Getting a Refund for Misadvertised Item

bobtail_5

Hi, a few weeks ago I bought some hair-stylers from an online retailer I had never heard off before. I clicked on an image from Google for a branded set I was specifically looking to buy and the image appeared on the website for said product so I purchased them. The moment I bought them the image changed to what appeared to be a cheap and nasty copy from China. I immediately emailed the company and asked for them to cancel my order as the product wasn't what I wanted but they told me due to the quick despatch time I would have to just initiate a return once the item arrived. The item eventually arrived but not in record time as they suggested it would and the box was all bashed in and damaged. I haven't opened the stylers as I knew I would be returning them straight away. 

I emailed again and requested a return and they replied back telling me that I would have to pay for the return and would just be given a credit note for their store. I will not be buying anything else from them as it is so cheap and nasty so the credit note is no good to me. Their returns policy does not mention about having to pay to return the item and it states that if a return is accepted, then a full refund will be made to the original payment method. Since this, I have been on Trust Pilot and many other people have had similar experiences it seems  

I have contacted my bank (Monzo) from where I bought the item and they have told me to wait 14 days, the retailer still hasn't replied to my request and subsequent email and Monzo seemed to allude that there won't be much evidence to help with my claim and get my money back. Here's the link to the website and the reviews, to ensure no one else makes the same mistake that I made.

https://uk.trustpilot.com/review/londonfinesse.co.uk
https://londonfinesse.co.uk/policies/refund-policy

Is there anything else that I can do? It is becoming more a matter of principle but to be honest, I can't really afford to be paying out for items I do not want and that weren't as advertised. Any help will be much appreciated. 

Sandtree

It would have been better to refuse delivery if the box was all bashed as you say and then the courier would have taken it back for free.

You need to go back to your bank and as them to raise a chargeback but if they say wait 14 days before doing so you're probably best just doing so as its unlikely any complaint etc would be dealt with within that timescale anyway.

davidmcn

Goodness knows who the retailer actually is. Despite their web pages having "London Finesse Ltd" at the bottom, there's no such company (in the UK at least) and I can't see any other clues. The postal address is just a service address for hundreds of companies.

bobtail_5

davidmcn said:

Goodness knows who the retailer actually is. Despite their web pages having "London Finesse Ltd" at the bottom, there's no such company (in the UK at least) and I can't see any other clues. The postal address is just a service address for hundreds of companies.

On my bank statement it shows up as 'Urban Gizzmoz", there is a lot of dodgy things related to this company since I have been doing my research...

liggerz87

Also because you bank with Monzo get all the evidence that you can get as they will ask for it or what Monzo will likely do is buck it back to you to try get refund from retailer IV had problems with starling and Monzo in past with refunds 

Sandtree

liggerz87 said:

Also because you bank with Monzo get all the evidence that you can get as they will ask for it or what Monzo will likely do is buck it back to you to try get refund from retailer IV had problems with starling and Monzo in past with refunds 

Pre-covid at least many banks were bad at doing chargebacks.

I once wanted to do a chargeback for unsatisfactory services and Barclay's stated that wasnt an allowed reason for a chargeback. Ended up having to send them a link to their own website which listed the Mastercard and Visa chargeback codes both of which had a code for unsatisfactory services at which point they backed down. and said they'd put it through.