Princess Bride
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