My return was returned to sender... and now I have to pay again

junglecat1

Hi all, 

A bit of an annoying situation I'd love some advice on. 

A couple of months ago,  I returned an item I'd bought. The return address was in another country, so I paid about £25 to send it - tracked- to get my money back. 

Last week the parcel turned up at my place, with a sticker on it that said 'return to sender; item unclaimed.

I checked the tracking and it said there was no one from the company to receive the package, so it went to the local post office for them to collect. Except no one did, so it was eventually returned to me. 

Rather galled at the prospect of forking out another £25 to send it back a second time,  I asked the company to give me a free return label, as it was their fault they hadn't collected the return.

They refused, saying there's always someone there to take in parcels, and that the delivery company must have taken it to the wrong place.

I'm very annoyed at wasting more time and money on this, esp. as I followed the return instructions correctly,  but is it worth kicking up more fuss? 

Grateful for any advice you can offer!

retiredbanker1

How did you pay for the original order and was the company registered in UK.

If so you have consumer laws to protect you and if paid by bank card they might agree to a chargeback for the original amount (not the £25 postage you paid).

If the company is based abroad then you are having to agree to whatever local law in that country.

Might it be better to see if you could sell the item and recoup some of you money this way?

junglecat1

retiredbanker1 said:

How did you pay for the original order and was the company registered in UK.

If so you have consumer laws to protect you and if paid by bank card they might agree to a chargeback for the original amount (not the £25 postage you paid).

If the company is based abroad then you are having to agree to whatever local law in that country.

Might it be better to see if you could sell the item and recoup some of you money this way?

Thanks for your reply! Their head office is based in Spain, but I bought via their international website. I used my debit card to buy the items. 

But I have the items again now, so doubt I would get anything from my bank. The items don't fit and I'd rather not have the additional hassle of selling them (likely at a loss)...I really just want to return them for a refund. 

The problem is, the company is blaming the delivery guys, and no doubt the delivery guys will blame the company.  I also don't want to get in the middle of that- just want my refund and not to have to shell out more money for the privilege of sending it back a second time 😒😵‍💫

RefluentBeans

Did they attempt to redeliver? Did you give the tracking details to the company? Was there a returns protocol to follow (rather than just shipping it to an address). 

If the company was abroad (which I imagine it is) I would check the local rules there as to what is fair and legal. If in the UK, ask why you can’t send it to a correspondence address or PO Box in the UK saving you time and maybe send a letter before action. In the UK the company has to tell you that the price of return postage is on you - otherwise the costs associated with that are assumed by the retailer. This obviously differs internationally. 

This depends on the cost of the item too - if it’s expensive then I would’ve been checking the tracking every couple of days, and when it wasn’t delivered the first time why did you not check with the business then? Given it has been 2 months since you returned it. 

If the item is cheaper/not worth the hassle then attempt to sell locally if you can. If you get £50 off RRP then it’s the same as posting it back in real terms. 

junglecat1

RefluentBeans said:

Did they attempt to redeliver? Did you give the tracking details to the company? Was there a returns protocol to follow (rather than just shipping it to an address). 

If the company was abroad (which I imagine it is) I would check the local rules there as to what is fair and legal. If in the UK, ask why you can’t send it to a correspondence address or PO Box in the UK saving you time and maybe send a letter before action. In the UK the company has to tell you that the price of return postage is on you - otherwise the costs associated with that are assumed by the retailer. This obviously differs internationally. 

This depends on the cost of the item too - if it’s expensive then I would’ve been checking the tracking every couple of days, and when it wasn’t delivered the first time why did you not check with the business then? Given it has been 2 months since you returned it. 

If the item is cheaper/not worth the hassle then attempt to sell locally if you can. If you get £50 off RRP then it’s the same as posting it back in real terms. 

Hi - thanks for your reply. 

No they didn't attempt to redeliver, and yes there was a returns protocol I had to follow, which I did (request the return, stick the labels and barcodes they sent me to the parcel,  post it to the address they gave).

The items are around £200 and my mother died shortly after I posted them, so it wasn't top of my mind to chase this up.

It's not a huge deal but it just feels unfair that I have to pay and waste more time sending it a second time,  given I did exactly what I asked to the first time.  And also no guarantee the same thing won't happen again now! Sigh. 

retiredbanker1

I would urge that you contact your bank' disputes team - let them advise you - if they refund you, you will have a 45 day wait to see if they challenge it.
You may end up with a refund and find you still have the goods - which if you decide not to sell give away to charity.

RefluentBeans

junglecat1 said:

RefluentBeans said:

Did they attempt to redeliver? Did you give the tracking details to the company? Was there a returns protocol to follow (rather than just shipping it to an address). 

If the company was abroad (which I imagine it is) I would check the local rules there as to what is fair and legal. If in the UK, ask why you can’t send it to a correspondence address or PO Box in the UK saving you time and maybe send a letter before action. In the UK the company has to tell you that the price of return postage is on you - otherwise the costs associated with that are assumed by the retailer. This obviously differs internationally. 

This depends on the cost of the item too - if it’s expensive then I would’ve been checking the tracking every couple of days, and when it wasn’t delivered the first time why did you not check with the business then? Given it has been 2 months since you returned it. 

If the item is cheaper/not worth the hassle then attempt to sell locally if you can. If you get £50 off RRP then it’s the same as posting it back in real terms. 

Hi - thanks for your reply. 

No they didn't attempt to redeliver, and yes there was a returns protocol I had to follow, which I did (request the return, stick the labels and barcodes they sent me to the parcel,  post it to the address they gave).

The items are around £200 and my mother died shortly after I posted them, so it wasn't top of my mind to chase this up.

It's not a huge deal but it just feels unfair that I have to pay and waste more time sending it a second time,  given I did exactly what I asked to the first time.  And also no guarantee the same thing won't happen again now! Sigh. 

Ah that is really annoying. 

I would attempt to reason with the online seller - and try and get some goodwill. The customer service reps are humans too, and will likely understand that it was a tough time, and you maybe weren’t as diligent as you normally would be. 

I would imagine that the Spanish consumer protection law is based on the EU law and is very similar to ours. From what I can see online (only from a quick search) there doesn’t, unfortunately, seem to be a provision that sellers are obligated to repay return postage. But I would check the website to check what it says under return info (but likely it will say you’re liable). 

Again I would explain the situation to them, and ask if there’s anything they can do - go in nice and sweet, they’re more likely to ‘flex’ the rules in your favour if they can sympathise. 

If they insist on charging, then look locally to sell if possible, and see if there’s an appetite for it on something like Facebook Marketplace - can always delete the listing in 24h if no one is interested and doesn’t delay you too much. If you can recoup the sale price at around £150 it may just save you the headache of international shipping without losing too much money.