Avoid being fleeced for mail order

tehone wrote: »

Totally agree with you, I can see how the OP might have been caught out though, especially as they managed not to turn over and read the other side of a piece of paper

Thank you for your sound advice and your kind comments about
my low intellect, and that of my 87 year old mother, have been duly noted. DENSA here we come!

camelot1971 wrote: »

There's your issue right there. If you can't even do the basic due diligence before spending money, you deserve everything you get. Age has nothing to do with it btw, and shame on you for your rather ageist comments.

Many thanks for your comment, Camelot1971. I feel very embarrassed and ashamed about my ‘rather ageist comments’, and apologise unreservedly to you and anyone else who found these remarks offensive in any way. It was unintentional.

However, your statement ‘Age has nothing to do with it btw’ is questionable, as age, like illness, affects different people in different ways, the older they get or at any time. Sometimes, they ‘can’t even do the basic due diligence before spending money’, but rather than ‘deserving everything they get’, wouldn’t it be kinder if companies who cater for their needs, and profit from them, helped them to realise what they were getting into, with clarity rather than hiding the facts?

I feel I must justify my case against your rather intelligentist and sweeping comments.

Firstly, the terms and conditions are not printed anywhere in the catalogue (unlike the 0844 phone number, which is in large print at the bottom of every double page, without call charges). The T&Cs are just on the bottom of the separate order form sheet in writing so tiny that even I, as a relative youngster, need a magnifying glass to read. Those people whose eyesight has degenerated with age don’t stand a hope.

The panel between the two labels contains the following text:

How to return an item?
(for UK customers only)

Hermes
Hermes Parcelshops are open early in the morning and late at night, with convenient parking, at 5000 locations nationwide. Please attach your Hermes return label over your address on the parcel. Find your nearest Hermes Parcelshop at https://www.myhermes.co.uk/parcelshopfinder

Royal Mail
Please attach the Royal Mail returns label over your address on the parcel and take it to a post office. Remember to ask for proof of postage. Track your return at https://www.royalmail.com/track-your-item

Sounds really easy, doesn't it, postage already paid on the label, take it to the convenient shop or post office and get a receipt, lovely! but nowhere does it mention any charges for doing this. Many less savvy people would (wrongly) assume that it was free. They could have stated the £2.95 cost for returning a parcel in each of the two paragraphs, said PTO for details of charges, or put the labels themselves on the reverse of the return docket, where the charges are clearly printed.

I appreciate that my mother has assumed on this occasion and therefore 'deserves everything she gets’, but it would’ve been kinder and more transparent of Cotton Traders to mention these points, especially for those whose lack of intelligence and/or deteriorating physical or mental faculties mean that they can no longer ‘even do the basic due diligence’.

camelot1971 wrote: »

Thanks for your apology.

BTW, I went to the Cotton Traders website and thought to myself "ooh, what if i want to return something, will it cost me anything?". So I scrolled down to the bottom of the main webpage to the FAQ: https://www.cottontraders.com/customer-service-faq


Went to the returns part and there it was, as clear as day about the cost of returns.

And there we go. I took responsibility for my own actions and can now make a decision on whether to buy something or not. Maybe you can write to them and ask if they can provide a website just for you, in giant text with big arrows pointing down to the returns part?



The apology is meant and my pleasure, Camelot, as I am net out to offend anyone, just to stick up for myself and my old Mum, preferably without being ridiculed, insulted or trolled, especially as the post was merely made to help anyone who might find themselves, or elder loved ones, in a similar situation.

I am also very pleased to read about your research and actions. I know the Silver Surfer community is huge and ever growing and am delighted you are part of this. Your idea of giant text with big arrows is also great, although unless you can find a solution to what I'm about to say, it sadly won't work, as there are two problems... firstly my Mother is fiercely independent and won't let me help her when she can, or feels that she can do something herself. Secondly, her electric typewriter (which she still has from work days, and uses from time to time), only connects to mains electricity and NOT the internet! This is why I have only been mentioning the paper catalogues, order forms and physical labels. Had she come to me and asked for help, before doing it herself, I too would have thought 'ooh' and done exactly the same as you, telling her the situation and avoiding this whole sorry post in the first place.

I wish I was being sarcastic about the above points, but I'm sadly not. As I'm sure you and your family know, having an elderly person around is rewarding, but extremely stressful at times, especially when they think they're in the right but can't even do the basic due diligence. While I respect your earlier comment, some of us really don't deserve everything we get, but hey, that's life!