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Retail company refusing to give refund or replace gift card that had wrong postcode for delivery
I am asking this on behalf of a friend, who put £100 on a gift card for the daughter of one of their best friends - the card pertains to a company who refer to themselves as a "lifestyle retailer", mainly known for selling clothes, with a strong high street presence in many UK cities.
They gave the address details but somehow the postcode was incorrect (everything else was correct), something that they feel happened owing to some quirk on the company's website, only noticing this about a week after it should have been delivered.
They phoned up the company's customer service, who said that the card couldn't be cancelled or replaced with an e-card, refusing to give a refund, despite the card not being redeemed. I'm not too sure what the tracking number shows presently but I presume it would go back to the company, being the sender.
I advised my friend to email the CEO who's based in the US - no response has been forthcoming. I gave them the email addresses of two other people high up, one in the UK, and again, no response, despite there being no issue with the email addresses.
This is clearly a company with shoddy business practices and my friend is overwhelmed by it all. Are they best off now proceeding with a chargeback via their bank (gift card was purchased using a debit card)?
Comments
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I am asking this on behalf of a friend, who put £100 on a gift card for the daughter of one of their best friends - the card pertains to a company who refer to themselves as a "lifestyle retailer", mainly known for selling clothes, with a strong high street presence in many UK cities.
They gave the address details but somehow the postcode was incorrect (everything else was correct), something that they feel happened owing to some quirk on the company's website, only noticing this about a week after it should have been delivered.
They phoned up the company's customer service, who said that the card couldn't be cancelled or replaced with an e-card, refusing to give a refund, despite the card not being redeemed. I'm not too sure what the tracking number shows presently but I presume it would go back to the company, being the sender.
I advised my friend to email the CEO who's based in the US - no response has been forthcoming. I gave them the email addresses of two other people high up, one in the UK, and again, no response, despite there being no issue with the email addresses.
This is clearly a company with shoddy business practices and my friend is overwhelmed by it all. Are they best off now proceeding with a chargeback via their bank (gift card was purchased using a debit card)?
Postal addresses really boil down to the property number and the post code - everything else is for sentiment.
Say I send something to you, addressed as:
Mr Chris Someone
63 Any Street
Someplace
Thatshire
M78 2EZ
All that is needed to be read by the automated mail systems is
63
M78 2EZ
Was the gift card delivered to the correct post code as entered into the order?
Who entered the post code data into the order?
Which of the chargeback grounds do you think might apply here?
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Why the reluctance to name the retailer?
Not sure how you equate a company fulfilling an order by delivering a giftcard to the address requested with having "shoddy business practices".
Unless your friend can show that somehow the company altered the postcode entered (seems unlikely despite the 'quirk') then they are not likely to be able to get a refund, unless somehow the card is returned to sender.
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A shoddy business practice is when a replacement is declined when the card hasn't been redeemed. They are hanging on to £100 of my friend's money. Surely it would be very easy for the gift card number to be cancelled.
It's also poor to not get a reply from any of the people that they emailed. They've spent a lot of money with that company.
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Possibly, possibly not. Without knowing how their systems work none of us know that, and without knowing who the retailer is it's even harder to guess if a card can be cancelled.
How close is the recipient postcode the intended postcode? The practical thing to do here is to pop round and ask for the letter, if it's a street away, for example.
I can't see chargeback working. The gift card was delivered to the address requested.
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How do you know the email addresses are correct?
Chargeback, if they can prove delivery (does not have to be where you wanted) just delivered & they can contest with proof of delivery & that is your claim lost.
Maybe name retailer ( no problem doing that) would allow people to see where they are based & help if they can.
Not retailers fault if it is not redeemed. All they know has been sent to address requested & is still loaded with funds.
Life in the slow lane0 -
How do you know the card hasn't been redeemed? The recipient might have gone out and spent it....
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Yes, they could cancel the gift card. But as far as they know, it was delivered to the correct address, the address of the person who actually bought it, and you're just a random stranger asking for it to be cancelled. If they cancel it, the person who "really bought it", so to speak, would be mightily annoyed when they came to redeem it.
I'm not meaning to be nasty, just putting forward an objective view. As a previous poster noted, all that's needed for mail to reach its destination is house number and postcode (actually, a handy tip if you want to put your address as a return address on something you send to a friend - just write on the back "Sender: 23, AB1 2XY" or whatever, if it can't be delivered it'll find its way back to you).
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The OP might find this "wrong address" thread worth a read:
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When was the order made/Gift card posted. Could it still be in transit? We only seem to get mail delivered once every 2/3 weeks at the moment.
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They gave the address details but somehow the postcode was incorrect (everything else was correct), something that they feel happened owing to some quirk on the company's website
Some quirk on the company's website - sure.
In general - there is no strong consensus amongst forumites about who should take the hit if the customer enters an incorrect address and the goods are lost. The legislation doesn't cover this scenario so doesn't give a clear indication.
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