Faulty shoes, no receipt

Advocado

Three weeks ago I bought some shoes from John Lewis, paid via debit card.  The shoes are faulty (sole coming away) so want to exchange them, but I don’t have the receipt.

I’ve heard that you don’t need the receipt to return something, just a proof of purchase.  Is this correct?

I went to JL and was told, without the receipt, there’s nothing they can do.

giraffe69

How about your debit card statement?

Advocado

They said that wasn’t enough as they don’t know that the transaction I showed them (on my banking app) was for those shoes.

Alderbank

The Government doesn't agree with them.

This site
 https://www.gov.uk/accepting-returns-and-giving-refunds
which gives legal advice to businesses says:

   Proof of purchase

   You can ask the customer for proof that they bought an item from you. This could be a sales receipt or    other evidence such as a bank statement or packaging.

Advocado

They say because they’re branded (New Balance instead of John Lewis own) they can’t confirm I bought them at JL, regardless of showing them the transaction. I asked to see a manager who told me the same. I even showed them the Which website.

 What do I do??

Alderbank

You might like to show them this article from the Guardian two years ago
https://www.theguardian.com/money/2019/dec/03/john-lewis-law-consumer-rights-faulty-goods

Why does John Lewis act as if it is above the law?

I didn’t have the receipt...but they wouldn’t accept my bank statement as proof

Your situation, almost word for word.
The Guardian's final comment:

John Lewis is another company where we used to receive very few complaints but now, sadly, we get more. At least it moved quickly to put matters right. It has said you are correct and a credit card or bank statement can be used to verify a purchase. It apologised, offered a full refund, and is investigating how you were misinformed … on three different occasions.

Advocado

Thanks. I’ve found that also (odd how the outcome isn’t really detailed).

But when manager says no, what can you do…?

Dazed_and_C0nfused

Keep receipts for a decent timeframe from now on.

Doesn't help you with this problem it would be sensible for the future.

user1977

Advocado said:

Thanks. I’ve found that also (odd how the outcome isn’t really detailed).

But when manager says no, what can you do…?

Send them a letter before action.

And bear in mind that ultimately, it would be decided by a court on the balance of probabilities. So is John Lewis's position really that you bought those shoes from a different retailer, but for some reason are seeking an exchange from John Lewis - and by coincidence, you happened to buy a different (but identically-priced) item from JL?

Brie

Presumably you no longer have the box that might have had JL's price sticker on it.  

Get something from your bank to say what the time was of the transaction.  Take that along with the bank statement to the JL where the shoes were purchased and ask them to check their transactions for that time period.  They should be able to pull up the receipt from their system.

Obviously be polite and give them time to resolve - it may take a while to get an IT boffin to get the data.  

Should that fail then try New Balance as it's their product.  But be clear about what you want - a replacement, money back, compensation?

MalMonroe

I haven't shopped at JL for a while because their branch in my town closed but I did have a 'my card' with them. And then with that I opened an online 'account' which showed every single purchase I ever made from them. My purchases are still visible from 2018 - the last time I bought anything there.

It doesn't matter what any manager says, JL have got it wrong, again. 

What you can do is print out the information in the links that Alderbank has provided, above and take that into the store. You need to say that under the Consumer Rights Act 2015 you are entitled to a full refund for faulty goods without a receipt as long as you can provide a statement or other proof of purchase, they cannot refuse. And if it were me, I'd stay there until they did something and I'd be repeating the fact that under the Consumer Rights Act 2015, etc . . . . 

If all else fails, contact Citizens Advice who should be able to help. BUT JL is flouting the rules here.