Estée Lauder perfume that is off

Penelope63

My husband purchased Estée Lauder perfume called beautiful from Debenhams online just before Xmas, when I opened it, it smell’s awful & it is the colour of strong urine, I have used this perfume for years & know it should not be like this, he paid £68 for it, he emailed them & they have said we cannot return it under the T&C’s but I believe this is very old stock since all their shops went online only, can anyone tell me what if any my rights are please? I will never buy anything like this online again is the lesson!
Thank you in anticipation 

TheSpectator

You may able to find out when it was made, if you google how can I tell when perfume was made there are various pointers.

Rodders53

Have you reached out to Estee Lauder?  They may not be happy that you are unhappy with this purchase?

Okell

Penelope63 said:

... he emailed them & they have said we cannot return it under the T&C’s ...

And what do their T&Cs say about this?

I ask because if their T&Cs aren't 100% compliant with the requirements of The Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013 your husband might still be able to exercise his statutory right to cancel a distance contract even though he is outside the 14 day cancellation period.

Can you give a link to the relevant T&Cs?

[Edit:  I assume it's here:  Returns Information | Debenhams   Looks like they give all the required info unfortunately.  Is there any reason why your husband didn't just return within their extended christmas returns window?  Or is that what he tried to do?  Did they point out which specific T&C prevents return of this perfume?]

donnac2558

There are a few sites for checking the dates of beauty products.

One if cosmetic checker if you google. Put the code in and it will say the year produced.

Ergates

It's more likely that's it's counterfeit than it's gone off - perfumes can "expire", but they generally just lose their smell rather than go bad.

Also, whilst they can apply Ts&Cs to "voluntary" returns (i.e. ones they allow that aren't legally mandated) as the product is clearly faulty, they cannot refuse a return.  Their only recourse would be to claim that you had substituted the perfume they sent you with something else.  If it came to small claims court that is unlikely to stand.

Penelope63

Thank you for all your replies, the person that said to contact Estée Lauder direct helped a lot, I did just this & they are sending me out a new bottle, not sure how this works as It was Bought from Debenhams online. Thank you all 

Ergates

Penelope63 said:

Thank you for all your replies, the person that said to contact Estée Lauder direct helped a lot, I did just this & they are sending me out a new bottle, not sure how this works as It was Bought from Debenhams online. Thank you all 

The cost of ingredients to make perfume are absurdly cheap, a couple of quid per bottle *at most*.  The bottle itself is usually the most expensive part.  The packaging and postage will cost more.

The bit that matters is the advertising and the public image.  The potential impact of someone getting hold of a rancid bottle of Estee Lauder perfume are far more expensive to them than the cost of a replacement bottle.   Even if only *you* never bought it again they'd lose out.   Now you have positive feelings towards the company and will probably tell your friends how helpful they were.    Everyone wins.

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

Okell said: 

[Edit:  I assume it's here:  Returns Information | Debenhams   Looks like they give all the required info unfortunately.  Is there any reason why your husband didn't just return within their extended christmas returns window?  Or is that what he tried to do?  Did they point out which specific T&C prevents return of this perfume?]

They was doing very well until this part under right to cancel

All returns are quality checked – items should be returned in a new and unused condition with labels and tags attached and wherever possible sent back in the original packaging. Refunds will not be given if they do not comply with our returns policy.

So yet another large retailer not complying and there is indeed 1 year and 14 days to cancel and no right to reduce due to diminished value but it is probably easier to focus on the perfume being off and not confirming.

IIRC  Debenhams is owned by ASOS, checking the CEO email website and using the contact there might be more fruitful than dealing with CS stuck on the script. 

Okell

Penelope63 said:

Thank you for all your replies, the person that said to contact Estée Lauder direct helped a lot, I did just this & they are sending me out a new bottle, not sure how this works as It was Bought from Debenhams online. Thank you all 

Did they give you any instructions in respect of the bottle from Debenhams?

If they didn't then if I were your husband I'd be inclined to have some fun with Debenhams...

Grumpy_chap

Okell said:

Penelope63 said:

Thank you for all your replies, the person that said to contact Estée Lauder direct helped a lot, I did just this & they are sending me out a new bottle, not sure how this works as It was Bought from Debenhams online. Thank you all 

Did they give you any instructions in respect of the bottle from Debenhams?

If they didn't then if I were your husband I'd be inclined to have some fun with Debenhams...

There are no longer stores to spray the perfume in.
Any pursuit that may result in the OP being refunded / product replaced by Debenhams would be unjust enrichment.