Returning "faulty" item

MrChips

Hi - looking for help with a slightly technical question about my consumer rights please

I recently ordered some clothes online. There were a dozen items altogether, including two shirts. Both were ordered in a size 16.5 inch collar, however one of them was delivered in a smaller size.

After trying everything on I was planning to only keep one of the items (the correctly sized shirt) and return the other 11 which either didn't suit me or the fit wasn't quite right. I called the firm's customer services who apologised for sending the shirt in the wrong size and agreed that as this item was not what was ordered they would pay for the return postage (in normal circumstances I have to pay this under their T&Cs). As everything will be going back in one box they will actually pay the cost to return all the items, including those which were not faulty. I clarified this point on the call and they did not have a problem with this approach.

I asked how the postage costs would actually be covered and was advised to get a receipt from the post office, and then scan a copy to them. They would then refund me the money to my bank account.

However, when they emailed me the return slip a few minutes later, the covering email said that instead of refunding me the money for postage, they would instead give me a gift voucher to this amount. I'm not sure if I will buy anything more from them in future so this may end up being worthless to me.

Are they allowed to do this, or do I have the right to push back and demand a cash reimbursement? The business is French based if that makes any difference although returns are posted back to their UK warehouse (veepee, formerly known as venteprivee)

While the faulty shirt is not very heavy, when combined with the other items the combined weight will be over 2kg and thus around £15 postage cost with Royal Mail.

JJ_Egan

It depends upon what French law says .
UK CR and distance selling regulations do not apply .


You would pay postage for the 11 returned items normally ??

MrChips

If I was paying postage myself, I'd either return them in multiple parcels (cheaper that way), and/or look to sell as much as I can on to friends or colleagues (they are seriously discounted designed stuff!).

unholyangel

It seems their choice of law is that of england & wales, so the consumer rights act & consumer contracts regulations will apply - although OP's rights would be more or less the same under french law since all of our consumer rights come from EU law.

So unless you have agreed to return rejected goods then your only obligation is to take reasonable care of them and make them available for collection.

Of course they could get awkward and then state they'll only refund for the one that doesn't conform to contract and you can return the rest at your cost. But:
1) You'd only be liable for return postage costs if they informed you of this before you entered the contract and/or
2) You could be awkward yourself.....as that one item doesn't conform, you have the right of rejecting all of the goods, keeping all of the goods or keeping those that do conform and rejecting those that dont (if the latter option, you would need to keep all of the goods that conform). So you could just reject all of the goods and the retailer would be liable for the cost of return and (again, unless you had agreed to return rejected goods) collection of the goods.

born_again

MrChips wrote: »

If I was paying postage myself, I'd either return them in multiple parcels (cheaper that way), and/or look to sell as much as I can on to friends or colleagues (they are seriously discounted designed stuff!).

So send the wrong size back and get the postage back. Then do what you normally do with the rest.

MrChips

born_again wrote: »

So send the wrong size back and get the postage back. Then do what you normally do with the rest.

The risk with that approach is that I may still end up with a voucher I cannot use in respect of the shirt postage, and the effort involved in hawking all the stuff may turn out to be unnecessary if I can insist on a proper refund.

born_again

Change of mind = You pay for return postage. So that is most of the products.
Faulty/not as described = They pay for return postage, on the one item.

Given they have offered to pay for all the products return postage. A gift voucher is a good outcome

Most sellers give instructions on how to return items, and often include returns labels with your order. You usually have 14 days to return the item after telling the seller - check your terms and conditions for how long you have.

You may have to pay the cost of posting something back to the seller. The seller should have told you who has to pay for this when you bought the item. For example, it could have been in the terms and conditions. If they didn’t tell you, they will have to refund your postage costs.

You would need to check their T/C on returns..

unholyangel

born_again wrote: »

Change of mind = You pay for return postage. So that is most of the products.
Faulty/not as described = They pay for return postage, on the one item.

Given they have offered to pay for all the products return postage. A gift voucher is a good outcome


You would need to check their T/C on returns..

Only if they comply with their legal obligations under the CCRs. If not then the retailer is liable for return costs also.

As I explained above, OP has a statutory right to reject the full order, if they so choose. In which case the retailer would be liable for return costs and OP could reorder the 1 item on its own. So why would a voucher be a good outcome?

born_again

unholyangel wrote: »

OP has a statutory right to reject the full order, if they so choose. In which case the retailer would be liable for return costs

Can you provide a link to this under the 2015 consumer regulations?

unholyangel

born_again wrote: »

Can you provide a link to this under the 2015 consumer regulations?

Is your search engine broken?

21Partial rejection of goods
(1)If the consumer has any of the rights mentioned in section 20(1) to (3), but does not reject all of the goods and treat the contract as at an end, the consumer—
(a)may reject some or all of the goods that do not conform to the contract, but
(b)may not reject any goods that do conform to the contract.

And the accompanying explanatory notes quite helpfully provide:

Section 21: Partial rejection of goods
122.This section clarifies the consumer’s rights around partial rejection of goods. If the consumer has the right to reject the goods because some or all of them do not conform to the contract then the consumer can reject some or all of them. If the consumer rejects only some of the goods they cannot reject any of the goods which do conform to the contract. That is, the consumer can:

reject all of the goods (conforming and non-conforming);

reject all of the non-conforming goods (but none of the conforming goods); or

reject some of the non-conforming goods (and keep some of the non-conforming goods and all of the conforming goods).

born_again

unholyangel wrote: »

Is your search engine broken?

No. :cool: I just do not have the time to plough through them all and clearly you know more about them than I do :T

Thank You