House of Fraser refusing refund for online sunglasses purchase

scoobyhugh

Hi all,

My wife's had an interaction with House of Fraser that's shocked us and we're hoping for some advice. They are refusing an online return of sunglasses that were returned within 2 days.

14 Jan - Wife bought pair of sunglasses online from House of Fraser for £150, using PayPal 'Pay in three'.

17 Jan - They arrived, wife tried on, didn't suit, packaged back up.

18 Jan - Paid for return via their returns process and posted back.

27 Jan - Wife chased HoF for an update after not hearing anything. They inform her they are not accepting the return due to 'fingerprints on the lenses' and 'signs of use' (bear in mind they'd immediately been repackaged), and had sent the sunglasses back to us.
Wife sent message reiterating that she'd just tried on but they refused to budge. She sent another message saying she believed a fingerprint alone should not disqualify her from refund rights. Again they are not budging.

30 Jan - Sunglasses arrived back in absolutely spotless condition (not even a fingerprint).

We've never had this happen before with any other company - are HoF allowed to refuse to refund? That's all we want here. Is there anything we can do on PayPal's end?

Thanks in advance for any advice

Okell

To take advantage of a consumer's right to cancel a distance contract under The Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013 the consumer must clearly inform the seller that the consumer is cancelling the contract. Simply returning the goods is not enough.

Did your wife do this?

If she did and she returned the glasses within a further 14 days (sounds like she must have done) then the seller cannot reject her cancellation.

They can however, reduce any refund paid to her to take into account any loss in value of the goods caused by your wife's excessive handling over and above that which would be allowed in a shop.

So go back to them and confirm that she was cancelling under the regulations I refer to above and tell them she wants a full refund. (I take the view that finger marks - if they exist at all - could easily end up on a lens in a shop).

Unfortunately you will need to return them again. Tell them you want them to pay for the return as they should never have sent them back to you in the first place.

[Edit: The other unfortunate thing is you are dealing with HoF - so you will likley have an uphill struggle. Simply persevere and emphasise you are cancelling under the regulations I linked to and not under any separate HoF returns policy they may have]

flaneurs_lobster

Twenty quid for a pair of sunglasses? Fair enough buying them online, don't like, return.

120 notes? I'm going to a store where I can try a range of styles and where the fit can be adjusted to exactly my liking and where there won't be online haggling over fingerprints.

And it wouldn't be one of Mike Ashley's Sports Direct clones.

Alderbank

…So go back to them and confirm that she was cancelling under the regulations I refer to above and tell them she wants a full refund…

Don't give HoF any wiggle room.

Your wife is the consumer so she, not you, should go back to them and make it clear that 'I am cancelling under the CCR regulations and I want a full refund within 14 days'

scoobyhugh

Huge thanks for the advice all, she's replied very firmly with the advised wording, fingers' crossed.

DeathByFluffy

I hope you get it sorted. Not much use now, but in future check companies you're buying from aren't part of Frasers Group - they're well known for being generally poor to deal with.

The (growing) list of companies they own is a little… concerning given their attitude to customer support and fair trading practices.

A_Geordie

Given the level of posts online and offline conversations I've seen or heard about HoF and affiliate companies concerning the same issue around refunds, I am going to speculate that this may be a newish policy that they're enforcing as a means to avoid refunding customers - specifically customers who request a cash refund rather than a gift card.

I would strongly encourage affected customers to report HoF to the Competition and Markets Authority here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/contact-the-cma .

There is just no excuse for HoF refusing a refund even if there was some damage or use to the goods, even more so in this case where the sunglasses are not damaged or appear to have been used. Hopefully with enough complaints trickling in, the CMA will investigate Fraser Group - ideally through test purchases so as to not tip them off.

I would also encourage video or photographs of the condition of the goods shown in the parcel before returning to them as evidence if HoF says something different.