Consumer Contracts regulations ( prev known as distance selling regulations)

Material1

Hi,
A uk company selling straps for fitness watches is stating you cannot get a refund on a sale item. All their items are on “sale” all the time. They state they offer a 30 day money back guarantee but not on sale items. Is this legal?  They also do not state anywhere on the site their delivery charges. They are called “Lacebands.com”.  I looked at trust pilot reviews and whilst there are a lot of positive reviews, some were very unhappy about trying to get a refund.  They only offer an exchange and you have to cover the cost to return and they charge you delivery on the replacement.
I just think it’s all wrong. They state they are governed by English law. I haven’t brought anything as I don’t think they are trading fairly, no delivery charges are mentioned either so could be charging anything. I wanted to get them checked out.

eskbanker

Material1 said:

They state they offer a 30 day money back guarantee but not on sale items. Is this legal?

Sort of - they can't override your statutory consumer rights but anything they offer over and above that, such as accepting change of mind returns after 14 days, is at their discretion.

Material1 said:

They also do not state anywhere on the site their delivery charges.

Like many other sites, you have to put an item in your cart and enter the shipping address in order to calculate the delivery cost, I don't believe there's anything wrong with doing this.

Material1 said:

They only offer an exchange and you have to cover the cost to return and they charge you delivery on the replacement.

As above, they can effectively specify what they like in a returns policy if you're returning non-faulty goods, as long as it doesn't conflict with statutory rights.

Okell

Material1 said:

Hi,
A uk company selling straps for fitness watches is stating you cannot get a refund on a sale item. All their items are on “sale” all the time. They state they offer a 30 day money back guarantee but not on sale items. Is this legal? ...

They are wrong in so far as that if the goods are faulty, then normal consumer law still applies and you could get a repair or replacement, and a refund if that fails.

Consumer law applies to "sale" goods just as much as any other goods.

Saying you can't get refunds on sale goods might well be a criminal offence.  If you wanted that investigated you'd have to ask CAB to make a referral to Trading Standards.  But don't hold your breath for the outcome - if any...

Apart from that - as @Eskbanker says basically

user1977

Are they “a UK company “? I can’t see any company details (or any real life contact info) on their website.

eskbanker

user1977 said:

Are they “a UK company “? I can’t see any company details (or any real life contact info) on their website.

Good point - perhaps worth noting that their privacy policy includes:

Selling Personal Information

Our Site does not sell Personal Information, as defined by the California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018 (“CCPA”).

and the date format at its foot is a bit of a giveaway too:

Last updated: 08/25/2023

https://www.lacebands.com/policies/privacy-policy

sheramber

From Terms and Condition

SECTION 18 - GOVERNING LAW 
These Terms of Service and any separate agreements whereby we provide you Services shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of United Kingdom. 

TadleyBaggie

They do advertise a UK address:

Get in touch

Customer support : (9:00 am to 5:00 pm)

Address:  Rendal Way, London , London E16 2TB, United Kingdom 

Email: contact@lacebands.com

Phone: 07443 077088

The fact they hide behind an apparent mobile number is a red flag to me. Can't get Google Streetview for that address to see what the operation actually looks like.

Also not registered on Companies House, pretty sure this is a foreign company try to appear to be in the UK.

Grumpy_chap

TadleyBaggie said:

The fact they hide behind an apparent mobile number is a red flag to me. Can't get Google Streetview for that address to see what the operation actually looks like.

Also not registered on Companies House, pretty sure this is a foreign company try to appear to be in the UK.

From what can be seen on Google Street view, I suspect the business is operating from one of the flats above the retail units in that area.

I don't interpret the information and the mobile number as indicating a foreign business trying to appear to be in the UK.

My interpretation is that this is a sole trader with hobby business literally making those bands in the living room. 

It does not really meet the rules in any way at all, but the sole trader probably just takes the basis that you are buying low value items and returns just won't be a thing.  If I were to buy from the company, I'd probably take that type of approach - buying a cheap & fun item and forget about it if its all not quite right.  That is not how it should be, but for a small company you probably aren't going to get any better really.  It's a kind of only buy it if you like the product and can afford to lose the money.  If you can't, there are far cheaper retrofit (though possibly less stylish) straps available from other online retail channels.

TadleyBaggie

Grumpy_chap said:n that area.

I don't interpret the information and the mobile number as indicating a foreign business trying to appear to be in the UK.

Domain appears to registered to a hidden entity in Iceland.

Also offering multiple currency options seems a bit of a stretch for a hobby seller.

Alderbank

Grumpy_chap said:

TadleyBaggie said:

The fact they hide behind an apparent mobile number is a red flag to me. Can't get Google Streetview for that address to see what the operation actually looks like.

Also not registered on Companies House, pretty sure this is a foreign company try to appear to be in the UK.

My interpretation is that this is a sole trader with hobby business literally making those bands in the living room. 

It does not really meet the rules in any way at all, but the sole trader probably just takes the basis that you are buying low value items and returns just won't be a thing.  If I were to buy from the company, I'd probably take that type of approach - buying a cheap & fun item and forget about it if its all not quite right.  That is not how it should be, but for a small company you probably aren't going to get any better really.  It's a kind of only buy it if you like the product and can afford to lose the money.  If you can't, there are far cheaper retrofit (though possibly less stylish) straps available from other online retail channels.

I don't think she makes them. I don't even think she sees the stuff she sells. She is just another drop-shipper with a Shopify page.

She says, 'Our products are shipped directly by the manufacturer and therefore are controlled by the supplier. Please check closely as some products are shipped from other countries and may take additional to arrive.'

I do agree with your assessment of her business. It's all cheap and cheerful, the watch bands are very colourful and most customers will be happy with what they buy, and just shrug and write it off if it falls apart.
Shopify hosts hundreds if not thousands of similar enterprises.

voluted

There's a UnionPay icon on the site at the bottom.

Finest Chinesium.