No Cash Refund from Debenhams

NoCashRefund

Hi all, looking for some help & advice

I purchased a pair of girls leggings from Debenhams instore on the 15th July this year for £7 - cash transaction. The stitching on one of the legs came undone within 3 weeks. I returned the leggings to the same Debenhams store with the receipt after 21 days on the 4th of August.

I explained the fault with the leggings, produced my receipt & asked for a cash refund. I was told "no". I was told because the leggings were not in a resaleable condition, I would be offered a £7 gift card. I asked again for a cash refund stating the leggings are faulty, had already been replaced & I had no use for a gift card but was again refused a cash refund. I reluctantly accepted the gift card "refund" for £7.

So fast forward to today when I contacted the Debenhams "here to help" team via email. I explained the above situation to them & asked if this was standard procedure in Debenhams to refuse refunds for faulty goods after 3 weeks & issue gift card "refunds".

I received a prompt reply thanking me for me email & they were sorry the service I received did not live up to expectations. They said had spoken to the store manager & could confirm it is Debenhams policy to issue gift card refunds on items that are not resaleable. They said they logged my complaint & hoped their response had helped clarify the situation.

Well, I must say it hasn't. I still do not understand why I could not return a pair of faulty leggings for a cash refund after 3 weeks. I'm just the leggings were £7 & not £70.

I understand the law regarding consumer protection changed recently. Is Debenhams response correct?

Thanks!

unholyangel

No their response isn't correct.

Consumer Rights Act dictates that they need to refund by the same method payment was taken - unless the customer agrees otherwise.

(9)The consumer’s entitlement to receive a refund works as follows.

(10)To the extent that the consumer paid money under the contract, the consumer is entitled to receive back the same amount of money.

(11)To the extent that the consumer transferred anything else under the contract, the consumer is entitled to receive back the same amount of what the consumer transferred, unless subsection (12) applies.

(12)To the extent that the consumer transferred under the contract something for which the same amount of the same thing cannot be substituted, the consumer is entitled to receive back in its original state whatever the consumer transferred.

(13)If the contract is for the hire of goods, the entitlement to a refund extends only to anything paid or otherwise transferred for a period of hire that the consumer does not get because the contract is treated as at an end.

(14)If the contract is a hire-purchase agreement or a conditional sales contract and the contract is treated as at an end before the whole of the price has been paid, the entitlement to a refund extends only to the part of the price paid.

(15)A refund under this section must be given without undue delay, and in any event within 14 days beginning with the day on which the trader agrees that the consumer is entitled to a refund.

(16)If the consumer paid money under the contract, the trader must give the refund using the same means of payment as the consumer used, unless the consumer expressly agrees otherwise.

Parts in bold are the parts that are relevant to you.

The accompanying explanatory notes provides:

113.Subsection (10) provides that where a refund is to be provided and the original payment (or part of it) was made with money, the consumer is entitled to money back for the money they paid, so the trader may not substitute store vouchers, credit or an equivalent in place of the required monetary refund.

NoCashRefund

I do wonder why a large retailer such as Debenhams are digging their heels in regarding this issue. They obviously "get away" with behaving this way.

I suppose the fact that I eventually accepted the gift card refund, means it is case closed.

I would like to take this further but It is just a heads up now to anyone else buying clothes from Debenhams I guess.

unholyangel

NoCashRefund wrote: »

I do wonder why a large retailer such as Debenhams are digging their heels in regarding this issue. They obviously "get away" with behaving this way.

I suppose the fact that I eventually accepted the gift card refund, means it is case closed.

I would like to take this further but It is just a heads up now to anyone else buying clothes from Debenhams I guess.

You'll find large retailers do this often and its not isolated to Debenhams.

Few things you can do. One, get back in contact with debenhams and ask them again but this time add in a paragraph how misleading consumer about their statutory rights can amount to a criminal offence so perhaps they would like to check with their legal team before trying to tell you that your rights as given to you in law by the Consumer Rights Act 2015 don't apply. You could also do this via social media in a way that other customers will see it. The more consumers are aware of their rights, the less likely retailers are to get away with doing something they shouldnt.

Alternatively (or in addition) make a complaint to trading standards (usually done via citizens advice now I think). TS wont take action just off 1 complaint usually but a retailer the size of debenhams will have other complaints so hopefully enough would complain to make it actionable (by that I mean TS's resources are stretched incredibly thin so they can't take action on every complaint).

NoCashRefund

Thanks for the help & advice unholyangel. I have emailed Debenhams again, this this time to the head.office@contactdebenhams.com address mentioning about the Consumer Rights Act 2015.

NoCashRefund

Here is the latest reply I received. I wonder if the term "crooks" is appropriate for Debenhams.


Thank you for your email.

I am sorry for the disappointment caused by our services.

I have reviewed your complaint and can confirm that the gift card was offered in accordance with our returns and refunds policy.

You may verify this information by visiting the following link:

I AM NOT ALLOWED TO POST LINKS AS A NEW MEMBER

Kindly accept our apologies as we are unable to override the store decision.




Kind regards

shaun_from_Africa

NoCashRefund wrote: »

Here is the latest reply I received. I wonder if the term "crooks" is appropriate for Debenhams.


Thank you for your email.

I am sorry for the disappointment caused by our services.

I have reviewed your complaint and can confirm that the gift card was offered in accordance with our returns and refunds policy.

I would reply to the e-mail along the lines of:


Thank you for your e-mail.
You may well issue gift cards in accordance with your returns and refunds policy however, I did not return the leggings in question in accordance with this policy.
I returned them under my rights as granted by the Consumer rights act 2015 because the leggings were not of sufficient quality as they failed after such a short time.
The Consumer rights act is statutory legislation and this overrides any store policy that you have and this act clearly states that when a refund must be provided, the consumer is entitled to receive back the same amount of money that was originally paid.
A gift card is not money.

DoaM

Dear Debenhams,
Thank you for confirming (in writing) that your terms are in breach of the Consumer Rights Act 2015. This may be used as evidence in any claim I may decide to bring against yourselves. I may also offer this as evidence to Trading Standards of your complicity in conducting a criminal act.

NeilCr

https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/consumer/get-more-help/report-to-trading-standards/

unholyangel

OP, have you tried messaging them via their facebook page?

alleycat465

This is so wrong, I'm surprised to be honest, I work at a Debenhams and at our store if an item is faulty usually within the first 12 months we refund via the original payment method with the receipt, Depends on the item though after 6 months if for example you bought some socks that had holes in the toes back we probably wouldn't refund! but leggings faulting after 3 weeks with the receipt I'd refund right away, i assume this was a new fault and they hadn't started to come away and they had given you discount at the time of purchase for that reason?