Website claimed my returns are just empty boxes!!!

smartshopper80

Hi all.
As title. I returned 4 orders to a brand/website using their free return via InPost locker, and I very shocked that they denied the refunds as they made false accusation saying courier informed them only empty boxes were received. I found it every suspicious because
1. I used their original packaging, and for these 4 orders, I remembered they're just brown mail bags, not boxes.
2. According to InPost's tracking, two parcels remained in InPost's sorting centre for weeks, which means the seller have never received them. So the empty boxes claim is just impossible!
I have experienced this returned parcels lost in transit problem once a while, but I've never been accused of sending empty boxes. I don't really know how to.
I'm in very stressful mode as the total value is kinda high.
Any advice? Thank you guys.

km1500

the use of the word boxes may be a red herring as it may just be their generic term for packaging

assuming they are a reputable firm it's etc then it does seem that your items have been stolen in transit

the first thing to do is to get a crime number not that the police will investigate or anything but at least you will have proof you have reported it

although it is subject to some debate it does seem to be a consensus that if the retailer pays for the return i.e provides the return label then once you have dropped the items off at their box then they are responsible not you

if however you paid for the return then you are responsible and should have got insurance etc and have no remedy - you are a victim of crime

in the end however your only real avenues (assuming they paid for the return)  are your card if you paid by a card and thereafter the courts. in both cases your argument would be that you followed their returns process and handed the items to their designated courier and once you have done that your responsibility ceases

Undervalued

km1500 said:

the use of the word boxes may be a red herring as it may just be their generic term for packaging

assuming they are a reputable firm it's etc then it does seem that your items have been stolen in transit

the first thing to do is to get a crime number not that the police will investigate or anything but at least you will have proof you have reported it

although it is subject to some debate it does seem to be a consensus that if the retailer pays for the return i.e provides the return label then once you have dropped the items off at their box then they are responsible not you

if however you paid for the return then you are responsible and should have got insurance etc and have no remedy - you are a victim of crime

in the end however your only real avenues (assuming they paid for the return)  are your card if you paid by a card and thereafter the courts. in both cases your argument would be that you followed their returns process and handed the items to their designated courier and once you have done that your responsibility ceases

Indeed.

The OP does say "using their free return" so that suggest that the company are responsible. However....


Also, when the OP says "via InPost locker" I assume they have no receipt / proof of posting that shows the weight? Obviously that is of little help when a worthless item of similar weight is substituted but the difference between an empty box and one containing the correct item would presumably be significant?

smartshopper80

km1500 said:

the use of the word boxes may be a red herring as it may just be their generic term for packaging

assuming they are a reputable firm it's etc then it does seem that your items have been stolen in transit

the first thing to do is to get a crime number not that the police will investigate or anything but at least you will have proof you have reported it

although it is subject to some debate it does seem to be a consensus that if the retailer pays for the return i.e provides the return label then once you have dropped the items off at their box then they are responsible not you

if however you paid for the return then you are responsible and should have got insurance etc and have no remedy - you are a victim of crime

in the end however your only real avenues (assuming they paid for the return)  are your card if you paid by a card and thereafter the courts. in both cases your argument would be that you followed their returns process and handed the items to their designated courier and once you have done that your responsibility ceases

Thanks for the reply.
It's free return offered by the company. They should be responsible for it. I've been a customer of this company for long, and I never had problems getting the refund. Once a while it looked like InPost lost the parcel, but they would just refund it as long as I showed them the screenshots to prove.
I think their CS has been outsourced very recently(from Europe to central America), so everything changes. I phoned them, and agents just read the scripts and hung up. I was trying to make my points, and these 3 CS agents wouldn't even let me speak.
I assume it's likely parcel theft from Evri, as InPost is actually Evri but just operates separately. I've had numerous Evri's parcels disappeared in thin air all these years.
I used PayPal. I've contacted them, as well as my card issuers for advice. I will go with PayPal claim, and if it fails, then I would go with the chargeback from my banks.

smartshopper80

Undervalued said:

km1500 said:

the use of the word boxes may be a red herring as it may just be their generic term for packaging

assuming they are a reputable firm it's etc then it does seem that your items have been stolen in transit

the first thing to do is to get a crime number not that the police will investigate or anything but at least you will have proof you have reported it

although it is subject to some debate it does seem to be a consensus that if the retailer pays for the return i.e provides the return label then once you have dropped the items off at their box then they are responsible not you

if however you paid for the return then you are responsible and should have got insurance etc and have no remedy - you are a victim of crime

in the end however your only real avenues (assuming they paid for the return)  are your card if you paid by a card and thereafter the courts. in both cases your argument would be that you followed their returns process and handed the items to their designated courier and once you have done that your responsibility ceases

Indeed.

The OP does say "using their free return" so that suggest that the company are responsible. However....


Also, when the OP says "via InPost locker" I assume they have no receipt / proof of posting that shows the weight? Obviously that is of little help when a worthless item of similar weight is substituted but the difference between an empty box and one containing the correct item would presumably be significant?

Undervalued said:

km1500 said:

the use of the word boxes may be a red herring as it may just be their generic term for packaging

assuming they are a reputable firm it's etc then it does seem that your items have been stolen in transit

the first thing to do is to get a crime number not that the police will investigate or anything but at least you will have proof you have reported it

although it is subject to some debate it does seem to be a consensus that if the retailer pays for the return i.e provides the return label then once you have dropped the items off at their box then they are responsible not you

if however you paid for the return then you are responsible and should have got insurance etc and have no remedy - you are a victim of crime

in the end however your only real avenues (assuming they paid for the return)  are your card if you paid by a card and thereafter the courts. in both cases your argument would be that you followed their returns process and handed the items to their designated courier and once you have done that your responsibility ceases

Indeed.

The OP does say "using their free return" so that suggest that the company are responsible. However....


Also, when the OP says "via InPost locker" I assume they have no receipt / proof of posting that shows the weight? Obviously that is of little help when a worthless item of similar weight is substituted but the difference between an empty box and one containing the correct item would presumably be significant?

Thanks for the response.
My flatmate actually thought of the same thing, which is to use the weight. But the problem is, even it's not via InPost locker, this type of free return doesn't always shows the actual weight. For example, I shop frequently on very well-known group, and on the UPS the label, it always indicates 0.5 kg, no matter how heavy the parcel can be.