Goods collected and no refund

Minxminnie

What should I do if my goods are collected and the promised refund doesn't appear?
I had to return a £500 cross trainer as it developed a fault which they couldn't repair despite several attempts. The retailer arranged for their warranty people to uplift it and promised a refund once the goods had been received in their warehouse. Two weeks on, the carrier hasn't confirmed receipt and I am still waiting for my refund. What can I do?
Many thanks in advance for any advice.

Aylesbury_Duck

Chase them.

JJ_Egan

Vendor   , warranty people , carrier .

Carrier not confirmed receipt from you ?? for the pick up of the goods .

Minxminnie

Yes I signed for it and have a copy of the return, but they are insisting on confirmation that goods were received. 

Minxminnie

I have been chasing it but they seem in no hurry to sort it at their end, and I'm wondering what my next steps are. 

Flight3287462

I presume the retailer organised the return via their courier, you have a receipt of collection so it is the retailers problem, chase them up.

Minxminnie

Yes, sorry I didn't make it clear: I have been repeatedly chasing it up with the retailer. I want to know what my next step is if they keep stonewalling me.

They say that the warehouse people haven't confirmed receipt. The couriers got me to take a photo of the return label on the item and sign for the uplift on their electronic system, but didn't offer a paper receipt. I wish I had filmed them or something but I was too nice! They were the correct carriers: I just think they are inefficient in communicating with the retailer.

Manxman_in_exile

Minxminnie said:

What should I do if my goods are collected and the promised refund doesn't appear?
I had to return a £500 cross trainer as it developed a fault which they couldn't repair despite several attempts. The retailer arranged for their warranty people to uplift it and promised a refund once the goods had been received in their warehouse. Two weeks on, the carrier hasn't confirmed receipt and I am still waiting for my refund. What can I do?
Many thanks in advance for any advice.

Assuming the OP is exercising their right to reject, isn't it* covered by s 20(15) of the Consumer Rights Act 2015?

(15)  A refund under this section must be given without undue delay, and in any event within 14 days beginning with the day on which the trader agrees that the consumer is entitled to a refund.

Consumer Rights Act 2015 (legislation.gov.uk)

The OP needs to point out to the retailer that according to the law the retailer should have refunded the OP within 14 days of agreeing to refund them, and that the law doesn't say anything* about the retailer having to have received the item back.  If the item hasn't been received by the retailer yet, the retailer needs to take that up with the courier ("warranty people"?) the retailer arranged themselves - it isn't the OP's problem, it's the retailers.


*I may have missed it but I can't see anything that says the goods have to have actually been received by the retailer before a refund is paid.  All I can find is that a refund has to be paid within 14 days of agreeing to pay one.  If it's the reatiler who arranged the collection then I suppose it makes sense as it can't be the consumer's fault if the goods have been collected as arranged, but not received by the retailer.  The retailer needs to take that up with their chosen courier.

Unless anyone has a better idea, I suggest the OP quotes s 20(15) to the retailer as above, and sees what happens.

Minxminnie

Manxman_in_exile said:

Minxminnie said:

What should I do if my goods are collected and the promised refund doesn't appear?
I had to return a £500 cross trainer as it developed a fault which they couldn't repair despite several attempts. The retailer arranged for their warranty people to uplift it and promised a refund once the goods had been received in their warehouse. Two weeks on, the carrier hasn't confirmed receipt and I am still waiting for my refund. What can I do?
Many thanks in advance for any advice.

Assuming the OP is exercising their right to reject, isn't it* covered by s 20(15) of the Consumer Rights Act 2015?

(15)  A refund under this section must be given without undue delay, and in any event within 14 days beginning with the day on which the trader agrees that the consumer is entitled to a refund.

The OP needs to point out to the retailer that according to the law the retailer should have refunded the OP within 14 days of agreeing to refund them, and that the law doesn't say anything* about the retailer having to have received the item back.  If the item hasn't been received by the retailer yet, the retailer needs to take that up with the courier ("warranty people"?) the retailer arranged themselves - it isn't the OP's problem, it's the retailers.


*I may have missed it but I can't see anything that says the goods have to have actually been received by the retailer before a refund is paid.  All I can find is that a refund has to be paid within 14 days of agreeing to pay one.  If it's the reatiler who arranged the collection then I suppose it makes sense as it can't be the consumer's fault if the goods have been collected as arranged, but not received by the retailer.  The retailer needs to take that up with their chosen courier.

Unless anyone has a better idea, I suggest the OP quotes s 20(15) to the retailer as above, and sees what happens.

This is brilliant, thank you very much. I knew there had to be something in consumer law that protected me against them just disappearing with my goods. I also thought they must be liable to refund me while chasing up the goods (which, being faulty, are probably of no value).
They had passed collection onto a third party, the warranty company, people who had been dealing with the repeated and failed attempts at repair (including sending a repairman to an address 200 miles away). The warranty company then contracted a courier to do the collection. This seems to have caused the problem, but as you say, it shouldn't be my problem.

One last question if I may: if they don't cough up, should I go down the route of the small claims court?

Manxman_in_exile

I think at this stage I'd just quote* the legislation to them and emphasise that once they agreed to make a refund then the law says they MUST pay it (1) without undue delay and (2) in any case with 14 days of agreeing to make a refund.  Point out that 14 days have expired, so where is your promised refund?  If the retailer has not received the item back, they must take that up with the courier that they arranged to collect it, it's not your problem and you are still entitled to your refund.

Tell them that as they are already in breach of their statutory duty, that you expect the payment to be made without any further delay.

I'd see what their response is.  If they haven't replied or paid the refund within say, 3 working days, then for £500 I would sue them in small claims.  If they don't reply I'd suggest you come back for further advice.  You'd need to send them a formal Letter Before Claim (Google it) before you could start a claim.  (But see what others suggest).

*Send them an email along the above lines and quote the legislation as I did in my earlier post.

Minxminnie

Thanks -I just wanted to say that I used some of the advice here and finally got my refund!