No refund from Marks and Spencer, case refused by PayPal

queline

I’d welcome advice on what to do next please. 

I returned an item that I’d ordered online to M &S well over 2 months ago, and it’s not been refunded.  I opened a case with PayPal and got scant communication from M & S, they’re unhelpful in the extreme, don’t seem to care.  Whatever is happening to this once reliable company? 

Anyway I asked to escalate with PayPal, who have refused my claim in their favour, saying the item I returned was as described by the retailer.  I returned because I didn’t like it and not a good fit.  
So I’m out of pocket by £35.00. 

I received an email from M & S confirming they had received the item back and my refund would be in 7 days, it wasn’t so I called them (call centre is based overseas) who told me I had to wait 35 days.  It’s well over that now since I returned it on 16 September. 

Anyone able to say what I can do next? 

PayPal state you can appeal against their decision, but I can’t find any more info on that. 

oldernonethewiser

M&S recently delivered the wrong item to me so I returned it.

Tracking the info online it all seemed to be going well but there was no sign of any refund.

Went online to their chat service and after 10 minutes I had received the refund.

Have you tried the chat to find out why they haven't refunded you?

A_Geordie

PayPal's Buyer Protection Programme only applies if you didn't receive the item or the item was not as described. Any other issues are ineligible under the programme so trying to appeal this will likely be a waste of time if you returned an item due to a change of mind. 

But, if you want to pursue that route, you can find more information about the appeal process by reading their T&Cs: PayPal's Buyer Protection Program

Sounds like you are going nowhere so depending on how much you want your refund, you could send a letter before action to M&S and set them 7 or 14 days to refund you in full otherwise you will start legal proceedings. Under the The Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013, retailers are required to refund you within 14 days of receiving the goods back or evidence that the goods have been returned, whichever is earlier. 

It will cost you £35 to start the claim but you should recover that back from M&S assuming you ask for it as part of any settlement as I can't see them taking it all the way to court to defend. Otherwise, continue the usual methods of spending your time chasing it up and waiting to see if your refund arrives.

Just make sure to issue the claim against M&S' registered company address if you do go down the legal path. 

born_again

A_Geordie said:

PayPal's Buyer Protection Programme only applies if you didn't receive the item or the item was not as described. Any other issues are ineligible under the programme so trying to appeal this will likely be a waste of time if you returned an item due to a change of mind. 

But, if you want to pursue that route, you can find more information about the appeal process by reading their T&Cs: PayPal's Buyer Protection Program

You can raise a non refund dispute with PayPal

https://www.paypal.com/uk/cshelp/article/how-do-i-get-a-refund-help100

A_Geordie

born_again said:

A_Geordie said:

PayPal's Buyer Protection Programme only applies if you didn't receive the item or the item was not as described. Any other issues are ineligible under the programme so trying to appeal this will likely be a waste of time if you returned an item due to a change of mind. 

But, if you want to pursue that route, you can find more information about the appeal process by reading their T&Cs: PayPal's Buyer Protection Program

You can raise a non refund dispute with PayPal

https://www.paypal.com/uk/cshelp/article/how-do-i-get-a-refund-help100

That's correct, which is also part of the Buyer Protection Program. Non of the other categories listed in the link you shared indicate that the buyer can raise a refund dispute relating to no refund for returned goods. The only one that comes close is goods not as described which, as per the first post, was declined because the OP had a change of mind. 

sheramber

saying the item I returned was as described by the retailer.

What are M&S  saying about item  that was returned?

Okell

sheramber said:

saying the item I returned was as described by the retailer.

What are M&S  saying about item  that was returned?

This ^^^

I don't understand why the OP is taking this up with PayPal rather than with M&S.  M&S is the trader and it's they who owe the OP a refund.


(Having said that, I've no idea how PayPal works and I don't understand what advantage it gives a consumer over paying by debit or credit card.  It seems only to add an unnecessary complication to the consumer/trader payment transaction)


[Edit:  and having dealt with M&S customer services a couple of times I can confirm they're ...  useless]

queline

Okell said:

sheramber said:

saying the item I returned was as described by the retailer.

What are M&S  saying about item  that was returned?

This ^^^

I don't understand why the OP is taking this up with PayPal rather than with M&S.  M&S is the trader and it's they who owe the OP a refund.


(Having said that, I've no idea how PayPal works and I don't understand what advantage it gives a consumer over paying by debit or credit card.  It seems only to add an unnecessary complication to the consumer/trader payment transaction)


[Edit:  and having dealt with M&S customer services a couple of times I can confirm they're ...  useless]

The point is Ive tried every avenue with M & S to get my refund including phoning customer service, and the chat which they didn’t respond to.  There’s no email address to contact them of course. 

They’ve confirmed by email and over the phone they received it back  but I’m getting no further with them issuing a refund.  As I used PayPal to pay for my order, I thought I could open a case with them to help me get my money back, but it seems not. 

Thanks for the suggestions so far. 

Okell

queline said:

Okell said:

sheramber said:

saying the item I returned was as described by the retailer.

What are M&S  saying about item  that was returned?

This ^^^

I don't understand why the OP is taking this up with PayPal rather than with M&S.  M&S is the trader and it's they who owe the OP a refund.


(Having said that, I've no idea how PayPal works and I don't understand what advantage it gives a consumer over paying by debit or credit card.  It seems only to add an unnecessary complication to the consumer/trader payment transaction)


[Edit:  and having dealt with M&S customer services a couple of times I can confirm they're ...  useless]

The point is Ive tried every avenue with M & S to get my refund including phoning customer service, and the chat which they didn’t respond to.  There’s no email address to contact them of course. 

They’ve confirmed by email and over the phone they received it back  but I’m getting no further with them issuing a refund.  As I used PayPal to pay for my order, I thought I could open a case with them to help me get my money back, but it seems not. 

Thanks for the suggestions so far. 

I used this address two years ago:  online_service@customersupport.marksandspencer.com

Whether it is still operable or not I don't know.

They were utterly and completely useless when I dealt with them but they did eventually refund me.

Make sure you provide all the evidence you can to support a refund claim

(In fact they were so ******* useless that they refunded me twice.  I pointed this out to them but they said there was nothing they could do about it.  Useless...)