Argos refund method.

freezin76

Robbo66 said:

freezin76 said:

Wonka_2 said:

Aylesbury_Duck said:

Otherwise, your buy-and-refund situation just looks like a deliberate way of quickly converting gift card funds to 'cash'.

It's exactly this - easy way for a less than honest person to convert a gift card into cash. And because of this they're always likely to take gift cards as the first paid/first refunded element of the transaction. If I could be bothered to read through them I suspect it'd be buried deep in the small print to cover them.

Even if they'd not given it all back to the gift card the next option would have been to apportion the refund as per the original payment breakdown so you'd still have had £6.67 on your gift card

I think you may have misunderstood.
I have actually bought (and kept) goods over the value of the gift card. 

Argos had a surplus cash payment of £39.98

The refund I was expecting was £29.99.
Nobody told me how it would be refunded nor asked if I still had the gift card. The first I was aware of it was a refund of £9.99 from PayPal 

Which you got, £20 to the gift card and 9.99 to paypal., I'm sure if you speak to Argos and tell them you cant find the gift card they will send out as a digital one

But I've already redeemed that £20 giftcard against the game I bought and kept at £29.99. (having paid £20 GC & £9.99 cash)

I'm looking for a refund of the other £29.99 cash. 

HillStreetBlues

freezin76 said:

Ah, do you mean independently buy a 2nd version (using the gift card) of the 1st game then take that game back on the same order that I returned the 2nd game on. 

For all intents and purposes it appears the entire 1st order has been returned. 

Very smart but a bit of a hassle.

Yes that's it, it is a bit of a hassle, but will depend if you will need the gift card.

I also would have thought the "cash" refund would be first and then the gift card,  but it's in Argos interest to do it the other way round, as some of  those gift cards will never be used.
So I would want the "cash" refunded so if it meant a bit of hassle I would personally do it.

powerful_Rogue

HillStreetBlues said:

freezin76 said:

Ah, do you mean independently buy a 2nd version (using the gift card) of the 1st game then take that game back on the same order that I returned the 2nd game on. 

For all intents and purposes it appears the entire 1st order has been returned. 

Very smart but a bit of a hassle.

Yes that's it, it is a bit of a hassle, but will depend if you will need the gift card.

I also would have thought the "cash" refund would be first and then the gift card,  but it's in Argos interest to do it the other way round, as some of  those gift cards will never be used.
So I would want the "cash" refunded so if it meant a bit of hassle I would personally do it.

All retailers do it this way.

Manxman_in_exile

I'm pretty certain that it is a common condition* of using gift cards that (i) if you make a purchase using the gift card where the total transaction value exceeds the value of the card and the balance is paid in cash and (ii) you require a refund on the purchase, then (iii) the refund will be credited to the card first before you get any cash refund.

So if you make purchases to a total value of £30 and pay using a £20 gift card and £10 cash, then if you are entitled to a £20 refund all you will get is a £20 credit back onto the gift card.  You won't get any cash back.

I don't see anything wrong with what Argos have done.

[Edit:  Plus - as I presume this refund was made under Argos's own returns policy and not under any legal obligation - Argos can pay the refund any way their policy says they can]


*I don't like giftcards - I don't give them and I don't like receiving them.  But all the cards I can remember using have had a similar condition attached to them.  I don't know if Argos do or not

Aylesbury_Duck

Their gift card terms do indeed include a clause that allows them to do exactly what they've done - refund to the card first, with any excess refunded to the other original payment method.

goater78

I didn’t know you could use PayPal in store at Argos. I learn something new every day on here!

What Argos have done seems right though. Not sure you have any options. 

freezin76

goater78 said:

I didn’t know you could use PayPal in store at Argos. I learn something new every day on here!

What Argos have done seems right though. Not sure you have any options. 

Pay online to pick up in store

Manxman_in_exile

freezin76 said:

goater78 said:

I didn’t know you could use PayPal in store at Argos. I learn something new every day on here!

What Argos have done seems right though. Not sure you have any options. 

Pay online to pick up in store

Are you saying that's what you did and that this was a distance sale?

If yes, then you should have cancelled both playstations (or whatever they are) and got a full refund, and then bought a single one as a separate transaction using your gift card plus £9.99 cash.

HillStreetBlues

powerful_Rogue said:

HillStreetBlues said:

freezin76 said:

Ah, do you mean independently buy a 2nd version (using the gift card) of the 1st game then take that game back on the same order that I returned the 2nd game on. 

For all intents and purposes it appears the entire 1st order has been returned. 

Very smart but a bit of a hassle.

Yes that's it, it is a bit of a hassle, but will depend if you will need the gift card.

I also would have thought the "cash" refund would be first and then the gift card,  but it's in Argos interest to do it the other way round, as some of  those gift cards will never be used.
So I would want the "cash" refunded so if it meant a bit of hassle I would personally do it.

All retailers do it this way.

That's wrong, not all retailer do.

Paid Asda £53.39 (40.18 gift 13.21 cash)  refunded £15.18    breakdown of refund: all cash refunded £1.97 back on gift card.

freezin76

Manxman_in_exile said:

freezin76 said:

goater78 said:

I didn’t know you could use PayPal in store at Argos. I learn something new every day on here!

What Argos have done seems right though. Not sure you have any options. 

Pay online to pick up in store

Are you saying that's what you did and that this was a distance sale?

If yes, then you should have cancelled both playstations (or whatever they are) and got a full refund, and then bought a single one as a separate transaction using your gift card plus £9.99 cash.

Reserved and paid online, picked up in store. Is that distance selling... I'm not sure it is. 

One was opened and used, the other was returned unused. 

There was no appetite from me to return both games and it wouldn't have been an option anyway as one was used.

It seems I'm in the minority thinking that this is an unscrupulous way for retailers to behave. I certainly won't be going out of my way to use Argos or their gift cards in the future.