Nike - don't know what to do next

holly_smith123

Hi,

Thanks in advance for reading this, I am at a loss as to what to do next as I am going in circles.

I had a large order from Nike back in May of this year for my children. It was paid for with Klarna and all returned in 3 parcels through Inpost.

Nike are claiming to have only received one of the three parcels and therefore will not issue a refund. Klarna are saying they are unable to get involved as it is down to Nike. Nike keep telling me to raise it with the courier which I have repeatedly but Inpost say that Nike needs to raise it with them. When I tell Nike this, they just ignore me and send the same email over and over again.

My Klarna account has now been frozen because I don't have a spare £200 to pay for clothes we don't even have. Does anyone have any advice at all? 

Okell

Who arranged and paid for the return?  You or Nike?

holly_smith123

Thank you for replying. Nike offer free returns booked through the Rebound site - so technically them 

Ergates

holly_smith123 said:

Thank you for replying. Nike offer free returns booked through the Rebound site - so technically them 

To be clear:  Nike arranged the courier?  Rather than them repaying you for a courier that you arranged?

If the former (Nike arranged the courier) then non-delivery is entirely *their* problem.  The courier was acting as an agent on Nike's behalf and the moment you handed the parcels over to the courier they were, effectively, in Nike's possession.

Do you have any kind of proof of delivery/collection?

holly_smith123

Yes I didn't pay for anything, I booked it through 'Rebound' which I am guessing Nike pay for. I have my 3 tracking numbers which Inpost are confirming 2/3 are lost but will only deal with it if Nike contact them

Ergates

The courier are correct - it is Nike's responsibility to deal with them, as Nike are the one with the contract.

Nike should refund you "without undue delay" - within 14 days is the limit in the Consumer Contracts Regulations.  They should not wait until the goods are found.

holly_smith123

Thank you for your comments. Sorry for the delay in coming back to you. Nike don't acknowledge any of my emails. And Klarna are now charging me late fees which is affecting my credit score. If I use my credit card to pay the outstanding amount (my only option as I don't have the funds), can I still pursue this with Nike? Although I have no idea how 

Ergates

If Nike are ignoring you then your next step is small claims court.

Before you start proceedings you'll need to send Nike a "letter before action" (there are templates on the web), giving them some time (a week or two) to resolve the matter.  Detail the relevant factual parts of what has happened:
You returned items X order number X. 
Nike arranged the courier Inpost - you have confirmation of receipt from Inpost with tracking numbers A, B C.
As you did not arrange the courier, you are not responsible for what they did with the parcels and the fact that they have been lost is Nike's problem, not yours.
Nike should have refunded you at most 14 days after confirmation of receipt by the courier, it has not been X days  and they haven't yet done so.
You would like your refund of £X to be with you in X days or you will start legal proceedings. 

The templates will have better wording than the above, but you get the picture.

Include *copies* of any relevant documentation - orders, emails from the courier etc.

I imagine Nike has lots of different "parts" - so you'll need to find out *exactly* which company you bought the shoes from.

If you are lucky, this will spur Nike into responding.  Otherwise be prepared to go through with your threat.

There is a fee for a small claims action, you can get this back from Nike too, assuming you win.  It's not a lot.

holly_smith123

Thanks so much for replying, I will do exactly as you have said. 

Do you think I would be ok paying Klarna to clear the balance so it’s not affecting my credit score? 

Ergates

holly_smith123 said:

Thanks so much for replying, I will do exactly as you have said. 

Do you think I would be ok paying Klarna to clear the balance so it’s not affecting my credit score? 

Your contract with Klarna is separate from your contract with Nike, so in terms of getting a refund from Nike - it won't impact it.

The one concern would be that refunds are given back to the original payment method, so if this was Klarna, the payment would be made back to Klarna.  Ive never used Klarna - do you have an account with them or something?  They must have a process in place for refunds - check the T&Cs to see how you'd go about getting the refund back from them.

Okell

Ergates said:

holly_smith123 said:

Thanks so much for replying, I will do exactly as you have said. 

Do you think I would be ok paying Klarna to clear the balance so it’s not affecting my credit score? 

... The one concern would be that refunds are given back to the original payment method, so if this was Klarna, the payment would be made back to Klarna.  Ive never used Klarna - do you have an account with them or something?  They must have a process in place for refunds - check the T&Cs to see how you'd go about getting the refund back from them.

I think that's a really interesting question.

AIUI the law says that refunds must be paid using the same method as the original purchase, unless the consumer agrees otherwise.

To my mind that means that cash = cash, debit card = debit card, credit card = credit card, cheque = cheque and bank transfer = bank transfer.

But does the "same method" extend to meaning the same intermediary?  So if the consumer pays Klarna, and Klarna pays the trader, does that mean that any refund must come to the consumer via Klarna, or can the consumer demand that the trader refunds the consumer direct?

(As I said on the thread about M&S, I don't really understand how PayPal and Klarna work.  To me they both just seem to introduce unnecessary complications to the consumer trader payment transaction)