Should I accept or fight this restocking fee?

Okell

powerful_Rogue said:

Bobla said:

Thank you everyone for your replies and looking into things so diligently. To clarify a few things, the MacBook I ordered was an M3 Pro, so a very current model. I asked formally for a refund on the 25th July. Things have been slow sailing since then and they have told me they have gotten the restocking fee reduced from 15% to 5%. Opinion about whether or not I should actually be charged a restocking fee for an item never received is varied from those asked, with even an Apple senior advisor saying a restocking fee would not be applicable for an unauthorised reseller of their items. They basically said Stock4Less were lying. Unfortunately I couldn't get that in writing, it was a phone call. Don't know if they would be willing to provide it in writing anyway. I did mention this to the company, who were still adamant about the restocking fee. They were also casting doubt about whoever I spoke to, as if it wasn't someone from Apple. Which for me is both childish on their part, and also a red flag. So I will still be looking into this as it all feels off and leaves a bad taste in my mouth. 

They've been iffy about times they would receive the money on their end, and when I would receive the refund on my end as well. They gave a date about when they would get the money on their side, after I insisted repeatedly for a date, then that date just changed and they allotted themselves more time for no apparent reason. Then they said I would receive my refund by the Friday 31st August. Well, 2-3 business days since Wednesday. And I am counting Wednesday as I received this message in the early morning hours on their side. Still nothing. I am a bit tired of being polite at this point. Especially with everything else mentioned above and my doubts about them as a whole.

Will update next week with more news, as I have already sent a message inquiring yet again about this refund.

Restocking fees are common and legal in the US. Apple have no say whether an unauthorised reseller can apply them or not.

This ^^^.

Despite the earlier discussion - which I was a party to - about you having a theoretical right to sue the supplier in an English court, the reality is that your purchase is almost certainly governed by Californian law and is subject to the jurisdiction of a Californian court.

Even if you did win a UK court case, how would you enforce it?  That's the practical problem.

If restocking fees are permitted in California - and I don't know if they are or not - it's of no significance that they are prohibited under UK law.

Your best bet is to be as low key and non-confrontational as possible, and hope either that they'll give you some kind of meanigful goodwill gesture, or that they don't know their own Californian law and gift you something you aren't entitled to.

The other thing is that you really need to think twice about buying expensive kit from outside the UK - and particulalrly from the US

A_Geordie

Whilst I don't necessarily agree with Okell's stance on the governing law and jurisdiction (which now is by the by), I would echo everything else that has been said from other posters. Just because you might have a legal right to do something, doesn't always mean you should exercise it. Especially so when your bargaining position is severely limited.

You've been offered a restocking fee of 5% and I think that is a win in my eyes so the sensible thing would be to mitigate your losses - and make sure you pay by credit card for any international transactions next time to ensure you are protected.

Bobla

How do I chase them up on a refund if they are giving me dates that don't match up or are not upheld? I feel like this little dance is how I ended up waiting on them for 6 months for a product never received. I'm not really sure how to escalate things properly if people are agreeing that I should just accept the restocking fee. If I can't threaten them with legal action, how do I get them to actually follow through?

A_Geordie

Unfortunately, this is the risk you take on when you enter into cross-border transactions without sufficient protection in place as you are at the mercy of the supplier. Returning an item overseas is risky in of itself since you are relying on the honesty and good faith of the supplier.

I think someone earlier mentioned a link to the Better Business Bureau which I believe is the equivalent of the Citizen's Advice Bureau here in the UK. If you fulfil their complaints criteria, they might be able to take on your case.

You could alternatively look to file a complaint to the Attorney General's office in California as there doesn't seem to be a government agency for electronics in the referral table using the second link below. The closest agency seems to be the Bureau of Household Goods and Services but on further reading they seem to only cover electronic repairs rather than sales.

The Department of Consumer Affairs might be another option to file a complaint too, though I am not sure to what extent they could help. 

The UK International Consumer Centre might be able to help or at least point you in the right direction. 

The Federal Trade Commission (econsumer.gov) has an online website that helps to assist in submitting complaints, so also worth a look. Just make sure to read the privacy policy before you register. 

https://www.bbb.org
https://oag.ca.gov/consumers
https://www.dca.ca.gov
https://www.ukecc.net
https://econsumer.gov

Bobla

A_Geordie said:

Unfortunately, this is the risk you take on when you enter into cross-border transactions without sufficient protection in place as you are at the mercy of the supplier. Returning an item overseas is risky in of itself since you are relying on the honesty and good faith of the supplier.

I think someone earlier mentioned a link to the Better Business Bureau which I believe is the equivalent of the Citizen's Advice Bureau here in the UK. If you fulfil their complaints criteria, they might be able to take on your case.

You could alternatively look to file a complaint to the Attorney General's office in California as there doesn't seem to be a government agency for electronics in the referral table using the second link below. The closest agency seems to be the Bureau of Household Goods and Services but on further reading they seem to only cover electronic repairs rather than sales.

The Department of Consumer Affairs might be another option to file a complaint too, though I am not sure to what extent they could help. 

The UK International Consumer Centre might be able to help or at least point you in the right direction. 

The Federal Trade Commission (econsumer.gov) has an online website that helps to assist in submitting complaints, so also worth a look. Just make sure to read the privacy policy before you register. 

https://www.bbb.org
https://oag.ca.gov/consumers
https://www.dca.ca.gov
https://www.ukecc.net
https://econsumer.gov

Thank you for these, I will give them a try. I actually made the purchase through PayPal, using my Visa Debit as the payment option. I can see now that PayPal has a resolution center for refunds on their transactions, including options for products that were never delivered, so I will go ahead and try that first.