Sports Direct return

Worriedandalone

Hi all, I’m after some advice as feel like I’ve been unreasonably forced into a corner by Sports Direct.

In early December I was gifted a pair of jogging bottoms by my parents for my birthday. They provided me with a gift receipt and upon returning home I tried them on and when taking them off discovered a hole in them where the security tag must have been.
The following day I returned them to the store where they were purchased from and the store manager refused to accept them for return stating that they’d been both worn and washed. They hadn’t been either (the tags are still on for a start).

I’ve attempted to complain to the store but the manager is refusing to budge and refuses to give me the details of the area manager hiding behind GDPR and stated that he’d be ringing the other local stores to “warn them”. 

When I asked how I could complain about him he pointed me in the direction of the website and their Customer Service. 

I’ve since done this and managed to have the case reviewed by the senior person in the Customer Service team but they are continuing to claim that all faulty items are at the discretion of the store manager with no process for escalating a complaint. 

This appears to be a very flawed process and allows the store manager to act with impunity as they are here. Does anyone have any suggestions on how I could possibly escalate this?
The store and customer services are refusing my requests for contact details of an area manager. I’ve attempted to find the contact details of the Chief Exec but this appears to be a very murky area at Sports Direct and not clear anymore since Mr Ashley offloaded some shares. 

I’ve also raised a case with Resolver but have found myself back in the Customer Services system where they hide behind being online only and any problems with purchases instore need to be raised with the store themselves. If anyone has any ideas I’d love to hear them. This is now a matter of principle rather than the money itself.

user1977

It's your parent(s) who have the statutory right to return faulty items, so it may be easier if they do it.

Worriedandalone

I agree, but at this point I’ve no faith that the story would be any different if they were to return them

user1977

Maybe not, but you don't really have any legal rights as merely being the giftee.

Worriedandalone

Okay but since I can get my parents to undertake any actions necessary can we just assume I do and attempt to find a way forward?

Aylesbury_Duck

There is no way forward without your parents doing it.  You have no consumer rights here, so you've no way of forcing SD to deal with you at all, let alone resolve your problem.

Get your parents to go to the store and try.  If they get no joy, they can contact their card provider (if they paid by card) for options.  Ultimately they can take small claims action, but it needs to be them that does all of this.

How much are we talking about here?  Principles can be expensive things.

Mark_d

Certainly get your parents to return the item to Sports Direct in the first instance.  If they are unsuccessful then they should try a chargeback on their credit/debit card.

Sports Direct have attractive prices but they are a terrible company to deal with.  I don't even browse their shops any more.