Refusing to refund VAT. Is this allowed?

sheramber

I think you need to establish what  ‘US VAT ‘ means. Is it UK vat or a US charge?

You do not say when you received the item. 

Could  there be   Customs charges still due for importing the goods?

Couriers often send the bill after delivery. 

Mintsource

born_again said:

Mintsource said:

They have come back with

"Sorry for the delayed response. I appreciate your patience during this time. We have not forgotten about you and are committed to providing you with the best support possible.

I regret to inform you that the VAT charged for the purchases on Zwiftshop.com is non-refundable.

Nevertheless, if you need it after you complete the purchase, we can provide you with an invoice with our VAT information so you can reclaim it with the local tax authorities. We appreciate your understanding."

Very strange thing to say.

Does the doc you show above have their VAT number on it?

Not that I can see, it has a plastic envelope on it which I don't want to pull off/damage in any way.

QrizB

Mintsource said:

born_again said:

Mintsource said:

They have come back with

"Sorry for the delayed response. I appreciate your patience during this time. We have not forgotten about you and are committed to providing you with the best support possible.

I regret to inform you that the VAT charged for the purchases on Zwiftshop.com is non-refundable.

Nevertheless, if you need it after you complete the purchase, we can provide you with an invoice with our VAT information so you can reclaim it with the local tax authorities. We appreciate your understanding."

Very strange thing to say.

Does the doc you show above have their VAT number on it?

Not that I can see, it has a plastic envelope on it which I don't want to pull off/damage in any way.

It's a documentation envelope. It's intended to be opened by the recipient.
I'd take a knife or a pair of scissors and cut it open to access the docs inside.

Okell

@Mintsource -  do what QrizB suggests

And can you remind me, why are you sending it back?

Hoenir

Mintsource said:

born_again said:

Mintsource said:

They have come back with

"Sorry for the delayed response. I appreciate your patience during this time. We have not forgotten about you and are committed to providing you with the best support possible.

I regret to inform you that the VAT charged for the purchases on Zwiftshop.com is non-refundable.

Nevertheless, if you need it after you complete the purchase, we can provide you with an invoice with our VAT information so you can reclaim it with the local tax authorities. We appreciate your understanding."

Very strange thing to say.

Does the doc you show above have their VAT number on it?

Not that I can see, it has a plastic envelope on it which I don't want to pull off/damage in any way.

This is likely to contain your "invoice". 

Okell

Hopefully that will provide some answers...

Mintsource

This is all that's on there apart from my address, the address already in this thread and the description of the item.

Mintsource

Okell said:

@Mintsource -  do what QrizB suggests

And can you remind me, why are you sending it back?

It was ordered by accident.

I had already bought 1, the browser refreshed it bought a 2nd. I tried to cancel it but their website doesn't allow cancellations. Which they do clearly state but they do allow refunds and reimburse delivery costs as per their T&Cs.

What they don't state is that the delivery costs are refundable, the VAT is not.

Okell

Did you try to contact them (ie a living human being) when you realised you had inadvertantly bought two?

I would have thought that any reasonable and responsible trader would have allowed you to cancel the second order in those circumstances rather than saying "our T&Cs don't allow cancellation.

Certainly what you can do in this country is withdraw your offer to buy before the contract is formed - and they say your contract is governed by UK law.

DullGreyGuy

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head said:

DullGreyGuy said:

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head said:

Ultimately

https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2013/3134/regulation/34

(1) The trader must reimburse all payments, other than payments for delivery, received from the consumer, subject to paragraph (10)

So if the trader was paid the VAT they need to refund it, if the VAT was paid to the courier upon import (before/on/after delivery) then obviously it's a separate matter from the trader's obligations.

Thats UK legislation, the T&Cs of the vendors website states California Law applies... UK government doesn't set Californian law so you won't find it on legislation.gov.uk

And as I said above it also says:

However, you will benefit from any mandatory provisions of the law of your local jurisdiction, and nothing in these Terms affects your rights as a consumer to rely on such mandatory provisions of local law. You or we may bring a legal action relating to these Terms or our relationship in either the state or federal courts located in Los Angeles, California or in the courts located in your country of residence.

So they are affording your UK consumer rights under the contract. 

19. GOVERNING LAW AND VENUE

Any dispute, claim, or controversy between you and Zwift arising from or related to these Terms, the Zwift products, or your use of the Platform will be governed by and construed and enforced in accordance with the laws of California, except to the extent preempted by U.S. federal law, without regard to conflict of law rules or principles (whether of California or any other jurisdiction) that would cause the application of the laws of any other jurisdiction. Any dispute, claim, or controversy between the parties that is not subject to arbitration or cannot be heard in small claims court will be exclusively resolved in the state or federal courts of California and the United States, respectively, sitting in Los Angeles, California. You and Zwift waive any objection to venue in any such courts.

https://support.zwift.com/terms-of-service-HJt7VBYyH

Above is the terms of service I see on their site, cannot see where you copied that text from and Google has no trace of it on their site either

Assuming it is from some unindexed page, is the CCR "mandatory" where the seller is not UK based? 


As an aside, I have to say all the normal consumer champion type websites could seriously do with some updating and consideration of international purchases which are becoming ever more common. Not a single one of CAB, Which? etc that I saw say anything about if the rules are the same or different if the merchant is outside the UK. At best they warn that a .uk domain name isnt a guarantee that the company is UK based but then dont say the consequences of it not being UK based.