Trying to obtain a refund after purchasing a giftcard online but still getting fobbed off

dave18

Hello,
I purchased an Argos giftcard via my corporate discount website to buy a bed. After purchasing the card and returning to the website it advised me the bed was out of stock until September so the card was essentially useless. After going back to the merchant I purchased the card from I have been repeatedly fobbed off despite requesting a refund within the initial 14 day cooling off period. There last response was as follows as stating the relevant section of the consumer rights act, who is correct on this matter?

At checkout prior to purchasing your egift card as part of the terms and conditions it states that as your egift card is delivered before the end of the 14 day cancellation period that you accept that your right to cancel will cease to exist once the egift card has been delivered. Unfortunately as per our terms and conditions egift cards are a non refundable product, therefore we are unable to cancel and refund your order. 

Blackbeard_of_Perranporth

dave18 said:

Hello,
I purchased an Argos giftcard via my corporate discount website to buy a bed. After purchasing the card and returning to the website it advised me the bed was out of stock until September so the card was essentially useless. After going back to the merchant I purchased the card from I have been repeatedly fobbed off despite requesting a refund within the initial 14 day cooling off period. There last response was as follows as stating the relevant section of the consumer rights act, who is correct on this matter?

At checkout prior to purchasing your egift card as part of the terms and conditions it states that as your egift card is delivered before the end of the 14 day cancellation period that you accept that your right to cancel will cease to exist once the egift card has been delivered. Unfortunately as per our terms and conditions egift cards are a non refundable product, therefore we are unable to cancel and refund your order. 

As gift cards are considered a financial transaction, they cannot be refunded.  

https://argosgiftcard.co.uk/Argos/ByEmail/Argos/TermsAndConditions

dave18

Thank you for this response Blackbeard. The odd thing is that I have found elsewhere that gift cards are covered by distance selling regs:

Distance Selling Regulations gift vouchers

If a customer purchases a gift voucher, merchandise item or some of other kind of product from you in a distance contract, they have the right to cancel that contract for up to 14 days. If a consumer chooses to cancel, the refund must be given within 14 days of cancellation.

shaun_from_Africa

Blackbeard_of_Perranporth said:

dave18 said:

Hello,
I purchased an Argos giftcard via my corporate discount website to buy a bed. After purchasing the card and returning to the website it advised me the bed was out of stock until September so the card was essentially useless. After going back to the merchant I purchased the card from I have been repeatedly fobbed off despite requesting a refund within the initial 14 day cooling off period. There last response was as follows as stating the relevant section of the consumer rights act, who is correct on this matter?

At checkout prior to purchasing your egift card as part of the terms and conditions it states that as your egift card is delivered before the end of the 14 day cancellation period that you accept that your right to cancel will cease to exist once the egift card has been delivered. Unfortunately as per our terms and conditions egift cards are a non refundable product, therefore we are unable to cancel and refund your order. 

As gift cards are considered a financial transaction, they cannot be refunded.  

https://argosgiftcard.co.uk/Argos/ByEmail/Argos/TermsAndConditions

I don't think that there is anything in the Consumer contracts regulations that exempts gift cards from the right of cancellation.
However, one thing that may change it is the fact that you made the purchase via a corporate discount website as this could possibly mean that it no longer qualifies as a consumer purchase.
I don't know how the law looks at sales like this but I'm sure other posters will have more knowledge about it.

pphillips

The DSR applying to gift cards seems to have been resolved in another thread:
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4465149/do-distance-selling-regs-apply-to-gift-vouchers