Online Retailer Nightmare - please help!

buffness

Good Afternoon,
Please can someone help me with a query? Situation is as follows (I've kept it high level as there is quite alot to it!):

1. I purchased a top for my Partner for Christmas on 18 December 2020 from a company called Flannels.
2. The top was too small, so I used the returns label provided by the retailer and sent the top back, asking for a refund. I used Royal Mail to send the item back
3. The Royal Mail tracking website shows that the item was delivered and signed for
4. I emailed the retailer asking for a refund instead of an exchange. They replied saying 'we have tracked your item and this was signed for by our warehouse team. The item will be in a trolley waiting to be scanned. This will be processed soon'
5. I then received an email from the retailer saying that they had not received the item - I explained that this was confusing as the Royal Mail tracking website shows that it has been received - they too confirmed it has been received. They asked me to contact Royal Mail.
   
6. I contacted Royal Mail - they said that there is nothing they can do as the item is not lost or damaged - the item has been delivered to where it was meant to
7. I told the retailer this - they are now asking for the paper tracking receipt. 
8. Because they told me that they have the item back, I binned the receipt. However, I did send them a copy of the Royal Mail Track and Trace form that I did online.
9. They are saying that they cannot do anything without the paper receipt.

Surely I have some rights here? I paid with PayPal and have raised a dispute. The information they are providing is conflicting - I guess in hindsight, I shouldnt have binned the Royal Mail paper receipt but I did this only when I could see on the RM tracking website that it had been delivered along with when the retailer told me that they had the item!
Any help would be appreciated
Many thanks!

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

Well they should refund within 14 days of the goods being return or proof of them having been sent back.

The problem when the company says the goods haven't arrived and the consumer only has a tracking number is it's not really proof of return as Royal Mail only show what DO the parcel was delivered from. 

Royal Mail could probably give you something in writing to confirm the address the parcel was sent to from the tracking number but their CS isn't great at the best of times. 

If you've opened a Paypal claim it could go either way as it appears the item wasn't actually SNAD but change of mind. A case of see what happens with Paypal really.

buffness

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head said:

Well they should refund within 14 days of the goods being return or proof of them having been sent back.

The problem when the company says the goods haven't arrived and the consumer only has a tracking number is it's not really proof of return as Royal Mail only show what DO the parcel was delivered from. 

Royal Mail could probably give you something in writing to confirm the address the parcel was sent to from the tracking number but their CS isn't great at the best of times. 

If you've opened a Paypal claim it could go either way as it appears the item was actually SNAD but change of mind. A case of see what happens with Paypal really.

Thank you - would a Section 75 claim work? I paid on a credit card, through PayPal. 

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

One thing to add, I'm not sure whether them supplying the label (which I assume means you didn't pay the return) counts as "the retailer offering to collect the goods", if it does then they should refund within 14 days of your notification to withdraw or cancel. 

I'm not up on S75, hopefully someone else can advise on that point  

Sandtree

S75 is problematic with PayPal and it depends if you were logged in or not... on the basis you talk about a dispute in PayPal that can only happen if you were logged in in which case S75 will almost certainly fail as Debtor - Creditor - Supplier chain was broken.

I wouldnt say there was much of a chance of a PayPal dispute from failing though... they are very binary and so if you show the tracking link with a confirmed delivery they'll refund.

If you're a decent size company couriers tend to deliver things to you by the sack and the mail room will sign for it almost as a whole consignment rather than checking each and everyone on the list was in the sack.  This is clearly a mutually convenient thing for both the mail room and the postie or courier but ultimately the consequences are that you occasionally sign for things that are missing and/or damaged.

theonlywayisup

The PayPal case can go either way as it isn't a SNAD.  But what it depends on, is whether the seller is savvy enough to say it is a change of mind and offer evidence. 

You have POD but no proof of posting - therefore you can't satisfy the seller that you returned to them.  You could ask RM if they are able to provide a proof of posting address for the tracking but as eluded to above, it may take some time even if it is necessary. 

buffness

Thank you all