Interest On Argos TV Refund Five Years Late

sebsational

To cut a long story short five and a half years ago I purchased a TV from Argos that wasn't delivered due to a lack of stock in my area. I never received a refund and customer service failed to respond after initial messages.

Recently, realising the six year statute of limitations allowing me to claim back my money was about to expire, I stepped up matters and took it to the directors office. After investigative checks they have accepted I did not receive the refund and agreed to refund me. I am relieved to finally sort out the matter. However according to inflation calculators £500 in 2012 is equivalent to £573.45 today. So my question is are they legally obliged to pay me this interest if I request it?

powerful_Rogue

sebsational wrote: »

To cut a long story short five and a half years ago I purchased a TV from Argos that wasn't delivered due to a lack of stock in my area. I never received a refund and customer service failed to respond after initial messages.

Recently, realising the six year statute of limitations allowing me to claim back my money was about to expire, I stepped up matters and took it to the directors office. After investigative checks they have accepted I did not receive the refund and agreed to refund me. I am relieved to finally sort out the matter. However according to inflation calculators £500 in 2012 is equivalent to £573.45 today. So my question is are they legally obliged to pay me this interest if I request it?

No, they are to refund you what you paid.

CardinalWolsey

If they had accepted the debt back in 2012, hadn't paid it and you had been trying to enforce it since then, you would have an argument for claiming interest (plus other enforcement costs).

You realising they still owed you the money now in 2018 and raising it with them, I would say you've received incredibly good service from them if they have quickly reconciled their ledger to agree that they still owe you the refund and have agreed to pay it. Accept your good fortune and move on!

MB69

Wow, 6 years later and you got your money back!

I would go and buy lottery today if I were you. it might be your lucky day!

DoaM

IANAL, but .... A debt accrues interest from the time the debt arose, NOT from the time the person owed the debt realises and starts chasing. (And on that point, OP chased the issue back in 2012 but then forgot, so surely even if I'm wrong the "interest clock" was already ticking.

OP .. there is legislation relating to the late payments of commercial debts. As I recall this allows for interest payment at the Bank of England base rate plus 8%. If we assume 0.5% base rate then you may be entitled to interest at 8.5% per annum flat rate, compounded over the duration.

Blackbeard_of_Perranporth

I would have been kicking at the directors door 5 and a half years ago!

sebsational

Thanks for the responses. Just to clarify a few things. After a period of several months waiting for the TV to come back into stock (it was a sensational deal or else I wouldn't have bothered) I got a phone call from customer service to say that it wouldn't. At this point I believed I would be refunded and didn't realise until later that hadn't happened.

As far as getting the refund, I had tried and been getting nowhere with normal customer service over the last couple of years. It was the soon to be ending statute of limitations that prompted me to pursue matters with the directors office, to whom I stated I would be taking legal action if the matter wasn't sorted (which I would have followed through with).

The fact is they, and my bank are both legally required to keep records for a minimum of six years, so even though it was late they were obliged to get to the bottom of the matter. I had to provide details including my card number at the time of purchase, a year of backdated bank statements etc. to get the matter sorted. Although I am grateful that it is finally being resolved, the fact is I believe they, not me are primarily responsible for the failure to issue me a refund at the time. It simply shouldn't be able to happen, and as far as I am concerned companies shouldn't be able to take payment without dispatching the item.

As I consider them responsible, as delighted as I am to finally be getting the refund, I can't help but feel they should also be responsible for the depreciating value of the refund. The fact is 500 pounds in 2012 is not the same value as 500 pounds today, so I am effectively losing 73.45 according to inflation calculators. I'm really only interested in the legal position on this, as in are they obliged to pay that interest or not. Those telling me to consider myself lucky, I do, but that doesn't mean I should forget about the additional amount if I am indeed legally owed it. Thank you DoaM for the detailed answer. Is anyone able to confirm whether this is correct?

theonlywayisup

sebsational wrote: »

I'm really only interested in the legal position on this, as in are they obliged to pay that interest or not. Those telling me to consider myself lucky, I do, but that doesn't mean I should forget about the additional amount if I am indeed legally owed it.

With due respect, if you want proper and correct advice on your legal rights, you should speak with someone who is qualified and not a forum on the internet.

Do you have a household policy, bank account or credit card with legal cover? Local solicitors often give half an hour free, could you try any of these to save further costs?

sebsational

theonlywayisup wrote: »

With due respect, if you want proper and correct advice on your legal rights, you should speak with someone who is qualified and not a forum on the internet.

Do you have a household policy, bank account or credit card with legal cover? Local solicitors often give half an hour free, could you try any of these to save further costs?

Yes I can get 15 minutes of legal advice free, I was just hoping someone here might have the requisite knowledge to save me all the trouble.

Aylesbury_Duck

sebsational wrote: »

Yes I can get 15 minutes of legal advice free, I was just hoping someone here might have the requisite knowledge to save me all the trouble.

Given that it's taken over 12 hours to get this far and that you must have spent something like 15 minutes making the original post, reading the replies and responding, I'd suggest you'd have saved more trouble accessing the free legal advice in the first place!:D

It is an interesting situation though, so I'm glad you posted it.

theonlywayisup

sebsational wrote: »

Yes I can get 15 minutes of legal advice free, I was just hoping someone here might have the requisite knowledge to save me all the trouble.

How do you know the advice being given is correct? You don't. Take your 15 minutes and be sure.