PatPat - returns issues

woolgar.c

I don’t usually order from sites like PatPat but on this occasion I did (& never again!!). I ordered some options to try & return the ones I didn’t keep. 

Turns out they only have returns centres in Italy, USA and China. They expect the buyer to pay return shipping fee.

I paid to ship the return to Italy. Much back & forth with parcel company & PatPat as parcel company kept saying the location won’t accept delivery. Sent PatPat proof of shipment payment, proof of postage labels etc. Turned out it was due to them not paying the customs charges.

I have a very very long email complaints thread with them. The most they offer is a few dollars credited to a reward wallet on their website, which is no where near the cost of the postage & useless to me as I’ll never order with them again. 

The parcel is now being returned to me. Parcel company have charged me the postage cost again for the return shipping. Presuming as it came from here I won’t also be charged customs fees. PatPat have now said to just keep the items (they have refunded me the cost of the items). 

Do I have any rights about getting PatPat to pay for shipping (both to return it to them & the fee for the parcel being sent back to me)?

I purchased the items via a credit card but paid for the return shipping with my debit card. 

PHK

They seem to be a US company that distribute out of the EU and China. Their returns policy is therefore free to have almost any conditions. 

They don’t have a UK office (there’s an unconnected similarly named company in Leeds) so there isn’t anything you can easily do. 

born_again

This is going to get confusing with more than 1 thread...

have you a link to the site?

Did you follow the returns process?

pinkshoes

You have no UK rights as you have chosen to purchase from a non UK company.

You'll have to pay the return postage to get to back then try and sell the items. Or just write the money off.

In future, its easier to order from UK companies. Look for a UK address on thrit website and a UK contact number.

Exodi

woolgar.c said:

I don’t usually order from sites like PatPat but on this occasion I did (& never again!!). I ordered some options to try & return the ones I didn’t keep. 

Turns out they only have returns centres in Italy, USA and China. They expect the buyer to pay return shipping fee.

pinkshoes said:

In future, its easier to order from UK companies. Look for a UK address on thrit website and a UK contact number.

To be clear - it wouldn't matter if they had return centres in the UK, exercising your right to cancel under The Consumer Contracts Regulations can still see the buyer paying for the returns shipping cost, unless the seller offers otherwise.

https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2013/3134/regulation/35

This is such a common issue I see - because a lot of UK retailers offer 'free returns shipping' as a sales and marketing tactic, many UK consumers are now drunk off this benefit and mistakenly believe it is their right to receive free returns shipping for 'change of mind' returns, when it is not.

woolgar.c said:

I paid to ship the return to Italy. Much back & forth with parcel company & PatPat as parcel company kept saying the location won’t accept delivery. Sent PatPat proof of shipment payment, proof of postage labels etc. Turned out it was due to them not paying the customs charges.

Without meaning to sound like a meany, you are fully responsible for ensuring the item is received by the seller - not just put in the post and certainly not with a bill to pay to receive it. It turned out it was due to you not paying the custom charges. Again, this is the same as if they were based in the UK and there was an amount outstanding on delivery (though we don't have the issue of customs charges). While it doesn't help you on this occasion, it is easy to pre-pay the duty for parcels shipped to Europe (Parcels2Go offer this service for Evri, FedEx, UPS, etc). Of course many choose not to to save money - and then the seller refuses to pay to receive the delivery, as they are entitled to do so, even in the UK. We've seen it many times.

woolgar.c said:

I have a very very long email complaints thread with them. The most they offer is a few dollars credited to a reward wallet on their website, which is no where near the cost of the postage & useless to me as I’ll never order with them again. 

The parcel is now being returned to me. Parcel company have charged me the postage cost again for the return shipping. Presuming as it came from here I won’t also be charged customs fees. PatPat have now said to just keep the items (they have refunded me the cost of the items). 

Do I have any rights about getting PatPat to pay for shipping (both to return it to them & the fee for the parcel being sent back to me)?

I purchased the items via a credit card but paid for the return shipping with my debit card. 

Why do you think they should reimburse you the cost of the postage (again even if they were based in the UK)? There is no right for this?

Incredulously PatPat refunded you the items, which they did not need to do, while letting you keep them. I would be high-fiving everyone in sight with that outcome. If anything, this thread has encouraged me to buy from them - many might choose to shaft you in the same circumstances.

If I may be honest, this is drifting into 'taking the mick' territory to expect them to pay for your failed return shipping. Not only because the shipping likely would not have failed if you sent it on a properly paid for service, but because there is no obligation to refund the shipping cost (even if they were based in the UK).

As I mentioned at the start, I think the problem is UK consumers are totally intoxicated on the sales tactics of large companies.

MyRealNameToo

Exodi said:

woolgar.c said:

I paid to ship the return to Italy. Much back & forth with parcel company & PatPat as parcel company kept saying the location won’t accept delivery. Sent PatPat proof of shipment payment, proof of postage labels etc. Turned out it was due to them not paying the customs charges.

Without meaning to sound like a meany, you are fully responsible for ensuring the item is received by the seller - not just put in the post and certainly not with a bill to pay to receive it. It turned out it was due to you not paying the custom charges. Again, this is the same as if they were based in the UK and there was an amount outstanding on delivery (though we don't have the issue of customs charges). While it doesn't help you on this occasion, it is easy to pre-pay the duty for parcels shipped to Europe (Parcels2Go offer this service for Evri, FedEx, UPS, etc). Of course many choose not to to save money - and then the seller refuses to pay to receive the delivery, as they are entitled to do so, even in the UK. We've seen it many times.

Sounds like the customs form wasnt correctly completed, should have been marked as returned goods and therefore shouldnt have incurred customs charges. 

Exodi

MyRealNameToo said:

Exodi said:

woolgar.c said:

I paid to ship the return to Italy. Much back & forth with parcel company & PatPat as parcel company kept saying the location won’t accept delivery. Sent PatPat proof of shipment payment, proof of postage labels etc. Turned out it was due to them not paying the customs charges.

Without meaning to sound like a meany, you are fully responsible for ensuring the item is received by the seller - not just put in the post and certainly not with a bill to pay to receive it. It turned out it was due to you not paying the custom charges. Again, this is the same as if they were based in the UK and there was an amount outstanding on delivery (though we don't have the issue of customs charges). While it doesn't help you on this occasion, it is easy to pre-pay the duty for parcels shipped to Europe (Parcels2Go offer this service for Evri, FedEx, UPS, etc). Of course many choose not to to save money - and then the seller refuses to pay to receive the delivery, as they are entitled to do so, even in the UK. We've seen it many times.

Sounds like the customs form wasnt correctly completed, should have been marked as returned goods and therefore shouldnt have incurred customs charges. 

Might be easier said than done - while I haven't used that option personally, I've understood it to be quite hellish with requirements.

MyRealNameToo

Exodi said:

MyRealNameToo said:

Exodi said:

woolgar.c said:

I paid to ship the return to Italy. Much back & forth with parcel company & PatPat as parcel company kept saying the location won’t accept delivery. Sent PatPat proof of shipment payment, proof of postage labels etc. Turned out it was due to them not paying the customs charges.

Without meaning to sound like a meany, you are fully responsible for ensuring the item is received by the seller - not just put in the post and certainly not with a bill to pay to receive it. It turned out it was due to you not paying the custom charges. Again, this is the same as if they were based in the UK and there was an amount outstanding on delivery (though we don't have the issue of customs charges). While it doesn't help you on this occasion, it is easy to pre-pay the duty for parcels shipped to Europe (Parcels2Go offer this service for Evri, FedEx, UPS, etc). Of course many choose not to to save money - and then the seller refuses to pay to receive the delivery, as they are entitled to do so, even in the UK. We've seen it many times.

Sounds like the customs form wasnt correctly completed, should have been marked as returned goods and therefore shouldnt have incurred customs charges. 

Might be easier said than done - while I haven't used that option personally, I've understood it to be quite hellish with requirements.

Return to the seller doesnt tend to be so bad, its when it goes back to a customer after being repaired etc that it gets much more complex depending on if its deemed that value has been added or not.

Ultimately there is always an element of luck of the draw, it may be picked up for checking and so they may ask for evidence of its original export etc or it may just be waived through without any checks. An Indian company I use always under reports the values and if there is multiple items in the box they scale the price to keep the total under $110. Wouldnt take much time/effort to realise the declaration is wrong but to date none have been questioned.