Kerastase won’t provide a free post returns. Are they right?

born_again

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head said:

@born_again might comment on the transaction being unauthorised here given the OP withdraw their offer did they not also withdraw consent for their card to be charged. 

A

Sorry, a no go as Op did make the payment. 
In reality there is no such thing (as far as card providers go) a unauthorised payment. It is either made by card holder (would fall as a dispute, if any issues) or if by a unknown 3rd party, it would be treated as fraud.

Frustrating as it is when a contact is made so quickly to cancel, but as we have seen before these order process with large companies are all automated & often to a 3rd party fulfilment center with no way to stop the process. Unlike some small ones where someone is physically picking item off a shelf.
Yes Amazon do a mixture of both, but they are a rare breed of company who manage to get things right, as handled in house.

ILoveToMoveItMoveIt

Okell said:

ILoveToMoveItMoveIt said:

Okell said:

Perhaps I've misunderstood, but isn't the issue here whether the OP withdrew her offer to buy the goods before a contract was entered into, and not whether she needs to pay for a return?

My understanding is that the OP says that the website allows you to "cancel" an order before you receive an email notifying of dispatch, and this is what she did.

I don't know what the T&Cs say about when a contract is formed, but it's usually on dispatch.  So if the OP cancelled before then there is no contract and the seller should never have sent out the goods.

So the seller should pay for return regardless of what their T&Cs say...

YES! Exactly!

yes this is my issue. What am I to do 

Did you make it 100% clear to them that you were not trying to return something that had been sent to you legitimately, but rather that you were wanting to return something that should never have been sent to you because you had followed the instructions on the website to cancel the order before dispatch?

I can't comment on what the website actually says so I'm relying on what you say it says.

Neither am I going to comment on whether you bought it from a the UK or French or wherever site.

Yes. I made it very clear. I gave the order details and even explained it had 3 items (described them) in it and I did not want the parcel. I placed the order after reading their cancellation and returns policy, as I have/had never purchased from them before and always like to know the company’s policy in case something isn’t suitable. 

I used their website to request the return and received a confirmation email. When they e mentally responded back, they did so with the corresponding order number. 

ILoveToMoveItMoveIt

A_Geordie said:

Okell said:

I don't know what the T&Cs say about when a contract is formed, but it's usually on dispatch.  So if the OP cancelled before then there is no contract and the seller should never have sent out the goods.

So the seller should pay for return regardless of what their T&Cs say...

That's a fair point, and the Regulations do allow the OP to cancel before the deliver of the goods since the OP is still within the cancellation window, but I don't believe the Regulations explicitly state that if the consumer cancels before dispatch then the seller is legally required to stop the dispatch. The seller may say that the cancellation notice was past the point of no return so that the process had to follow its course if there was not a way of successfully recalling the package. 

So yes, the seller ought not to have sent out the goods but it did, and the OP was free to reject the delivery notwithstanding the fact there were multiple goods under the same shipment and the OP only wanted one of them. Playing devil's advocate, the seller could in theory argue that knowing the contract was cancelled, the OP decided to take possession of the goods anyway, therefore OP should foot the cost of return as the OP had the opportunity to reject the goods at no cost.* On the flipside, the OP may argue that the unwanted goods fell within the meaning of unsolicited goods and therefore they are free to do as they please with it. Suppose that may depend on whether payment had already been taken at the time of delivery then the unsolicited goods argument might not apply.

* If the OP rejected both of the goods, they could possibly have claimed breach of contract for non-delivery, re-ordered the goods with a fast track delivery option such as next day and then claim that amount back, or if the specific good could be purchased elsewhere, claim the difference back. I get the feeling that it would be more hassle rejecting the goods than taking possession of the unwanted one.

Perhaps the quickest and most convenient route is for the OP to return the goods back to the UK returns address along with their order number or reference and then claim a refund that way. Anything else is likely to be more work and hassle than it needs to be. Kerastase will either refund the amount or they won't in which case the OP could start the legal process if all else fails.

I have never encountered a company so stubborn and mean. All other companies understand and make exceptions to scenarios if necessary, so for me, I felt I should accept the parcels (as I cannot reject one without rejecting the parcel I want) and explain to them so that they can intervene in their process and accordingly adjust. Ie if their systems are automated and they cannot stop the process, despite asking numerous times, then I should let it complete and THEN ask them to action my request. But they’re being so bizarre about this and not following their own policy and in fact telling me to do things that are not in their policy. 

My last email to them has been this, sent yesterday:

Hi,

I purchased from kerastase.co.uk NOT another site nor a French site nor an international site, so it’s ludicrous to expect me to send this to France and pay for the postage of this. I will not be paying for postage to return - please issue a free return label. 

Furthermore, you are informing me to do something which is AGAINST your policy. I notified yourselves that I DID NOT WANT ORDER XXX one hour after placing my order and WELL before my dispatch email, which was issued 2 days after my purchase. Your website CLEARLY STATES in the E-commerce Terms and Conditions of Sale the following under section 5.3:

If you are emailing us or writing to us please include details of your order to help us to identify it, including the order reference number (starting KER…). 

If you send us your cancellation notice by email or post, then your cancellation notice is effective from the date you send us the email or post the letter to us. For example, you will have given us notice in time as long as you get your letter into the last post on the last date of the cancellation period or email us before midnight on that day.

I will be escalating this to trading standards or similar if you keep refusing and going against your policy. 

Kindly issue a free post returns label or confirm you will be reimbursing the postage costs for returning the package, which remains unopened. 

Thanks,

ILoveToMoveItMoveIt

Their response:

Dear xxxx,


Thank you for contacting us and for the interest you have in Kérastase.

We do apologize for the inconvenience.

As per out T&C you may change your mind about and cancel any order purchased from us online at any time from the date on which we email you to confirm that the order has been dispatched until fourteen (14) calendar days after you receive the product.

Unfortunately we were unable to cancel your order due of the fact that it was already in preparation, and therefore we couldn't accept your cancellation request.

Regarding the return of the order, we confirm the following return procedure.

We apologise again for the inconvenience and thank you for your patience and understanding.

If you require further assistance from us please feel free to call us on 08000854958. We are open Monday to Saturday 8:00 - 20:00 and Sunday 8:00 - 15:00


Kind Regards,

Salvatore
Your Kérastase Advisor

Okell

What do the T&Cs of the site you bought from say about when a contract is actually formed?

It'll probably get you nowhere - unless you are willing to sue them for how much money** is involved - but perhaps worth checking


**Is it just the cost of return?  How much?

[Edit: unfortunately this sort of problem is always likely to arise if you order stuff online you aren't certain about and you automatically assume without checking that you will be able to return it for free.  I know in this case the OP thought they'd cancelled before dispatch, but online purchasers should never just assume stuff can be returned at no cost to themselves...]