John Lewis Instore Returns

milton1970

Just had to return something to JL on behalf of my partner - the item was still BNWT / unworn .. just tried on & not quite right. We were within the 35 day returns period allowed under JL t&cs. I had receipt but not the original debit card that it was charged to … I had my debit card / credit cards only.

Only challenge was that JL insisted that they would not refund to another card (only to the original card) .. otherwise it was a gift card ! It appears that this is not in their t&cs … 

Seems they are insisting on another requirement to get a refund .. 

HillStreetBlues

That's standard practice,  most shops to do that.

TBH When they ask I just say yes and put any of my cards in,  never had it questioned (even returning for someone else)

DullGreyGuy

milton1970 said:

Just had to return something to JL on behalf of my partner - the item was still BNWT / unworn .. just tried on & not quite right. We were within the 35 day returns period allowed under JL t&cs. I had receipt but not the original debit card that it was charged to … I had my debit card / credit cards only.

Only challenge was that JL insisted that they would not refund to another card (only to the original card) .. otherwise it was a gift card ! It appears that this is not in their t&cs … 

Seems they are insisting on another requirement to get a refund .. 

Yes, standard anti-money laundering procedures... also means they get their merchant fees on the original transaction refunded which they wont if they put the money to any other card.

Diamandis

They say they'll refund by original payment method so they would need the card to do that in store.

milton1970

I think they position it as anti money laundering @DullGreyGuy but more to do with reclaiming fees I suspect .. relatively low average values I suspect 

@Diamandis - yes I saw that but it doesn’t stipulate that that is the only way they will refund …

oh well .. life goes on

SiliconChip

They are well within their rights to say that, but like @HillStreetBlues I've done returns where I wasn't sure which card I'd originally paid on and just presented any card I had on me without any issue, although I'm not sure if it would work with a card in someone else's name.

DullGreyGuy

milton1970 said:

I think they position it as anti money laundering @DullGreyGuy but more to do with reclaiming fees I suspect .. relatively low average values I suspect 

The cases where blaming something on regs that coincidentally helps the bottom line is a rare occurrence but not one to be missed. Some with more generous return policies is purely AML because there is a timelimit on transaction fee refunds (unless they've negotiated longer ones inline with their policy)

Jonboy_1984

The card schemes (Visa, Mastercard etc) and merchant services (barclaycard, stripe etc) mandate that refunds should go to the same card. This is so that customers don’t pay on card A, refund to card B and then initiate a chargeback on card A, as well as the AML mentioned above.

It is also why refunds should not generally be given by other payment methods if the original payment was by card…

born_again

milton1970 said:

Just had to return something to JL on behalf of my partner - the item was still BNWT / unworn .. just tried on & not quite right. We were within the 35 day returns period allowed under JL t&cs. I had receipt but not the original debit card that it was charged to … I had my debit card / credit cards only.

Only challenge was that JL insisted that they would not refund to another card (only to the original card) .. otherwise it was a gift card ! It appears that this is not in their t&cs … 

Seems they are insisting on another requirement to get a refund .. 

Not so much AML, more buy one item, steal another (to get receipt) then return one. = Free item.

jon81uk

Returns & Refunds | Customer Services | John Lewis & Partners

"If you paid by credit or debit card, we’ll refund the same card originally used to place and pay for the order.

If you're returning your item(s) directly to a John Lewis & Partners shop, please take the card with you that you used to make the purchase. "

That is possibly more for online purchases, but it is normal for refunds to go back to the same card. As others have noted its mainly an anti-money-laundering thing.

HillStreetBlues

SiliconChip said:

I'm not sure if it would work with a card in someone else's name.

Names are pretty meaningless on cards (unless someone looks at it)

When filling out on-line card details it you can enter anything  under "name"
All that matters is card number, expiry date and 3 or 4 digit security numbers.