Flannels refusing refund for coat

Pollycat

KMacc said:

I bought (on Fraser’s plus credit) a St Agni trench coat last month but on trying it on, found it was too large. I knew I wanted to return but as there was a return charge of 4.99, I waited until end of the month for payday as it was a tight month! 

I sent it back a few days ago and received and email yesterday informing me they will not accept the return and are returning it to me via DPD. They say there’s an odour and staining on the collar. This coat was tried on once and put back in its original packaging, it was in perfect condition (though I don’t recall seeing the accompanying buckle belt that came with it so that was missing from the off).

It’s a £460 coat so not cheap and they’re refusing it. How can they get away with this? Their customer service has been hopeless, being unhelpful and shutting down any discussion of the problem. 

What’s the best thing for me to do here? Note I haven’t paid any money towards this yet and do not have a direct debit set up to pay. I do however have other items on my account that I pay for monthly. 

If I'd bought a trenchcoat I'm pretty sure that I would have checked that there was a belt with it.

Almost always, if a coat has a belt it it secured to the coat.
Same as the pockets being stitched up.

Okell

Have they been banned?

Undervalued

Okell said:

Have they been banned?

Who? The OP?

They posted at 11.15 this morning so I don't think so.

I don't understand the "Private" profile. I've not seen it before and didn't realise it was an option?

Okell

Undervalued said:

Okell said:

Have they been banned?

Who? The OP?

They posted at 11.15 this morning so I don't think so.

I don't understand the "Private" profile. I've not seen it before and didn't realise it was an option?

It (used to be?) the case that if you tried to look at the profile of someone who was banned you would get "Private".

I think now you get "Banned"

I'm not sure 'cos none of it is transparent  (Like a lot on here...)

KMacc

Pollycat said:

KMacc said:

I bought (on Fraser’s plus credit) a St Agni trench coat last month but on trying it on, found it was too large. I knew I wanted to return but as there was a return charge of 4.99, I waited until end of the month for payday as it was a tight month! 

I sent it back a few days ago and received and email yesterday informing me they will not accept the return and are returning it to me via DPD. They say there’s an odour and staining on the collar. This coat was tried on once and put back in its original packaging, it was in perfect condition (though I don’t recall seeing the accompanying buckle belt that came with it so that was missing from the off).

It’s a £460 coat so not cheap and they’re refusing it. How can they get away with this? Their customer service has been hopeless, being unhelpful and shutting down any discussion of the problem. 

What’s the best thing for me to do here? Note I haven’t paid any money towards this yet and do not have a direct debit set up to pay. I do however have other items on my account that I pay for monthly. 

If I'd bought a trenchcoat I'm pretty sure that I would have checked that there was a belt with it.

Almost always, if a coat has a belt it it secured to the coat.
Same as the pockets being stitched up.

So when I got the coat I was eager to try it on but immediately saw it was too large. I didn’t notice a belt with it yet the picture showed one but assumed it wasn’t included or something to that effect. It went straight back in its packaging never to be looked at again. It’s a lesson for me for future reference for sure!

I just received it back in the post and cannot see any staining whatsoever on the collar or otherwise. I had a sniff for perfume and noticed a scent on the back of the collar, which is of course not my perfume. I’m so angry at myself for not checking this. However given their lack of attention to detail through sending me a coat in such a state, I didn’t think they’d refuse a refund. Perhaps if there’d been a more thorough check, I wouldn’t have been sent a perfume scented coat, missing its belt. 

KMacc

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head said:

Undervalued said:

As the coat is on its way back to the OP she will soon have the option of inspecting and sniffing the alleged soiling / odour and maybe get an expert opinion on it.

Obviously that doesn't explain how it came to be like that.

If it ends up in the small claims court a judge will have to decide, on the balance of probabilities, who to believe and if that is the retailer what reduction in value to apply.

Going to be expense for Frasers..... 

OP if you are still hear and reading, their credit appears to be regulated, official complaints process is here:

https://cdn.tymit.com/media/Frasers_Plus_Complaints_Process_231024_b6fad8253a.pdf

I'd follow that noting you dispute the damage and even were that the case Flannels haven't acted in accordance with their terms to provide an appropriate refund.

Thanks for your help here, it’s very much appreciated. I’ll have a look at the link.