Online seller refuses to refund, claims returned item is damaged

an343

Hi, I have bought earrings from an online retailer and I am having trouble returning them as the store is claiming that one pair of earrings is damaged and they are refusing to return the money.

The company has a policy that the customer has to pay and choose courier for return. I have packed and sent the earrings, when I packed them they looked ok to me, no obvious damages. I put them inside of small original packaging earring boxes, so each pair was in their own box and they were inside of the package box. So It seems unlikely to me that they were damaged in transport.

I sent the package, few days later I get their official email that they received my return and that refund is in progress. No information that anything is wrong with the box or the items. So I waited two weeks, as that is their timeframe for refund, but got nothing. 

At that point I contacted the customer support and they claimed they didn't get my package, I replied with tracking that showed it as delivered and their own official mail stating it was delivered. Suddenly they could find the package, no apologies or anything for that mistake. Then I got an email one of the earrings is damaged and they won't refund it and are sending it back to me. They said it was scratched and dented. If they are telling the truth, this could've potentially happened in transport but it is weird only one pair out of three was affected.

I am not sure what to do now, their customer support is useless, when I call them on the phone they refer me to their 'colleagues' which you can only contact with an email, no phone number, which I suspect is probably outsourced from India as you can't call them and they only reply until noon. The email responses are equally useless, I have asked them why they haven't informed me about the damage earlier when the package arrived but that was just ignored, now I have requested images of damage but nothing yet.

If the package was damaged in transit, I could contact the delivery company to pay for the damage, as I was the one sending the package, but I have no evidence it was damaged in transit since they didn't provide any and didn't inform me on time. I can only send the image of damaged earrings when I receive them but I still don't have proof it happened in transit.

Alderbank

A few questions please - 

Who is the online retailer?
How many earrings did you buy and how much did each pair cost?
How did you pay for them?
How long ago did this all happen?

Ayr_Rage

Very surprised to hear of a return of earrings as they are normally excluded due to hygiene reasons by UK retailers.

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

Ayr_Rage said:

Very surprised to hear of a return of earrings as they are normally excluded due to hygiene reasons by UK retailers.

Hygiene can only be used if the items were sealed and then unsealed by the customer after delivery.

Debatable as to weather earrings are exempt any way, metal, plastic, whatever can all be cleaned. 

OP answers to the questions above are good for us providing help with this one  

Ergates

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head said:

Ayr_Rage said:

Very surprised to hear of a return of earrings as they are normally excluded due to hygiene reasons by UK retailers.

Hygiene can only be used if the items were sealed and then unsealed by the customer after delivery.

Debatable as to weather earrings are exempt any way, metal, plastic, whatever can all be cleaned. 

OP answers to the questions above are good for us providing help with this one  

So can underwear.  It's not so much a matter of "can they be made hygienic", it's "Would someone want to buy them used"  Or, perhaps more accurately "Would I be allowed to try them on in a shop"

eskbanker

Ergates said:

So can underwear.  It's not so much a matter of "can they be made hygienic", it's "Would someone want to buy them used"

Some do want to buy used underwear, but that's a topic for an entirely different type of website....

MeteredOut

eskbanker said:

Ergates said:

So can underwear.  It's not so much a matter of "can they be made hygienic", it's "Would someone want to buy them used"

Some do want to buy used underwear, but that's a topic for an entirely different type of website....

Have we ever had a "I bought this underwear but its not used, and the buyer won't accept by return" thread

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

Ergates said:  It's not so much a matter of "can they be made hygienic", it's "Would someone want to buy them used" Or, perhaps more accurately "Would I be allowed to try them on in a shop"

The use in a shop relates to the measure of applying a deduction for diminished value due to "excessive" handling, but doesn't relate to hygiene the limit. 

The limit, which is inherent in the contract, solely says "sealed goods which are not suitable for return due to health protection or hygiene reasons, if they become unsealed after delivery".

There isn't, AFAIK, any case law on this other than the EU mattress case which noted:

mattresses with their protective film removed and potentially used by the consumer were deemed suitable for being sold again and used by a new buyer in so far as the trader is in a position to make mattresses (or garments) suitable for new use by a third party, without prejudice to the requirements of health protection or hygiene, by means of a treatment such as cleaning or disinfection.

Thus it is exactly a case of can they be made hygienic  

I'm pretty sure earrings can fall within this scope, given anyone may have handled them you'd presumably want to disinfect them before putting them in your body and thus they can be restored to their original condition. 

With that in mind the OP's issue falls back to diminished value, rather than hygiene, which doesn't give the trader the right to refuse a refund, of course if it's a £3 pair then who is to argue over such a small amount but if it's a £300 pair they presumably still have at least some value and if the trader believes they can deny the right to cancel if the goods show signs of use, etc then it's more likely than not their terms don't comply in which case they can't reduce the refund regardless of condition and OP has 1 year and 14 days from delivery to exercise the right to cancel. 

That of course assumes this is a contract governed by UK law, OP is within the cancellation period and hasn't used the retailer's return policy but instead their right to cancel (which they may or may not still have time to exercise). 

an343

Hi everyone, thank you for trying to help. 

I wanted to answer the questions, but it doesn't matter anymore as I got an update today from the seller and they confirmed that the package came in ok, no damage. 

They are claiming I have damaged the earrings. They also sent me the photos of damages, and I see a small damage on a part of an earring, I don't remember seeing it before but it is possible I received them that way and didn't notice. I didn't damage them as the damage is very specific, silver is cracked in one place, and I have no idea how it could be done except during the manufacturing.

Anyways it is my word against theirs now. I hope they will see that the damage is impossible to be done on accident and it makes no sense I damaged them and just returned, but it is very optimistic considering their 'help' until now. 

Never before did I have a problem with returns, at least I have now learned to take photos before returning something. :')