Should I be allowed a refund instead of a replacement item

Idontlikeworking

I bought an expensive item online and when it arrived I opened the packaging and the box looked like it had been thrown around so I checked the item and it was damaged from when it was inside the box but there's also other damage that wasn't caused while it was in the box so I'm thinking I've been sent a returned item. I've contacted the place I bought it from and we arranged a day so they could send me a new item and collect the damaged one but they've changed their mind and said they will not send a new item out until the damaged one have been collected and they don't know if I will receive the new item on the days I arranged with them. So I've contacted them again and asked for a refund as I cannot give an exact date as I'm going on holiday and they have totally ignored the refund request so can I let them collect the parcel and then try and claim the money back from my bank.

Aylesbury_Duck

They don't have to refund you or provide a replacement until they have the original.  You can do as you suggest but if they've sent out a replacement I would assume that a chargeback will be challenged successfully.  Your bank might not even try it once you've told them the situation.

Idontlikeworking

Aylesbury_Duck said:

They don't have to refund you or provide a replacement until they have the original.  You can do as you suggest but if they've sent out a replacement I would assume that a chargeback will be challenged successfully.  Your bank might not even try it once you've told them the situation.

If they haven't sent a replacement can I ask for a refund or do I have to except a replacement. 

born_again

Who is the company?

Idontlikeworking

born_again said:

Who is the company?

I won't name the place but it's an online tool store.

MyRealNameToo

Idontlikeworking said:

I bought an expensive item online and when it arrived I opened the packaging and the box looked like it had been thrown around so I checked the item and it was damaged from when it was inside the box but there's also other damage that wasn't caused while it was in the box so I'm thinking I've been sent a returned item. I've contacted the place I bought it from and we arranged a day so they could send me a new item and collect the damaged one but they've changed their mind and said they will not send a new item out until the damaged one have been collected and they don't know if I will receive the new item on the days I arranged with them. So I've contacted them again and asked for a refund as I cannot give an exact date as I'm going on holiday and they have totally ignored the refund request so can I let them collect the parcel and then try and claim the money back from my bank.

Firstly, given this is an expensive tool, you are buying this as a consumer and it's not for any form of work purposes? 

Assuming it is a consumer purchase then you would be entitled to reject the goods within 14 days under the consumer contracts regulations. The resolution for rejection is a full refund inc outward postage unless you paid for an expedited service in which case you only get the standard postage fee back. 

If you arrange the return then they need to process the refund within 14 days of receiving the item back, if they arrange the return then its 14 days from handing the goods over to their courier/postal service.

Alternatively you could use the short term (30 days) right of rejection under the Consumer Rights Act, which is probably the better, in which case you are entitled to a full refund or alternatively can agree to a replacement or repair if your happy to. The downside is that the 14 days for a refund starts from when the merchant agrees to your right of refund and in most cases they will want to inspect the goods before agreeing. 

Okell

Idontlikeworking said:

Aylesbury_Duck said:

They don't have to refund you or provide a replacement until they have the original.  You can do as you suggest but if they've sent out a replacement I would assume that a chargeback will be challenged successfully.  Your bank might not even try it once you've told them the situation.

If they haven't sent a replacement can I ask for a refund or do I have to except a replacement. 

Assuming this is a consumer purchase and not a business purchase, then the seller is legally entitled to one attempt either to replace or to repair - unless you are within 30 days of delivery to you in which case you can exercise your "short term right to reject" to demand a full refund.

Either way, if you are claiming the goods are faulty then the seller is entitled to inspect the goods to confirm this before refunding you.  They then have 14 days in which to refund.

If this isn't a consumer purchase, your situation is different

Alderbank

@Idontlikeworking, a timeline would be very useful.

'I've contacted the place I bought it from and we arranged a day so they could send me a new item and collect the damaged one' says to me that you and they have agreed to the replacement of the goods.

S23(7) says 'A consumer who...agrees to the replacement of goods cannot...exercise the short-term right to reject, without giving the trader a reasonable time to replace them (unless giving the trader that time would cause significant inconvenience to the consumer).'

So if you share that timeline we might be able to say whether your request is reasonable. Don't worry about going over the 30 days, the clock was suspended when you agreed to a replacement.