Full Refund Inc. Shipping On Out of Stock Item?

AfxTwn

Hi, I recently bought a couple of items online. I was emailed by the company to say one of the items was out of stock and I could either order an alternative or have a refund. I requested a refund and received one but not for the full amount including shipping, just for the cost of the item.

The online store sells items for "boutique" shops, meaning presumably that they sell items on behalf of small shops and pass the orders onto the shops, a sort of middle-man. At the time, I was charged two lots of shipping, one for each item I ordered but the shipping price was the same for each item as they have a set price.

I emailed the company to let them know I had only received a refund for the item itself and not for the shipping as well which is what I would have expected. They emailed me back and said they only reimburse the shipping if I had cancelled the whole order (both items) and seeing as this was multiple "boutique" items they have not reimbursed me but as a good will gesture they would give me the money back for shipping on the one out of stock item.

I would like to know if they are correct and legally allowed to not issue a full refund including shipping on an item that is out of stock (and couldn't be got back in stock due it being a limited-run/bespoke item) or if this is incorrect? It seems a bit odd to me and I would've thought consumer rights would say I should be allowed a full refund.

Thanks for any help.

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

Assuming UK law applies (i.e the sellers terms say the contract is governed by the laws of E&W, or Scotland (or probably NI)) then yes a refund should be for what was cancelled.

I.e you add 1 item for £10 to the basket and P&P is £2.99, you add a second item also £10 and P&P jumps to £5.98 and one of those is cancelled I'd expect £12.99 back.

If however you added a third £10 item and P&P stayed at £5.98 for all 3 and only 1 is cancelled I'd expect just £10 back. 

However as per the CRA you can also opt to cancel the entire order (unless it's clear they are treated as separate contracts) under Delivery of wrong quantity for a full refund for all items under the contract: 

https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2015/15/section/25

AfxTwn

Thanks very much for the information provided. I assume UK law applies as the website I bought the items from has a UK registered address and both of the stores that the items were being sent from, were also UK-based shops. I can't find anywhere on their website or in the order confirmation email I received detailing their contract T's and C's. There is certainly no mention of only receiving a partial refund upon cancellation of an order and that it won't include the cost of shipping nor is there any mention that a cancellation of part of the order that they do at my request after an item is out of stock, wouldn't be treated the same as a full cancellation of the entire order.

For the two items I ordered, the cost of postage was added twice at a cost of £4.49 per item totalling £8.98 all together so I was fully expecting the cost of the cancelled item of £3.50 plus the £4.49 postage fee for a total refund of £7.99 but instead received just the £3.50 for the item alone.

I think they are playing a little fast and loose with CRA and have no mention anywhere of the contract or any terms and conditions that may alter from what UK law states.

I know it's not a lot of money but seeing as the company specifically mentioned they wouldn't normally refund the full amount, I thought that can't be legal can it? I haven't done anything wrong here, they advertised an item as being in stock and it wasn't and I asked for a refund, why they feel justified to only partially refund it and keep the shipping fee despite having never sent anything is beyond me.

I think I may email them back and remind them of UK legislation which states I am entitled to a full refund and they haven't provided any proof to the contrary.

AfxTwn

I have received the rest of the refund now for the postage. My main issue is them saying "as a gesture of goodwill" in the first place seeing as they are legally required to provide a full refund and only did so upon me questioning them about it. It seemed like they were trying to say they have their own refund policy regardless of any actual CRA legislation and had I not queried the lack of a full refund, then they would've just partially refunded me and left it at that.

By them saying it was a gesture of goodwill, they seem to be admitting that they are breaching the CRA and have admitted they wouldn't normally issue a full refund. Again, it's not really about the money as it is such a low amount, it is the principle of the matter and if they are behaving like this on a regular basis, then they are making a lot of money illegally.

They have made no mention of the CRA and have acted like they are doing me a favour by issuing me a full refund when in fact they are legally obligated to do so and should have done just that. I haven't told them I am aware of my rights but I wanted to make sure I was correct first before saying anything to them about it and also make sure I I received a full refund first.

I think I will remind them of the CRA and that they are in breach of it and have admitted liability in the email to me and perhaps need to follow it more closely in the future. I am also tempted to report them for their behaviour as it's not an optional or advisory piece of legislation that they can choose to follow or not, it is legally binding and they are required to do so. I am sick of companies getting away with treating customers poorly and doing whatever they want. I have had a lot of experience of this in the past few years and it seems to be getting worse.

Thanks very much for all the advice though and confirming what I thought was the case.

born_again

Given you received one item.
How heavy was the out of stock item?
As the combined weight may have fallen under the weight limit for both items. Thus a postage refund would not be due.

So limit for the package was 200 G
Item 1 received 100G, item 2 not received 50G.
Therefore postage would always be the same for 1 or 2 items. Which would make no refund due.

Unless of course they were both to be sent separately.