Issue at Bershka - Item Confiscated Despite Payment Proof

Uk_Dood

Thank you all so much for your quick and detailed responses and for the helpful advice. I really appreciate everyone taking the time to weigh in on this frustrating situation.

The question remains: How is a major retailer allowed to have such a clear, acknowledged, and persistent flaw in their security/checkout process, effectively forcing paying customers to lose their money or risk double payment without redress or refund? It's this shocking lack of accountability for a known flaw that is compounding the entire issue.

As the money has still not been refunded by Bershka, we have concluded that the only viable option is to proceed with a chargeback claim through the bank for non-receipt of goods. We have been left with no other mechanism to recover the funds after the retailer's failure to provide either the item or a refund.

I will keep the thread updated on how the chargeback progresses. Thank you again for all the support.

Okell

saajan_12 said:

Okell said:

Alderbank said:

I'm not sure that we have the full story.

I've never bought from this company or even seen one of their bricks&mortar stores so I looked at the T&Cs on their website.
I don't usually bother with till receipts for groceries but I was surprised that your wife would deliberately opt for no receipt when buying clothes, considering the importance of receipts if garments have to go back.

Apparently Bershka stores, like other clothes shops, by default do dispense paper receipts, because that's needed if the goods need to be returned.

Their T&Cs say:

When paying for a purchase in Physical Stores, you can obtain a receipt in electronic format instead of the paper one. To do this, you must have previously activated the option “Digital receipt” on the App, and then present your QR ID code so that the receipt can be automatically sent to the App.

From then on, you may make exchanges or returns at Physical Stores using your QR ID, in accordance with the applicable Terms and Conditions, Bershka’s commercial policy, and all relevant legislation.

In this instance, you will not be issued a paper receipt. Therefore, it is paramount that you understand that by activating the option “Digital receipt” on your App you are expressly requesting the e-receipt or the proof of purchase in electronic form, and are therefore opting out of receiving it in paper form.

You can, before each transaction, opt whether to receive the digital receipt or the paper receipt, depending on which is convenient for you.

The T&Cs say that the customer must have selected the option 'Digital receipt'. Is that what happened?

This ^

I'm happy to be put right but I find it a little difficult to believe thet the OP's wife had no choice but to opt for an electronic receipt to be emailed to her.

OP said that was the only choice at the till OP's wife was at, not in the whole store. I do believe that - I've been in other high street clothing stores where 10+ self service tills offer an emailed receipt only. Then a staffed till covering physical receipts, returns, etc, naturally with a long line. 

I don't think he said that was the only choice at all.

He said "The purchase was made using a self-checkout terminal, which did not issue a physical receipt (though my wife was asked to input her email address)."

That could simply mean that it had run out of till roll, or had some other malfunction, or that his wife opted out of a paper receipt.

If he meant that it didn't offer the option of a paper receipt in the first place, I'd have expected him to say that:  ie "The purchase was made using a self-checkout terminal, which did not offer the option of a physical receipt - only an email receipt".

I reitierate my earlier point - I get a paper receipt for everything.

Ergates

Uk_Dood said:

How is a major retailer allowed to have such a clear, acknowledged, and persistent flaw in their security/checkout process, effectively forcing paying customers to lose their money or risk double payment without redress or refund?

The simple answer is that the internal processes of retailers, flawed or otherwise, are not subject to government regulation.   They're obviously not allowed to keep both your money and your goods, but there are laws and mechanisms in place to handle that.

Uk_Dood said:

As the money has still not been refunded by Bershka, we have concluded that the only viable option is to proceed with a chargeback claim through the bank for non-receipt of goods. We have been left with no other mechanism to recover the funds after the retailer's failure to provide either the item or a refund..

You say "still not been refunded" - have you or your wife been back to the store to ask for the item or refund?

eskbanker

Uk_Dood said:

The question remains: How is a major retailer allowed to have such a clear, acknowledged, and persistent flaw in their security/checkout process, effectively forcing paying customers to lose their money or risk double payment without redress or refund? It's this shocking lack of accountability for a known flaw that is compounding the entire issue.

That question is effectively rhetorical though - of course they're not 'allowed' to operate like that but the issue is who's going to stop them?  Have you reported them to Trading Standards yet, for example?

Uk_Dood said:

As the money has still not been refunded by Bershka, we have concluded that the only viable option is to proceed with a chargeback claim through the bank for non-receipt of goods.

Despite being advised above that this won't work for face to face purchases?

born_again said:
I'm guessing this was a chip/pin transaction or contactless. As such there is no chargeback for non reciept, as you are expected to take the item with you.

Okell

Uk_Dood said:

Thank you all so much for your quick and detailed responses and for the helpful advice. I really appreciate everyone taking the time to weigh in on this frustrating situation.

The question remains: How is a major retailer allowed to have such a clear, acknowledged, and persistent flaw in their security/checkout process, effectively forcing paying customers to lose their money or risk double payment without redress or refund? It's this shocking lack of accountability for a known flaw that is compounding the entire issue.

As the money has still not been refunded by Bershka, we have concluded that the only viable option is to proceed with a chargeback claim through the bank for non-receipt of goods. We have been left with no other mechanism to recover the funds after the retailer's failure to provide either the item or a refund.

I will keep the thread updated on how the chargeback progresses. Thank you again for all the support.

I'd be going back to the store and asking why, on the day, store staff didn't check the till transaction log (as @molerat suggested) to confirm whether your wife had or had not paid.

The store needs to be confronted with this at the store.

Your wife then needs to make a complaint to Bershka's management about how this has been (badly) handled.


(Notwithstanding that, my earlier advice still stands - always get a paper receipt!)

Okell

Ergates said:

Okell said:

Alderbank said:

I'm not sure that we have the full story.

I've never bought from this company or even seen one of their bricks&mortar stores so I looked at the T&Cs on their website.
I don't usually bother with till receipts for groceries but I was surprised that your wife would deliberately opt for no receipt when buying clothes, considering the importance of receipts if garments have to go back.

Apparently Bershka stores, like other clothes shops, by default do dispense paper receipts, because that's needed if the goods need to be returned.

Their T&Cs say:

When paying for a purchase in Physical Stores, you can obtain a receipt in electronic format instead of the paper one. To do this, you must have previously activated the option “Digital receipt” on the App, and then present your QR ID code so that the receipt can be automatically sent to the App.

From then on, you may make exchanges or returns at Physical Stores using your QR ID, in accordance with the applicable Terms and Conditions, Bershka’s commercial policy, and all relevant legislation.

In this instance, you will not be issued a paper receipt. Therefore, it is paramount that you understand that by activating the option “Digital receipt” on your App you are expressly requesting the e-receipt or the proof of purchase in electronic form, and are therefore opting out of receiving it in paper form.

You can, before each transaction, opt whether to receive the digital receipt or the paper receipt, depending on which is convenient for you.

The T&Cs say that the customer must have selected the option 'Digital receipt'. Is that what happened?

This ^

I'm happy to be put right but I find it a little difficult to believe thet the OP's wife had no choice but to opt for an electronic receipt to be emailed to her.

My wife recently bought a security tagged item at a self-service till in a well known chemists chain and of course the alarm went off when she left the store.  Fortunately she had opted for a paper receipt so it was cleared up with no fuss at all.

I get paper receipts for everything - including groceries.

For the purposes of a return (a change of mind return), yes.

But within the context of what happened, the evidence of a transaction on the wife's banking app should have been sufficient.

In this situation I'm not sure as a store manager that I would accept anything on somebody else's banking app as proof of anything.

I'd want something produced from systems under the store's own control.

eg a paper receipt from one of the store's tills or an extract from the till's transaction log.

saajan_12

Okell said:

Ergates said:

Okell said:

Alderbank said:

I'm not sure that we have the full story.

I've never bought from this company or even seen one of their bricks&mortar stores so I looked at the T&Cs on their website.
I don't usually bother with till receipts for groceries but I was surprised that your wife would deliberately opt for no receipt when buying clothes, considering the importance of receipts if garments have to go back.

Apparently Bershka stores, like other clothes shops, by default do dispense paper receipts, because that's needed if the goods need to be returned.

Their T&Cs say:

When paying for a purchase in Physical Stores, you can obtain a receipt in electronic format instead of the paper one. To do this, you must have previously activated the option “Digital receipt” on the App, and then present your QR ID code so that the receipt can be automatically sent to the App.

From then on, you may make exchanges or returns at Physical Stores using your QR ID, in accordance with the applicable Terms and Conditions, Bershka’s commercial policy, and all relevant legislation.

In this instance, you will not be issued a paper receipt. Therefore, it is paramount that you understand that by activating the option “Digital receipt” on your App you are expressly requesting the e-receipt or the proof of purchase in electronic form, and are therefore opting out of receiving it in paper form.

You can, before each transaction, opt whether to receive the digital receipt or the paper receipt, depending on which is convenient for you.

The T&Cs say that the customer must have selected the option 'Digital receipt'. Is that what happened?

This ^

I'm happy to be put right but I find it a little difficult to believe thet the OP's wife had no choice but to opt for an electronic receipt to be emailed to her.

My wife recently bought a security tagged item at a self-service till in a well known chemists chain and of course the alarm went off when she left the store.  Fortunately she had opted for a paper receipt so it was cleared up with no fuss at all.

I get paper receipts for everything - including groceries.

For the purposes of a return (a change of mind return), yes.

But within the context of what happened, the evidence of a transaction on the wife's banking app should have been sufficient.

In this situation I'm not sure as a store manager that I would accept anything on somebody else's banking app as proof of anything.

I'd want something produced from systems under the store's own control.

eg a paper receipt from one of the store's tills or an extract from the till's transaction log.

Which was within the store manager's ability to obtain.. the fact that he chose not to is on him. 

Uk_Dood said:

Thank you all so much for your quick and detailed responses and for the helpful advice. I really appreciate everyone taking the time to weigh in on this frustrating situation.

The question remains: How is a major retailer allowed to have such a clear, acknowledged, and persistent flaw in their security/checkout process, effectively forcing paying customers to lose their money or risk double payment without redress or refund? It's this shocking lack of accountability for a known flaw that is compounding the entire issue.

As the money has still not been refunded by Bershka, we have concluded that the only viable option is to proceed with a chargeback claim through the bank for non-receipt of goods. We have been left with no other mechanism to recover the funds after the retailer's failure to provide either the item or a refund.

I will keep the thread updated on how the chargeback progresses. Thank you again for all the support.

OP, I suggest you stop waiting and get back to the store. The chargeback could easily fail on the basis that wife would have taken the item with her and by the time anyone looks at it, the CCTV could have been wiped. Demand a refund, or failing that a print out of the till and written confirmation that the item was confiscated so wife did not walk out with it. 

Also stop focusing on the shock - the extent of the issue you've faced is essentially caused by one rogue manager. Receipts failing to print and security detectors giving false positives does happen, but usually the security / manager would check the till or cctv or whatever, not just assume theft. 

Okell

saajan_12 said:

Okell said:

Ergates said:

Okell said:

Alderbank said:

I'm not sure that we have the full story.

I've never bought from this company or even seen one of their bricks&mortar stores so I looked at the T&Cs on their website.
I don't usually bother with till receipts for groceries but I was surprised that your wife would deliberately opt for no receipt when buying clothes, considering the importance of receipts if garments have to go back.

Apparently Bershka stores, like other clothes shops, by default do dispense paper receipts, because that's needed if the goods need to be returned.

Their T&Cs say:

When paying for a purchase in Physical Stores, you can obtain a receipt in electronic format instead of the paper one. To do this, you must have previously activated the option “Digital receipt” on the App, and then present your QR ID code so that the receipt can be automatically sent to the App.

From then on, you may make exchanges or returns at Physical Stores using your QR ID, in accordance with the applicable Terms and Conditions, Bershka’s commercial policy, and all relevant legislation.

In this instance, you will not be issued a paper receipt. Therefore, it is paramount that you understand that by activating the option “Digital receipt” on your App you are expressly requesting the e-receipt or the proof of purchase in electronic form, and are therefore opting out of receiving it in paper form.

You can, before each transaction, opt whether to receive the digital receipt or the paper receipt, depending on which is convenient for you.

The T&Cs say that the customer must have selected the option 'Digital receipt'. Is that what happened?

This ^

I'm happy to be put right but I find it a little difficult to believe thet the OP's wife had no choice but to opt for an electronic receipt to be emailed to her.

My wife recently bought a security tagged item at a self-service till in a well known chemists chain and of course the alarm went off when she left the store.  Fortunately she had opted for a paper receipt so it was cleared up with no fuss at all.

I get paper receipts for everything - including groceries.

For the purposes of a return (a change of mind return), yes.

But within the context of what happened, the evidence of a transaction on the wife's banking app should have been sufficient.

In this situation I'm not sure as a store manager that I would accept anything on somebody else's banking app as proof of anything.

I'd want something produced from systems under the store's own control.

eg a paper receipt from one of the store's tills or an extract from the till's transaction log.

Which was within the store manager's ability to obtain.. the fact that he chose not to is on him. 

Have you followed the posts on this thread?

In my post that you have quoted I am responding to the specific suggestion that store staff should simply have accepted at face value an entry on the customer's banking app.

What I'm saying is that I would not accept as proof anything that the customer showed me on their phone from their banking app.

I've already agreed in a previous post that store staff should have checked the till's transaction log