Where do I stand here? Return postage

JimBob78

Hi all, please could someone advise? 

My mum kindly bought be a blazer for my birthday online from a store I knew nothing about but it looked good quality tweed, £70. (Yes I know I should have checked out reviews, so no Told You Sos, please. I’m a knackered mum of a special needs child and frankly I was exhausted, saw something I liked the look of and sent her the link. December birthdays can be like that, everything’s rushed.)

Anyway, it took weeks to arrive, and it turns out it’s made from crappy polyester, not “tweed” or a “soft wool blend” as it clearly states on the website. Finish is awful, shapeless, horrible, I wouldn’t have paid £5 for it. 

Have asked for a refund, which they are willing to give BUT, I have to return it at my own expense to guess where? China. 

I’ve since seen Trustpilot reviews etc saying they’re a scam company and to avoid – hindsight is a great thing. 

I’ve quoted the Consumer Rights Act 2015 at them, as in, the item is not as described because it’s not made from the material they state it is. 

They’ve completely ignored this in their reply email and just re-stated that I would need to return at my own cost. 

I don’t think I should have to – is there anything else I can threaten them with? And does the Consumer Rights Act mean anything if you’re dealing with a company outside of the UK? 

Thanks so much in advance, any help gratefully received. 

TonyMMM

Any consumer rights would be with your mum, not you, if she bought it.

But - no, in practice there is no comeback under UK legislation when buying from China.

born_again

JimBob78 said:

Hi all, please could someone advise? 

My mum kindly bought be a blazer for my birthday online from a store I knew nothing about but it looked good quality tweed, £70. (Yes I know I should have checked out reviews, so no Told You Sos, please. I’m a knackered mum of a special needs child and frankly I was exhausted, saw something I liked the look of and sent her the link. December birthdays can be like that, everything’s rushed.)

Anyway, it took weeks to arrive, and it turns out it’s made from crappy polyester, not “tweed” or a “soft wool blend” as it clearly states on the website. Finish is awful, shapeless, horrible, I wouldn’t have paid £5 for it. 

Have asked for a refund, which they are willing to give BUT, I have to return it at my own expense to guess where? China. 

I’ve since seen Trustpilot reviews etc saying they’re a scam company and to avoid – hindsight is a great thing. 

I’ve quoted the Consumer Rights Act 2015 at them, as in, the item is not as described because it’s not made from the material they state it is. 

They’ve completely ignored this in their reply email and just re-stated that I would need to return at my own cost. 

I don’t think I should have to – is there anything else I can threaten them with? And does the Consumer Rights Act mean anything if you’re dealing with a company outside of the UK? 

Thanks so much in advance, any help gratefully received. 

CRA means nothing if they are in China. You need to cite China's consumer rights.

Who is the retailer  (website)

Your mother could try goods not as described chargeback, guessing she paid via card (Debit or Credit) but that would require item to be returned & in reality would not be cost effective, as odds on will never make it to retailer (common issue with returns to China)

soolin

This is now one of the most common questions asked on here, I think you’re the third or 4 now in a couple of weeks. Even if you did pay out to send it back fully tracked there is virtually no chance at all it will ever show as delivered, so you’d be throwing good money after bad. My usual advice is to keep on at these company about returning it as often they will make a goodwill part refund, a month or so back we did have someone who managed to get 30% as a  goodwill gesture , and if you can get that I’d suggest taking it and writing the rest off. 

BlueonBlue

Soolin .....regarding how ebay doesnt make it obvious or in your face that you are buying from China ?

It is getting out of control a bit so I feel for the buyer above getting ripped ....its often just termed sharp practice isnt it .
But britain seems to love sharp practice its become so ...so normal to allow people to get ripped off via sharp practise 

I know as buyers we cant do much about all this but Ebay seems to allow sellers to go to extreme lenghts to cover up the sellers location rather than make it obvious which it could do... so Ebay is complicite.

I attempted to scroll down to a sellers contact details but you would end up scrolling on and on for ever and a day... as it just never stopped so obviously I gave up and just dont buy from these sellers .
The sellers location is more obvious when you go to pay ...once you have committed mentally and are buying .

Last weeks example was a discount on a item and also a Ebay code came along together on a needed electrical item for the car .
Which was odd as this price was better than I had ever seen in a couple of years.... so I clicked through and paid early morning 31st dec 25.
My first chinese seller purchase ...could be my last ?.

How does this selling from china all work... does the chinese seller "who posing as the manufacturer" posts the item to royal mail ..then tracking begins with royal mail once in the uk ?

I have accepted whatever happens, will happen as it was a very rare low cost of £24.47 vs the sometimes discounted £30 or the normal £46 ebay listing.

Has anyone got into highlighting buying from china positives and negative guidlines either via Amazon or Ebay etc ?
It seems Ebay is the far far more risky option ....highlighted by the OP .

eskbanker

BlueonBlue said:

But britain seems to love sharp practice its become so ...so normal to allow people to get ripped off via sharp practise 

Seems an odd conclusion?

BlueonBlue said:

Last weeks example was a discount on a item and also a Ebay code came along together on a needed electrical item for the car which was odd as this price was better than I had ever seen in a couple of years.... so I clicked through and paid early morning 31st dec 25.

Obviously no desire to condone dodgy operators, but their business model only works because people are blinded by cheap prices and don't stop to consider why they're so cheap.

BlueonBlue

It might be odd in your world ...denial is part of the problem ....make it the buyers fault not the platform .

Ebay has always had risks which evolve but this buying from overseas the risks need to be more obvious .
Just plain old clarity would help buyers but profit over rules that .

Its not a big prob for myself  but Soolins statement on it that it is a very common question ....sums up reality as he is in the know or experienced more than most

eskbanker

BlueonBlue said:

It might be odd in your world ...denial is part of the problem ....make it the buyers fault not the platform

Nobody is denying that there's plenty of sharp practice, but the fact that much of it isn't prevented by large American platforms doesn't in any way support the conclusion that "britain seems to love sharp practice"?

savergrant

I don't understand where ebay comes into it;
"from a store I knew nothing about" doesn't sound like ebay to me.
It would probably be better if it were, as opening a snad case would require the seller to provide a returns label and if OP had proof of return ebay would probably refund if the item never arrived back to the seller.
Assuming it isn't an ebay transaction my best guess is to contact the card issuer and say the supplier has sent substandard goods.
Was the purchaser (op's mum) aware they were buying goods from a Chinese shop?

soolin

BlueonBlue said:

Soolin .....regarding how ebay doesnt make it obvious or in your face that you are buying from China ?

It is getting out of control a bit so I feel for the buyer above getting ripped ....its often just termed sharp practice isnt it .
But britain seems to love sharp practice its become so ...so normal to allow people to get ripped off via sharp practise 

I know as buyers we cant do much about all this but Ebay seems to allow sellers to go to extreme lenghts to cover up the sellers location rather than make it obvious which it could do... so Ebay is complicite.

I attempted to scroll down to a sellers contact details but you would end up scrolling on and on for ever and a day... as it just never stopped so obviously I gave up and just dont buy from these sellers .
The sellers location is more obvious when you go to pay ...once you have committed mentally and are buying .

Last weeks example was a discount on a item and also a Ebay code came along together on a needed electrical item for the car .
Which was odd as this price was better than I had ever seen in a couple of years.... so I clicked through and paid early morning 31st dec 25.
My first chinese seller purchase ...could be my last ?.

How does this selling from china all work... does the chinese seller "who posing as the manufacturer" posts the item to royal mail ..then tracking begins with royal mail once in the uk ?

I have accepted whatever happens, will happen as it was a very rare low cost of £24.47 vs the sometimes discounted £30 or the normal £46 ebay listing.

Has anyone got into highlighting buying from china positives and negative guidlines either via Amazon or Ebay etc ?
It seems Ebay is the far far more risky option ....highlighted by the OP .

It is much easier on eBay to identify overseas sellers although some slip through if a buyer doesn’t know what to look for. The difference with eBay though is that sellers on there are bound by the UK legal requirements, so if you do get sent something NAD then an eBay case can be opened and seller is obliged to issue a fully tracked return and eBay will step in a refund if item doesn’t get back to seller, as long as tracking shows it was sent. 

The other thing that catches out Far East sellers is the delivery times. If they show a long delivery estimate then buyers can easily see it is likely not being sent from the UK. An INR can be opened a day after the last EDD so if a seller pretends that an item could arrive in 3-4 days then they could easily lose out if an INR is opened and closed before item arrives. 

I see no suggestion though that OP bought from eBay , which is why their options are so limited. 

Flugelhorn

savergrant said:

I don't understand where ebay comes into it;
"from a store I knew nothing about" doesn't sound like ebay to me.
It would probably be better if it were, as opening a snad case would require the seller to provide a returns label and if OP had proof of return ebay would probably refund if the item never arrived back to the seller.
Assuming it isn't an ebay transaction my best guess is to contact the card issuer and say the supplier has sent substandard goods.
Was the purchaser (op's mum) aware they were buying goods from a Chinese shop?

agree it sounds like a purchase direct from the company, not via ebay