Clarity needed over Argos 30 day return policy

user1977

Perhaps it could be made clearer, but I would think it reasonable to interpret the day you buy the item as day 1, and I wouldn't expect anybody to be using the time of day as a reference point.

Manxman_in_exile

WhiskersTheWonderCat said:

Semantics aside, I think most people understand that a 30-day return policy, does include the day you received the item.

We only know what a 30 day return policy means by reference to how it defines 30 days.

What we are talking about here is what 30 days from the day of purchase means...

Is tomorrow just one day from today, or is it two days from today?

wolvoman

Quite astonishing how few people get this.
Tomorrow is 1 day from today.
Today is zero days from today.
New Years Day is 7 days from Xmas day.
And 7th October is 30 days from 7th September.

Manxman_in_exile

wolvoman said:

Quite astonishing how few people get this.
Tomorrow is 1 day from today.
Today is zero days from today.
New Years Day is 7 days from Xmas day.
And 7th October is 30 days from 7th September.

I agree.  Today is zero and tomorrow is one day from today.

Although to be fair there is often legitimate confusion over measuring the passage of time as to whether you start your count from zero or one.  Again it depends on context and why you are counting.

When drafting something like a returns policy it really needs to say something like "... within 30 days starting from the day of purchase... " or "... no later than 30 days starting from the day after delivery... " or whatever it is the person drafting it actually wants it to mean, not something vague and ambiguous.

Distance is different.  If you have two locations (A and B  ) separated by a distance of one mile, I don't think anybody would suggest that B was two miles from A...

MalMonroe

Clare0363 said:

For those of you who asked why did he leave it so late he has poor/no organisation skills due to a disability and I was out of the country for 21 of the 30 days so didn't know he hadn't done it until yesterday!

Hi, this being the case and also, the very confusing thing about whether it should be the 6 or 7 October  - I'm with the people who think that the thirty days should begin on day following purchase and so it should be the 7th - do you think it would be possible for you to speak to either a manager or supervisor and explain the situation, as you have done here?

Surely Argos could make some allowances in your son's case (and I know people will say that Argos' return policy is very generous as it is but if your son doesn't understand it, then the point is moot).

I would phone and write to them, and if all else fails I'd go on social media and make some queries on there (Twitter, Facebook). Perfectly politely, of course.

Contact details here - https://www.argos.co.uk/help/contact-us/

If it turns out that they are obliging and helpful, you can then go on social media and praise them to high heaven.

I wouldn't use the chat facility because that's just a robot. But phoning, or writing, yes. 

Good luck. I do think it's worth a try because nothing ventured, etc.

Manxman_in_exile

user1977 said:

Perhaps it could be made clearer, but I would think it reasonable to interpret the day you buy the item as day 1, and I wouldn't expect anybody to be using the time of day as a reference point.

Time is a red herring.  I only introduced time in my example because it happened to be nearly 4pm when I posted, plus it's a bit unrealistic to give an example of arranging to meet somebody in a pub without mentioning a time.

But time is irrelevant.  Whether it's 00:01 hours or 23:59 hours today, all of tomorow is only one day from today.  Not two days.

As I said in my first post, my answer might well be different if the policy said "within 30 days of purchase", but it apparently doesn't.  The OP has posted that it says "30 days from the date of purchase or date of receipt".  No mention of "within".

(Of course the OP may not have relayed accurately what the policy actually says... )

The_Fat_Controller

There is no day zero, the date of purchase is day one.

TELLIT01

I don't see any ambiguity in the Argos statement.  It clearly states 30 days from date of purchase or date of receipt.  That clearly, to me at least, means that the date of purchase or date of receipt is effectively Day1.  Therefore an item received on the 1st of the month can be returned up to and including the 30th of that month and no later.

Unless I've missed it, the OP still hasn't said why the son took so long to return the item.  Had they been using it for that period?

Clare0363

TELLIT01 you missed it Clare0363 said:

For those of you who asked why did he leave it so late he has poor/no organisation skills due to a disability and I was out of the country for 21 of the 30 days so didn't know he hadn't done it until yesterday!

wolvoman

TELLIT01 said:

I don't see any ambiguity in the Argos statement.  It clearly states 30 days from date of purchase or date of receipt.  That clearly, to me at least, means that the date of purchase or date of receipt is effectively Day1.  Therefore an item received on the 1st of the month can be returned up to and including the 30th of that month and no later.

Unless I've missed it, the OP still hasn't said why the son took so long to return the item.  Had they been using it for that period?

Wrong.

An item purchased on the 1st with a returns policy of 30 days has until the 31st.

If you saw your doctor on a Tuesday and he/she said to come back in 7 days, would you come back the following Monday?