Halfords refund

Neil13e

Hi guys, just looking for some advice really and where I stand... trying not to rant! haha

A week ago, I ordered 2 steering wheel locks to click & collect from my local store. (£159.98).

On the way to the store, I received a call to say they only had 1 in stock despite the website showing otherwise which allowed me to order 2.

They told me they had refunded me £79.99 for one and asked of I wanted the other. After checking stock at another store I said to cancel the whole order and I'll buy them off the shelf at the other store which I did. 

The next day the other £79.99 had not came back into my account nor was it pending so I called the store to chase. The said it had been processed at their end and 'nothing more they can do' and to contact customer services.

I rang and logged a query about the refund on the Wednesday.... by Friday I had not heard back by phone or email so I called to chase, got cut off twice so decided to try Live Chat on the website. Mistake! To say they were useless is a massive understatement!

I rang back Friday to be told all theor systems show the refund was processed days before - it wasn't and still hasn't so I gave it until over the weekend as a grace period and the time of year.

It's now a week since I ordered and still no further forward. Just got off the phone to chase it yet again to be told 72 hour service level agreement on complaints which took it to today. Apprarently its still in the 'complaints queue' with no idea of when someone will actually pick it up.

Finally, my question / advice request!

Where do I stand with regards to this legally?
Would I be entitled to any kind of compensation on top of the refund or non-refund after a week and lack of service with them not fulfilling their part or the bargain?

I never ever complain as we're all human but this is getting beyond a joke.

molerat

Refunds can take up to a week or so to come back to the card, exact dates would help in seeing if there is something out of the ordinary going on.

You are entitled to your money back, no more or less.

Neil13e

Thanks for the info. I made payment at the time of the online order (Monday 9th) for both items. I got a £79.99 refund for the one that wasn't in stock on 10th.

The store and customer services team have both said a full refund was actioned on their system on Tuesday (possibly in 2 parts) and nothing to say there was any problems. I was told this on Friday by customer services also.

I am online banking most days and there is nothing pending on my account. 

Up til now, the lack of ownership on their part is scary for such a well know company.

MattMattMattUK

Neil13e said:

Thanks for the info. I made payment at the time of the online order (Monday 9th) for both items. I got a £79.99 refund for the one that wasn't in stock on 10th.

The store and customer services team have both said a full refund was actioned on their system on Tuesday (possibly in 2 parts) and nothing to say there was any problems. I was told this on Friday by customer services also.

I am online banking most days and there is nothing pending on my account. 

Up til now, the lack of ownership on their part is scary for such a well know company.

It does not sit in pending, it has to work it's way through the card network and card provider which can take some time. Sometimes instant, sometimes a few days, sometimes a week, the guidance from Visa and Mastercard is three to seven working days. 

Aylesbury_Duck

Neil13e said:

Where do I stand with regards to this legally?
Would I be entitled to any kind of compensation on top of the refund or non-refund after a week and lack of service with them not fulfilling their part or the bargain?

I never ever complain as we're all human but this is getting beyond a joke.

Clearly they owe you the money.
No, unless you can show you've incurred a consequential loss.  There's no harm asking for something, you may get a voucher for example.

born_again

Wonder if they can see one refund & think that is all due to be refunded.

Credits do not go for authorisation or show as pending, they just drop straight into account when they hit your bank. Should take no longer than a debit.

Would I be entitled to any kind of compensation on top of the refund or non-refund after a week and lack of service with them not fulfilling their part or the bargain?

Sadly not. Unless they are feeling generous.

Ask then to provide you with the acquirer reference number of the refund (ARN) along with date, time & amount. Then go to your bank to see if it has been processed. If it has then not arrived after 15 days bank can start the chargeback process to reclaim the missing money.

Might be better to ask for both. Which might make them realise if they have missed the 2nd one.

screech_78

I’d expect to see it tomorrow. That would
be 5 working days. 

However, was the amount actually debited before they processed the “refund”. If the initial transaction was pending and wasn’t claimed: ir would simply drop off and will never show on your statement so no refund would show. 

Neil13e

Thanks everyone for the info. 

Just FYI the bank was showing at the time £159.98 twice. One for the original click and collect (£79.99 of this was refunded) and the other would have been for the actual purchase in store from another branch the same day.

I'm looking this morning and there's still no sign of the other £79.99 dropping in.

I'm calling them back today as the SLA on the complaint has passed.

Neil13e

Neil13e said:

UPDATE!

Just came off the phone (I called them) only to be told that the lady I spoke to on Friday informed me that a full refund has been processed already (it hasn't) and I still wasn't happy demanding to speak to a manager (I didn't - she offered a manager call back). Anyway the 72 hours have passed but I've been told nothing happens escalation wise to get this resolved, it still sits there until someone can pick the complaint up! 

So I'm no further forward really. I've reached out to some of the executive team on LinkedIn to see if that helps.

Just FYI the bank was showing at the time £159.98 twice. One for the original click and collect (£79.99 of this was refunded) and the other would have been for the actual purchase in store from another branch the same day.

I'm looking this morning and there's still no sign of the other £79.99 dropping in.

I'm calling them back today as the SLA on the complaint has passed.

born_again

Did you get the ARN's?

TBH, asking to speak to a manager is often a waste of time. As most of their roll will be around their teams call loads etc. In many cases they know less than the actual people they look after & how processes work.

Neil13e

I asked for the ARN and the lady I spoke to asked me what that was adding they don't have access to 'see such advanced data'. Feels like I'm banging my head against a wall! I just want someone to take ownership of this!