Max Mara returns a disaster area, no refunds given, they just keep your money !!!

mad990diver

My OH loves Max Mara clothes, expensive gear but good quality and lasts well so she saves up and buys during the sales. As we're shielding she recently bought some items online from the Max Mara UK website. The order took a while to arrive as it was shipped from Italy. She kept one item and returned others. Should be simple as Max Mara say...

"You have 14 days after receiving the order to request a return and an additional 14 days to return the products. The procedure is quick and easy and delivery is completely free.
As soon as your return package is delivered to our warehouse, the Quality Control Department will carry out the necessary checks. If successful, we will send you an email to confirm your return and refund. After a few days you will be able to check if you have been credited with the refund. "

All went well, the free 'airway bill' label to return to Italy was simple enough to get and print, the courier collected and tracking shows the package was successfully delivered to Max Mara warehouse in Milan. Just wait a few days for checking and expect the refund... but no, a month on and no refund. 

Emails and phone calls to (Italy) Max Mara have done no good. They do not respond to the emails and on the phone customer services just give nonsense excuses and take no action.

Looking at Max Mara FB page, Trust pilot and other sources it is clear that Max Mara have a huge problem refunding customers money - complaints everywhere. Trust pilot score of 1.4 with over 90% of reviewers giving "bad" - that's a sick company who doesn't care about its customers. 

Paid with PayPal (so no comeback on our credit card company). Case raised in PayPal Resolution Centre but I wonder if that will do any good? It is really getting to my OH who's desperately worried she will lose all the money. Max Mara is not on Resolver. Is there anything else to be done??

JJ_Egan

Italian Consumer laws ??

MattMattMattUK

We are in the middle of a global pandemic, there are going to be issues with ordering and retuning items internationally, on top of that Italy is one of the hardest hit countries in the world. Italy only re-opened from it's third lockdown at the start of February and workplaces still face many restrictions so it is understandable that there may well be severe delays in a lot of areas. 

Aylesbury_Duck

MattMattMattUK said:

We are in the middle of a global pandemic, there are going to be issues with ordering and retuning items internationally, on top of that Italy is one of the hardest hit countries in the world. Italy only re-opened from it's third lockdown at the start of February and workplaces still face many restrictions so it is understandable that there may well be severe delays in a lot of areas. 

Absolutely.  I don't know why people expect things to run smoothly in these circumstances.

mad990diver

MattMattMattUK said:

We are in the middle of a global pandemic, there are going to be issues with ordering and retuning items internationally, on top of that Italy is one of the hardest hit countries in the world. Italy only re-opened from it's third lockdown at the start of February and workplaces still face many restrictions so it is understandable that there may well be severe delays in a lot of areas. 
Aylesbury_Duck said:
Absolutely.  I don't know why people expect things to run smoothly in these circumstances.

I would agree, no-one should expect normal service, but companies need to be clear with customers if they are struggling to manage their returns (i.e. be open and ask for extra time). In this case Max Mara have been the opposite, repeatedly promising action and doing nothing. It is extremely poor, considering they are still managing to ship out!

When you look at the MM FB page it is clear many other people are in a similar position. It looks like Max Mara are holding tens if not hundreds of thousands of pounds of customer money. A nice earner for them, no doubt. 

PayPal escalated the case and put the wheels in motion for an automatic chargeback / refund to be issued. PP were going to rebate the full order amount which seems to have triggered MM into action and suddenly they are saying they will refund the returned items amount within 14 days time. Hopefully the matter will be resolved soon, 

unholyangel

Aylesbury_Duck said:

MattMattMattUK said:

We are in the middle of a global pandemic, there are going to be issues with ordering and retuning items internationally, on top of that Italy is one of the hardest hit countries in the world. Italy only re-opened from it's third lockdown at the start of February and workplaces still face many restrictions so it is understandable that there may well be severe delays in a lot of areas. 

Absolutely.  I don't know why people expect things to run smoothly in these circumstances.

I see this argument if there are similar delays in processing sales. I don't buy it when the delay is only in returns. 

The simple fact is, businesses have no interest in processing the return because they'd prefer to have the money. Unfortunately in these times, it places a risk of the traders insolvency firmly with its customers/creditors. 

But there was no easing of consumer laws due to covid. If it (law) said reasonable time, there would be scope to account for covid. But it says 14 days from when they receive the goods or from when the customer supplies proof of having returned the goods if earlier. Not really any wiggle room there. 


Op you say paid by PayPal, was that via a PayPal account that was funded by a card or bank account, or was it just a PayPal page card details were entered without logging in? It can't make a difference. 

Could still try PayPal, but definitely not a reliable protection policy. 

mad990diver

unholyangel said:

Op you say paid by PayPal, was that via a PayPal account that was funded by a card or bank account, or was it just a PayPal page card details were entered without logging in? It can't make a difference. 

Could still try PayPal, but definitely not a reliable protection policy. 

PayPal account, funded by credit card. PP were very helpful and I suspect it was their support that got MM moving.

mad990diver

To close this out... we got absolutely nowhere with Max Mara but our money has now been refunded by PayPal. 

We were not alone, all the recent reviews on TrustPilot and comments on MM FB page are from people complaining about not getting their refunds (some after months of chasing). This seems way beyond 'Covid' issues affecting back office performance. Could it be that MM is having cash flow problems and is borrowing off its customers? Shame to see such a great brand driving their reputation into the dirt.