Faulty Arc'teryx Jacket

Grumpy_chap

Rhoo said:

a refund or store credit can't be offered. We have legislative restrictions in the way we handle refunds with separate financial accounts between ecommerce and Brand stores sales, it is not possible to refund this order in this case. It is also not possible to process a physical store credit (for use in a retailer or brand store).

 

why the ONLINE credit? It was bought in their London store? They are adamant that they will not give us store credit....? 

It is possible that the online business and the retail stores are separate companies.  
It is possible that the separate companies are within the same holding group.
It is possible that the separate companies are totally separate and no connection through holding group.
The last of these would explain why the store credit is not possible for the holding company to administer and is, I think, what they are saying in their note "separate financial accounts between ecommerce and Brand stores".

From a practical perspective, it may not make any difference whether you have store credit voucher or online credit voucher.
Regardless, you can see in store, then buy online.
Even without that, the practical service may be more flexible than the formal written constraints you are being advised.  
I had a similar thing with an online credit for Hugo Boss.  I ignored that, went to the Regent Street store, chose what I wanted and the store assistant processed it as an online order for store collection, assigning the online credit accordingly, all done at the till.  It was very quick.  For practical purposes, I had used the online credit in the store, irrespective of how this will show in the business accounts.

sheramber

would it would it be an option to get the jacket back and take it back to the shop , claiming a refund from them ,  as retailer , under the CRA.?

Rhoo

Okell said:

Rhoo said:

Thank you, very much appreciate your input and suggestions.

If you want a refund and not a replacement or some sort of credit to the value of £1350, it would be helpful to know who you bought the parka from and who the email offer is from.

Did you buy it instore from Arc'teryx in London and is the email offer from them, or from Arc'teryx in Canada?

If (a) you bought instore in London and (b) the offer is from Canada and (c) the email is accepting that the parka material is faulty, then under UK consumer law you ought to be able to get a refund from the London store - and that refund should be by the same method you originally used to buy it.  The people in Canada who sent the email may not be aware that you have a UK legal right to be refunded by the same method - assuming they've accepted it's faulty.

But if Arc'teryx are't accepting that it's faulty, and they are just offering a goodwill gesture, they can refund you how they like.

If you did buy it instore in London it's a pity that they referred you to customer services in Canada .  They've complicated things by doing that as the email from Canada sems to be saying they can't refund you because you didn't buy from them.

I'd be inclined to go back to whoever sent you the email and tell them that - assuming they are accepting that the item is faulty by offering a replacement - you want the store you bought it from to refund you.  Can Arc'teryx in Canada facilitate that?  (ie instruct their London store to refund you).

Of course if you didn't buy from the Arc'teryx store...

Thank you for your suggestions. You hit the nail on the head.

Yes, we bought the Parka in the Piccadilly store and they asked me to submit a form online which went to their customer service in Canada who then issued a case number and took over. They never admitted that the material is faulty in so many words. Only that they don't know what the cause of the marks are and that it can't be repaired.

We talked to the Canadian customer service about receiving store credit but they declined firmly. 

We have since sent an email to the Piccadilly store asking them whether they could help with store credit but haven't heard back... 

PS. We never raised the issue about getting the postage back for mailing the Parka to the repair centre in Scotland which we had to send carefully packed,  tracked and signed and insured....

Rhoo

Grumpy_chap said:

Rhoo said:

a refund or store credit can't be offered. We have legislative restrictions in the way we handle refunds with separate financial accounts between ecommerce and Brand stores sales, it is not possible to refund this order in this case. It is also not possible to process a physical store credit (for use in a retailer or brand store).

 

why the ONLINE credit? It was bought in their London store? They are adamant that they will not give us store credit....? 

It is possible that the online business and the retail stores are separate companies.  
It is possible that the separate companies are within the same holding group.
It is possible that the separate companies are totally separate and no connection through holding group.
The last of these would explain why the store credit is not possible for the holding company to administer and is, I think, what they are saying in their note "separate financial accounts between ecommerce and Brand stores".

From a practical perspective, it may not make any difference whether you have store credit voucher or online credit voucher.
Regardless, you can see in store, then buy online.
Even without that, the practical service may be more flexible than the formal written constraints you are being advised.  
I had a similar thing with an online credit for Hugo Boss.  I ignored that, went to the Regent Street store, chose what I wanted and the store assistant processed it as an online order for store collection, assigning the online credit accordingly, all done at the till.  It was very quick.  For practical purposes, I had used the online credit in the store, irrespective of how this will show in the business accounts.

Thank you, I guess, it could be. It's very helpful to read your experience with Hugo Boss — might give it a go. Thank you for sharing.

Okell

Hmmm.  Thought that must be the case.

If Arc'teryx don't accept that the material is faulty your best bet might be to accept whatever goodwill offer they are making.  

They seem to be offering you replacement items up to the value of £1350 from "the website".  That might be your best bet, but if you aren't keen on having no alternative way of getting your money back other than choosing another £1350 worth of goods from "the website" I can see that you might not be very happy.***

See what the Piccadilly store say in reply to your email.  I suspect the best they'll offer is an instore credit which you may or may not be happy with. Point out to them that their HQ in Canada are happy to offer that to you, but you'd prefer an instore credit to an online credit.  Can the store do that?  (Bear in mind they might not even offer you a store credit if they don't accept the material is faulty... )

Having said that...

sheramber said:

would it would it be an option to get the jacket back and take it back to the shop , claiming a refund from them ,  as retailer , under the CRA.?

... how long ago did you buy it?

There is a statutory presumption under the Consumer Rights Act 2015 (legislation.gov.uk) that if an item develops a fault within 6 months of purchase, then it was faulty on the date of purchase, unless the seller can establish otherwise.  That would entitle you to a repair or a replacement - or a refund if both of those are not possible.  Any refund payable by the same method as you originally paid.

You could try that approach with the Piccadilly store, but I don't honestly know what your chances of success would be without knowing what Arc'teryx think the problem is.  They might think the material is faulty or their inspection might have concluded that the discolouration is because of something you've done.  Who knows.

I think you'll probably have difficulty getting anything better than you've already been offered.

But come back here when you've got a reply from the Piccadilly store.


*** What is "the website"?  Is it an Arc'teryx UK website or one in Canada?  If in Canada there may be practical difficulties about returning replaced items that might be faulty.  You might also find you have complications around import duty etc

Arunmor

It wouldn't have helped that you left a them a poor review before you gave them a chance to look in to the issue.

Rhoo

Arunmor said:

It wouldn't have helped that you left a them a poor review before you gave them a chance to look in to the issue.

Who knows but I never felt that this was part of the issue at all.

Rhoo

Thank you all for your comments and support which has been very helpful going through the process. 
The shop where I bought the Parka has replied to my email and has been very supportive and got in touch with Customer Service in Canada. They received a reply that the credit remains valid for online ordering only {they didn't succeed in turning it into a voucher or store credit}  but there will be no expiration date which allows me to wait for the next winter season. The store also offered to help me find suitable items and ordering them for me online using the credit / paperwork etc. I accepted this as this is as good as it gets with the policies they have in place.
Again, Thank you all for caring to reply — it meant a lot.