Consumer Contracts Regulations: being denied a refund

UpDownStrange

Hi all,

My mum recently bought an item of clothing from Dansez. The item arrived but it does not fit. She requested a refund within a week of the item arriving but has been told that she is not entitled to one as the item was on special offer. They are allowing her to exchange the item for another, or to receive a refund in store credit.

Where does she stand legally? Does the fact that the item was on special offer at the time of purchase preclude her eligibility for a refund? The website does state that any item on special offer is not eligible for a refund, but I thought the Consumer Contracts Regulations ensured a full refund (via original payment method) within 14 days of delivery no matter what.

Any help is appreciated.

unholyangel

It being in a sale doesn't exclude it from your rights to cancel.

I'd ask them what section of the CCRs they're relying on as exemption for sales items.

dj1471

Special offers make no difference to statutory rights.

Tell her to stand her ground.

UpDownStrange

Thanks for the responses.

Does the CCR state that the refund must be made via the original payment method? Or does it not specify / say store credit is acceptable?

shaun_from_Africa

The CCR's clearly state that unless agreed otherwise, any refund must be made in the same form as that used for the original purchase.
http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2013/3134/regulation/34/made

(7) The trader must make the reimbursement using the same means of payment as the consumer used for the initial transaction, unless the consumer has expressly agreed otherwise.

Contact Dansez again and point this out to them and also refer them to their own T&C's:

We are happy to offer free UK returns on any full price and sale items returned to us in perfect condition, within 30 days of receipt of order, with proof of purchase.

https://www.dans-ez.com/pages/terms-conditions

UpDownStrange

Thank you very much for this, Shaun! (Not letting me quote you for some reason.)

My mum has emailed the company, I will report back when she gets a response.

marcarm

shaun_from_Africa wrote: »

The CCR's clearly state that unless agreed otherwise, any refund must be made in the same form as that used for the original purchase.
http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2013/3134/regulation/34/made



Contact Dansez again and point this out to them and also refer them to their own T&C's:


https://www.dans-ez.com/pages/terms-conditions

While I agree the company are in the wrong, their T&C do not expressly state sale items can be returned for a refund, just that they can be returned, which the company are not saying they can't be, they are just offering store credit.

Please let us know how you get on.

shaun_from_Africa

marcarm wrote: »

While I agree the company are in the wrong, their T&C do not expressly state sale items can be returned for a refund, just that they can be returned, which the company are not saying they can't be, they are just offering store credit.

I didn't copy and paste all of their returns policy.
When it comes to returning unwanted goods, this is also stated:

Items received that are not in perfect condition, or are not deemed faulty, will be returned to you, at your cost. Money will only be refunded once we have received the item.

So once unwanted goods are received and there is no argument about their condition, a refund will be given.

unholyangel

The first thing I'd point out is that their returns policy conflicts with the law.

If thats the only information they give when ordering, they haven't complied with their obligations under the CCRs and indeed their policy will likely be unfair as it will act to restrict their statutory rights.

If a trader doesn't comply with providing the necessary information, you have up to 1 year & 14 days to cancel and then a further 14 days from cancelling to return the goods (much longer than 30 days). They cannot limit their liability for return postage to faulty goods because there are instances the goods wont conform to contract but wont be faulty. They cannot limit the returns to goods in perfect condition or faulty for the same reason and also because with the CCRs they have to accept the return even if the goods are used or damaged, but if they complied with the necessary parts and your handling went beyond what was reasonable then they may be entitled to withhold the diminished value (up to the whole contract price).

I'd still get back to them and ask which section of the CCRs they're relying on. Hopefully that draws to their attention that they have legal obligations and they shouldnt be doing what they're trying to do.