Employer's questionable returns policy

timmy963 · 7 July 2018 at 3:48PM

Hello everyone, I'm looking for some advice regarding my employer's questionable returns policy.

I work for a large retailer and in the past year we have had a change in policy when it comes to the returning of faulty goods whereby after 30 days we refer them to the manufacturer's customer helpline who will give tech support and determine whether or not it is faulty. We also ring the manufacturer on the customer's behalf if they don't want to if the system says we are allowed to.

If an item is deemed to be faulty over the phone, the manufacturer will repair, replace (parts or the entire appliance) exchange or give them a reference number for it to be swapped in store.

We have had many customers who seem to be unhappy with being forced to deal with the manufacturer, especially when their item develops a fault within the first 6 months which I don't think is right.

Only after 6 months would I insist the customer to contact the manufacturer seeing as they can give an experts opinion to determine whether or not it is faulty due to a manufacturing problem. Even if the manufacturer determines there is a fault, I don't think it's right that they are forced to get it repaired or replace through them and not us seeing their contractual obligations lie with us and not the manufacturer.

I have looked through the company's policy documents, online intranet and have spoke to different managers who seem to hold different opinions regarding what we legally can and can't do.

Any input is appreciated, thanks.

unholyangel · 7 July 2018 at 4:08PM

We also ring the manufacturer on the customer's behalf if they don't want to if the system says we are allowed to.

If an item is deemed to be faulty over the phone, the manufacturer will repair, replace (parts or the entire appliance) exchange or give them a reference number for it to be swapped in store.

So what happens if the system says you're not allowed to ring on their behalf? What sort of phone numbers are being given out? 01, 02 or 03 numbers?

What if the item can't be deemed faulty over the phone? What happens then?

Really, companies can outsource work like this (even manufacturers sometimes outsource to a third party) but the consumers position shouldn't be affected by it and if it was likely to mislead consumers about their rights or have the effect of removing/restricting statutory rights then it could even amount to a criminal offence.

timmy963 · 7 July 2018 at 4:54PM

Here is an example of what we are told to do on the after sales toolkit which was taken from a training pdf.

We are told to ask the customer to ring the manufacturer which is an 0800 number. If it can't be sorted over the phone, depending on who the manufacturer is they will either send an engineer around to their home to resolve it or they will give a reference number over the phone for us to replace it.

Every manufacturer gives us different steps on how they want us to handle the situation.

Fosterdog · 7 July 2018 at 5:02PM

timmy963 wrote: »

Here is an example of what we are told to do on the after sales toolkit which was taken from a training pdf.

We are told to ask the customer to ring the manufacturer which is an 0800 number. If it can't be sorted over the phone, depending on who the manufacturer is they will either send an engineer around to their home to resolve it or they will give a reference number over the phone for us to replace it.

That's a perfectly acceptable solution, on slightly dodgy ground with the replacement after a repair attempt as a failed repair entitles the customer to reject for a refund (full in first six months, can be partial after) although if the repair attempt and replacement are all carried out and classed as one attempt then they may be able to get away with it.

Other than that the company can use whoever they want as agents to carry out diagnostics and repairs on their belhalf and in many cases that agent is the manufacturer, or someone appointed by the manufacturer, as they are the most qualified to deal with the items. Especially with electrical items this is the most common and standard proceadure.

takman · 7 July 2018 at 5:15PM

Do you work for Argos ?

timmy963 · 7 July 2018 at 6:08PM

Fosterdog wrote: »

Other than that the company can use whoever they want as agents to carry out diagnostics and repairs on their belhalf and in many cases that agent is the manufacturer, or someone appointed by the manufacturer, as they are the most qualified to deal with the items. Especially with electrical items this is the most common and standard proceadure.

We are told that we are working closely together with the manufacturers to reduce the amount of returns in stores which a large proportion actually have no fault. So in theory that means there should be no quibbles between the two of us in regards to who needs to do what seeing as we are in agreement with each other.

So it does seem like it's an okay thing to do as like you said, they are acting on our behalf to rectify the problem even though they are the manufacturer.

takman wrote: »

Do you work for Argos ?

Doesn't really add anything to the discussion whether I do or don't.

bris · 8 July 2018 at 10:03AM

The employer is exercising their right to prove a fault exists before getting involved. It may be they have had a lot or non faulty returns that they waste a lot of time and money on to determine the customer is to blame.

The retailer must deal with faulty goods yes, but the are allowed to first know they are actually faulty.

You also say you can , if allowed, do it on the customers behalf. This to me sounds like they are actually taking returns at the customers word only to find out later that the goods aren't actually faulty. This could be costing them millions if they are a large retailer.

Edit, only read the first post, I see above they do get a lot of non faulty returns, so obviously want to reduce this to an acceptable limit.

[Deleted User] · 8 July 2018 at 10:56AM

timmy963 wrote: »

Hello everyone, I'm looking for some advice regarding my employer's questionable returns policy.

I work for a large retailer and in the past year we have had a change in policy when it comes to the returning of faulty goods whereby after 30 days we refer them to the manufacturer's customer helpline who will give tech support and determine whether or not it is faulty. We also ring the manufacturer on the customer's behalf if they don't want to if the system says we are allowed to.

If an item is deemed to be faulty over the phone, the manufacturer will repair, replace (parts or the entire appliance) exchange or give them a reference number for it to be swapped in store.

We have had many customers who seem to be unhappy with being forced to deal with the manufacturer, especially when their item develops a fault within the first 6 months which I don't think is right.

Only after 6 months would I insist the customer to contact the manufacturer seeing as they can give an experts opinion to determine whether or not it is faulty due to a manufacturing problem. Even if the manufacturer determines there is a fault, I don't think it's right that they are forced to get it repaired or replace through them and not us seeing their contractual obligations lie with us and not the manufacturer.

I have looked through the company's policy documents, online intranet and have spoke to different managers who seem to hold different opinions regarding what we legally can and can't do.

Any input is appreciated, thanks.

What do you think your company should do? Just accept every return for the first six months regardless of checking whether it is actually faulty? How would YOU know whether something is faulty or not? Or whether it has been abused rather than faulty?

Or, if it was your shop and your money would you be so generous with your customer service?

takman · 8 July 2018 at 12:39PM

timmy963 wrote: »

Doesn't really add anything to the discussion whether I do or don't.

I was just asking because this policy sounds exactly what a family member told me when they took a faulty item in store. They actually got it sorted over the phone and had the replacement part sent to their house without any hassle.

They were sceptical when first told but it actually worked quite efficiently. If they had to take it in store then it got sent off to the manufacturer, they had to process it then send it back to the store. It would have taken much longer to resolve and require two trips to the store.
So actually in this case it was implemented quite well and is better for allergies involved.

You don't really seem to have said any negatives about the process apart from things like "customers seem to be unhappy" and you don't think it's "right".

So overall it seems to be a good returns process.

peachyprice · 8 July 2018 at 1:52PM

Dyson customer service is excellent. They will talk you through fault finding over the phone, if they can't help they will send out spares immediately.

I can see nothing that would be gained by taking a machine back to the store, the store then having to phone Dyson for trouble shooting, Dyson then sending spares to the store, the store fitting the spares, the customer then having return to collect the machine.

Employer's questionable returns policy

Comments

Categories

Get our FREE Weekly email full of deals & guides - and it’s spam-free