Wrong item delivered online purchase

Okell

ste6085 said:

Yes, I ordered the orange bottle which is the men’s and I Got the clear bottle which I assume is the ladies. I did not know the bottle was clear until I opened the box and by opening the box they are refusing to refund me as I have broken the seal on the box. 

Assuming this is a reputable/bona fide trader you just need to go back to them and point out that they did not supply what you ordered and they are therefore in breach of s11 of the Consumer Rights Act 2015 which says that goods must be as described.  If you are within 30 days of delivery you can demand a full refund (incl the original delivery charges).  If outside 30 days they can offer you a replacement.

If they try to argue that their returns policy says the goods must be returned sealed and unopened, remind them that that is irrelevant as you are exercising your statutory rights under the law and their returns policy specifically says that it does not affect your statutory rights. 

Any hygiene and security restrictions don't apply either as they sent you the wrong item.  This is not an order cancellation for change of mind.

Similalrly it is irrelevant whether you should have realised it was the wrong item before opening the box.  They should not have sent you the wrong item

They also have to pay the return costs

[Edit:  if they don't play ball you may have a chargeback remedy if you paid by debit or credit card.  @born_again will know]

ste6085

TheSpectator said:

ste6085 said:

Yes, I ordered the orange bottle which is the men’s and I Got the clear bottle which I assume is the ladies. I did not know the bottle was clear until I opened the box and by opening the box they are refusing to refund me as I have broken the seal on the box. 

And who are 'they'?

Hopefully not one of the dodgy knock off sites through social media?

Justmylook dot com

Ergates

ste6085 said:

I recently ordered some aftershave online, when it arrived I opened the package and opened the box to find the bottle inside was not what I was expecting. I am sure this is perfume for women, but not really sure. I have contacted the company and returned it to them but they will not give me a refund because I opened the box. Their defence is that the boxes are different and I shouldn’t have opened it, my defence is I have no idea what either the box was supposed to look like. They have returned the perfume to me today. Is there a law that I can quote when I email them again, or maybe easier to contact my credit card company? I live with a mental disability and therefore help would be greatly appreciated

Assuming their website does not show the box then opening the box is a reasonable level of handling to determine they'd sent the wrong box.

If it says "FOR HER" on the box in big obvious letters, then maybe less so, but I suspect it doesn't.

Okell

Ergates said:

ste6085 said:

I recently ordered some aftershave online, when it arrived I opened the package and opened the box to find the bottle inside was not what I was expecting. I am sure this is perfume for women, but not really sure. I have contacted the company and returned it to them but they will not give me a refund because I opened the box. Their defence is that the boxes are different and I shouldn’t have opened it, my defence is I have no idea what either the box was supposed to look like. They have returned the perfume to me today. Is there a law that I can quote when I email them again, or maybe easier to contact my credit card company? I live with a mental disability and therefore help would be greatly appreciated

Assuming their website does not show the box then opening the box is a reasonable level of handling to determine they'd sent the wrong box.

If it says "FOR HER" on the box in big obvious letters, then maybe less so, but I suspect it doesn't.

Does the level of handling matter?

The OP isn't cancelling a contract under the CCRs, he's returning it because they've sent him an item he didn't order - ie it isn't as described and so is in breach of s11 CRA.

There's nothing in CRA to say he can't open the package to check what's inside.  He can't know for certain that they've sent the wrong item until he's looked at it.  The seller's T&Cs about goods must be returned unopened and still sealed don't apply because those T&Cs cannot affect his statutory rights under CRA.

Isn't that the position here?

user1977

ste6085 said:

TheSpectator said:

ste6085 said:

Yes, I ordered the orange bottle which is the men’s and I Got the clear bottle which I assume is the ladies. I did not know the bottle was clear until I opened the box and by opening the box they are refusing to refund me as I have broken the seal on the box. 

And who are 'they'?

Hopefully not one of the dodgy knock off sites through social media?

Justmylook dot com

Which do at least appear to be a legitimate (and substantial) UK company:

https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/08839158

Ergates

Okell said:

Ergates said:

ste6085 said:

I recently ordered some aftershave online, when it arrived I opened the package and opened the box to find the bottle inside was not what I was expecting. I am sure this is perfume for women, but not really sure. I have contacted the company and returned it to them but they will not give me a refund because I opened the box. Their defence is that the boxes are different and I shouldn’t have opened it, my defence is I have no idea what either the box was supposed to look like. They have returned the perfume to me today. Is there a law that I can quote when I email them again, or maybe easier to contact my credit card company? I live with a mental disability and therefore help would be greatly appreciated

Assuming their website does not show the box then opening the box is a reasonable level of handling to determine they'd sent the wrong box.

If it says "FOR HER" on the box in big obvious letters, then maybe less so, but I suspect it doesn't.

Does the level of handling matter?

The OP isn't cancelling a contract under the CCRs, he's returning it because they've sent him an item he didn't order - ie it isn't as described and so is in breach of s11 CRA.

There's nothing in CRA to say he can't open the package to check what's inside.  He can't know for certain that they've sent the wrong item until he's looked at it.  The seller's T&Cs about goods must be returned unopened and still sealed don't apply because those T&Cs cannot affect his statutory rights under CRA.

Isn't that the position here?

No, but if they send you an incorrect bottle of perfume, and you then use half of it, they'd be justified in not giving a full refund.

Clearly though, just opening the box to see what's inside isn't excessive, especially given it's not obvious what's inside before doing so.

Okell

Ergates said:

Okell said:

Ergates said:

ste6085 said:

I recently ordered some aftershave online, when it arrived I opened the package and opened the box to find the bottle inside was not what I was expecting. I am sure this is perfume for women, but not really sure. I have contacted the company and returned it to them but they will not give me a refund because I opened the box. Their defence is that the boxes are different and I shouldn’t have opened it, my defence is I have no idea what either the box was supposed to look like. They have returned the perfume to me today. Is there a law that I can quote when I email them again, or maybe easier to contact my credit card company? I live with a mental disability and therefore help would be greatly appreciated

Assuming their website does not show the box then opening the box is a reasonable level of handling to determine they'd sent the wrong box.

If it says "FOR HER" on the box in big obvious letters, then maybe less so, but I suspect it doesn't.

Does the level of handling matter?

The OP isn't cancelling a contract under the CCRs, he's returning it because they've sent him an item he didn't order - ie it isn't as described and so is in breach of s11 CRA.

There's nothing in CRA to say he can't open the package to check what's inside.  He can't know for certain that they've sent the wrong item until he's looked at it.  The seller's T&Cs about goods must be returned unopened and still sealed don't apply because those T&Cs cannot affect his statutory rights under CRA.

Isn't that the position here?

No, but if they send you an incorrect bottle of perfume, and you then use half of it, they'd be justified in not giving a full refund...

Well yes - if a consumer knows that they received the wrong item but then knowingly uses it anyway, that might* well impact on their statutory rights.

But there's no indication that that has happened here.  What does seem to have happened is that the seller has told the OP that the item can't be returned because the box was opened.  That is simply wrong in the circumstances described by the OP.  Any "handling" of the product by the OP is irrelevant.


* I say "might" as I'm not entirely sure that it would...

ste6085

Okell said:

ste6085 said:

Hey, thank you for your reply, I didn’t take a photograph of the box, only the bottle. It was “Clinique Happy” - The box I received had Clinique happy on the outside and was bright orange as I expected but when I opened it the bottle was not the same as was advertised on the website. I ordered the “for men” and that’s not what was inside the box. There was no way of me knowing what was inside without opening it. Maybe if I had bought the product before I could have recognised that it was the Wrong box but I haven’t had this before. 

So to answer my question that I cross-posted with you, is the answer (1)?

Yeah (1) - I didn’t order what I got but because it was in a box that I opened, they will not take it back, but I had no knowledge of the product so I didn’t know it was the wrong one until I opened the box. on the outside of the box it says “Clinique happy” I ordered “ “Clinique happy for men” - ironically I’m not feeling too happy atm 🤣🤣🤣

born_again

Wow, that is some discount...

How much was it?

Can try a chargeback, Retailer could contest. But given it appears to be a single shop, Although the company goes under Richdomar Ltd

Okell

ste6085 said:

Okell said:

ste6085 said:

Hey, thank you for your reply, I didn’t take a photograph of the box, only the bottle. It was “Clinique Happy” - The box I received had Clinique happy on the outside and was bright orange as I expected but when I opened it the bottle was not the same as was advertised on the website. I ordered the “for men” and that’s not what was inside the box. There was no way of me knowing what was inside without opening it. Maybe if I had bought the product before I could have recognised that it was the Wrong box but I haven’t had this before. 

So to answer my question that I cross-posted with you, is the answer (1)?

Yeah (1) - I didn’t order what I got but because it was in a box that I opened, they will not take it back, but I had no knowledge of the product so I didn’t know it was the wrong one until I opened the box. on the outside of the box it says “Clinique happy” I ordered “ “Clinique happy for men” - ironically I’m not feeling too happy atm 🤣🤣🤣

Read again my post from 3:58pm.

It's s11 of the Consumer Rights Act 2015 - goods not as described.

Whether you opened the box or not is irrelevant as they sent you the wrong item in the first place.  The T&Cs of their returns and refunds policy cannot affect your statutory rights under the above legislation.

If you are still within 30 days of you taking delivery, you are entitled to exercise your "short-term right to reject" for a full refund under the Consumer Rights Act 2015.   (s20 and s22)

The above is what you need to tell them.  They also have to pay the return costs.

If they won't play ball come back here.  You might have to try a chargeback as suggested by @born_again or you might have to sue the seller.