BEAUTY BAY bots are not giving me my refund — is this even legal??

eleanorcherry

Hello. Apologies for the lengthy read, and thank you in advance for your patience!

For Christmas, I got two Beauty Bay vouchers totalling £80.

Dec 31: Purchased 2 items for £26.25.  
Jan 6: Bought 7 items for £74.05 (originally £79.30 with a discount of £5.25). Returned one unopened item for £35.00 after email approval. Total spent exceeded £80, using bank card and a gift card for Jan 6 order.

I returned the item using Evri ParcelShop Jan 25, and kept the receipt. I waited 14 days for the refund as instructed, but it didn't arrive. I have been emailing them back and forth trying to get this resolved.

I would attach screenshots to show you how confusing the emails I'm getting are but my MSE account is new so I can't, but essentially the people I've been emailing, whom I suspect are just bots, keep sending me mixed messages: One day they said the refund had been sent to my gift card, another after telling me I'd been refunded (I hadn't) they asked for proof of returns, another day they said it was sent to my bank and settled on their end, so it was now a matter between me and the bank. Then, they tell me there's a technical issue, and they claim to have manually processed it and "it should be with you shortly!" Then they ask for proof of returns again and details of my gift cards, Etc. Round and around we go.

On the same day I was told my refund was processed and that any issue was between me and the bank, I received a message that evening stating, "rest assured," a Gift Card refund was pending, and asked to wait until the end of the day for it to show up in my Beauty Bay account!

Oddly, they have provided "proof" in two instances with slightly blurry images, one that claimed a £15 bank refund was sent, and another £29 to my gift card. Yet, I've received £0! Lol. It's like I'm stuck in Groundhog Day.

There's no phone helpline, and whenever I ask on Facebook or via email for details about their complaints department, my request is overlooked.

In the last email, they said they refunded my gift card (what happened to the bank refund? So that "proof" meant nothing?) and asked me to send a screenshot if I hadn't received the money. I almost immediately sent a screenshot showing the £0 balance, but I haven't heard back since.

On the Beauty Bay website my order receipt shows a price drop from £74.05 to £23.75. Why this is I have no clue.

I've left several Facebook messages and their response is always to email or to use the online contact form which I've been doing over and over to no avail.

I left a 1-star review on Trustpilot to hopefully attract attention from a real person working at Beauty Bay, but after a couple of days without a response while they replied to other reviews, Trust Pilot flagged my post for "content integrity." Trustpilot asked for proof of purchase to reinstate it, which I provided, but the review remains unavailable. So, I haven't had any assistance there either. Beauty Bay has good Trustpilot reviews, but I've found several complaints on other websites about people not receiving refunds from this company so I know I'm not the only one.

A small claims court seems a lot of work for £30 gift card. Any advice appreciated. I was thinking I could try writing a letter next?

Aylesbury_Duck

Keep complaining.  It isn't worth going to court over.  You may have to just write it off if you get no joy.

Grumpy_chap

eleanorcherry said:

For Christmas, I got two Beauty Bay vouchers totalling £80.

Dec 31: Purchased 2 items for £26.25.  
Jan 6: Bought 7 items for £74.05 (originally £79.30 with a discount of £5.25). Returned one unopened item for £35.00 after email approval. Total spent exceeded £80, using bank card and a gift card for Jan 6 order.

You may be able to request a chargeback for the amount that was in excess of the gift voucher and paid by bank card.  This can be an option regardless of credit or debit card.

Given the low value, it makes no difference whether you used credit card or debit card as S75 protection will not be available regardless.

Other than anything you can recover via chargeback, you are really left with writing this one off.

Alderbank

Grumpy_chap said:

eleanorcherry said:

For Christmas, I got two Beauty Bay vouchers totalling £80.

Dec 31: Purchased 2 items for £26.25.  
Jan 6: Bought 7 items for £74.05 (originally £79.30 with a discount of £5.25). Returned one unopened item for £35.00 after email approval. Total spent exceeded £80, using bank card and a gift card for Jan 6 order.

You may be able to request a chargeback for the amount that was in excess of the gift voucher and paid by bank card.  This can be an option regardless of credit or debit card.

...but not an option regardless of whoever paid for and gifted the vouchers.

Unless the OP gave the vouchers to herself for Christmas it would be for the purchaser(s) to claim from their card issuers.

savergrant

Alderbank said:

Grumpy_chap said:

eleanorcherry said:

For Christmas, I got two Beauty Bay vouchers totalling £80.

Dec 31: Purchased 2 items for £26.25.  
Jan 6: Bought 7 items for £74.05 (originally £79.30 with a discount of £5.25). Returned one unopened item for £35.00 after email approval. Total spent exceeded £80, using bank card and a gift card for Jan 6 order.

You may be able to request a chargeback for the amount that was in excess of the gift voucher and paid by bank card.  This can be an option regardless of credit or debit card.

...but not an option regardless of whoever paid for and gifted the vouchers.

Unless the OP gave the vouchers to herself for Christmas it would be for the purchaser(s) to claim from their card issuers.

I think the point is that the total price exceeded the value of the gift vouchers, so there was a part payment by card. This seems to be part of the confusion as the retailer is claiming to have sent a refund to the gift card and also to the bank, but the customer hasn't received either.

eleanorcherry

Thanks for the replies everyone . I think it would have been resolved by now if I could only speak to someone directly. I am interested to know why they said I was refunded £15 one day, while another day £29. They don't seem to explain things clearly or answer specific questions, which I shall put down to automated messages. Hopefully a letter will help clarify everything. I'll use recorded delivery and let you know if they get back to me. Oh well if chatbots and AI are the future, maybe they'll bring everyone back to the high street

born_again

If they made a payment back to your bank card. Then ask them to supply the acquirer reference number (ARN) for that payment. Your bank can then trace the payment.

eleanorcherry

born_again said:

If they made a payment back to your bank card. Then ask them to supply the acquirer reference number (ARN) for that payment. Your bank can then trace the payment.

Ooh, that's a good one! Ok I'll give that a go now. Thanks!

They've been silent for a few days, so I might not hear back. I'll update you if they do. The image they sent with the email about getting a bank refund didn't include the ARN, so it'll be interesting to see if they can provide one. I wish I could attach the screenshots to show how unhelpful the emails have been

eleanorcherry

Brief update regarding the ARN request:

(One of) Their Emails:

"Hey Eleanor,

Thanks for your email.

Please see attached your proof of refund. As you can see this has been processed and settled from our side.

In the event this has not been received into your account, we would recommend contacting your bank directly, as they may be holding your funds.

If you have any further queries, please let us know

Thanks  

Murron

Beauty Bay Customer Service"

My Email:

"Hi there! I still haven't seen my refund come through, so could you kindly provide the acquirer reference number (ARN) for the payment you said was refunded to my bank? Thanks a bunch!"

Their Email:

"Hi Elanor 

These were refunded to your gift cards! 

Thanks  

Kodie

Beauty Bay Customer Service"

Hopefully this shows what it’s been like communicating with them: they say my gift card is refunded, then claim they've refunded my bank, then refunded my gift card, then they assure me it should arrive soon and ask me to wait. Round and around. 

They haven't spelt my name right this time, so now I'm unsure this is a bot.

Still no refund to my Gift Card or bank.

I'm partly sharing this to keep a record for anyone else having issues getting their refund from Beauty Bay.

I know it's just £30, but others claim they're owed more, and it's the principle! 

eleanorcherry

Can someone share their thoughts on this response? It seems dubious to me. Prior to this email they asked me to attach a screenshot to prove I haven't received any money on my gift card. I sent a screenshot (the second time I have been asked to send one) showing my gift card balance was still £0, and here's their response:

Hey Eleanor ,

Thank you for getting in touch

Apologies for the the confusion caused regarding the refund to your bank this was a mistake.

Regarding your refund on your gift card, As this is not showing on your account so we can resolve this straight away please place an order and allow 24 hours after the order has been dispatched. 

After this time please contact us and we will issue a refund for the amount of the remaining amount on your card.

Thanks  

Joe

Beauty Bay Customer Service

Why should I risk spending more when they haven't refunded me yet?

saajan_12

Sayings about malice and incompetence come to mind.. it sounds like they're barely reading and sending you whatever random response sounds somewhat related. 

I'd try to dig out their complaints procedure and follow that - main focus on the lack of a refund materialising rather than the trials and tribulations of the story. However you can also mention that you've had a ridiculous number of mixed messages which means its taking your time as well. Ask for a specific resolution eg £x refund on your card and £x loaded onto a gift card.