Don't let a `refund' leave you out of pocket
Watch out for the increasing trend of shops to charge `restocking fees' which could leave you out of pocket.
Shopping: pleasure or pain? Whether it’s a relaxing diversion, an adrenalin inducing buzz or a chore to be endured, you have to keep your wits about you.
You may have relaxed into the knowledge that if you make a mistake while shopping, it doesn’t matter. Most outlets let you return goods for any reason for a full refund.
But what if you’re penalised for changing your mind? Restocking fees are sneaking in to traders’ terms leaving all but the canniest devourers of small print with an unwelcome surprise. You might find you get only 80 – 90% of the value of the goods back with the rest retained for ‘restocking’.
Bad decisions
Although we may believe we can always get our money back when we shop on the high street, the first thing to be clear of is that the law doesn’t extend to changing our minds.
If something doesn’t fit, you discover a better deal elsewhere or you have any other reason for returning a working item, legally a retailer is under no obligation to reimburse you if you bought it in-store. (Different rules apply online - see Buy on the internet, below.)
Despite this, the law will always step in to protect you if an item is not up to scratch, regardless of where you buy it. Your protection under the Sale of Goods Act 1979 is extensive when it comes to goods which don’t meet their description, are not fit for their purpose (including any specific purpose agreed with the seller) or are faulty.
The small print
When a shop allows you to return an unwanted item that’s not defective, it’s actually extending your legal rights, so it’s entitled to introduce additional terms about credit notes, time limits and restocking fees etc.
Crucially, the retailer’s policy on returning goods should be clearly displayed so you’re fully aware of any unfavourable terms before committing yourself. The terms must be accessible and accurate or there may be an argument you’ve been misled.
The question “do you offer refunds?” needs to be tweaked to “do you offer full refunds?” and don’t accept a waffly answer (“sort of” being the kind of response you want to avoid). To be safe, check the written terms as well as asking.
Expect a variety of conditions. For example, if you change your mind about an item from Comet that you bought in-store, you can get your money back if you’re content to just gaze at the box. But as soon as you open the item, you’re throwing away 10% of the cost if you don’t like what you find.
Meanwhile, if you buy certain tiles from Topps Tiles - which they class as ‘special order’ tiles - you will incur a restocking charge of 20% of the price.
However, despite these charges being perfectly legal in-store, they should not apply if you buy these items online and return them in perfect condition within seven days.
Why?
Buying on the internet
When you buy at a distance, (e.g. over the phone or on the internet), the Consumer Protection (Distance Selling) Regulations 2000 give you a ‘cooling off’ period during which you can legally change your mind and get a full refund.
You don’t have long to cancel though – normally from the minute you make the order until seven working days after you receive the goods.
Cancel within this period, and as long as:
- the goods aren’t personalised or perishable,
- it’s not a newspaper or magazine
- it’s not a CD, DVD or computer software where the security seal has been broken
- you didn’t buy it from an online auction like eBay
- the service didn’t start immediately (eg paid access to a website)
...then you will be entitled to a refund - no matter what the terms and conditions of the individual retailer state.
However, you’ve still got to be on the ball. Although an online business is not entitled to charge you a restocking fee, you may find yourself out of pocket for the cost of sending the item back. Unless at item is faulty, not what you ordered or a substitute item, a business doesn’t have to pay for return delivery.
One way to get around this is to return the item to a local branch of the retailer. But be prepared to do battle with the store manager, who may not have heard of the Distance Selling Regulations. Print out this article - or this page of the Direct.gov.uk website - and take it with you!
More small print
Yes it’s dull and life may be too short but make friends with small print and it might just save you money. If the online supplier wants you to be responsible for the cost of return delivery, they have to let you know in information supplied before you buy from them.
If a restocking fee is going to bite you, shop around. Plenty of shops have very generous returns policies.
Name and shame restocking fee retailers!
Here at lovemoney.com, we think charging 10% to 20% of the price of an item returned in perfect condition is completely outrageous. But what do you think? Is it reasonable for businesses to charge this fee if they genuinely do incur restocking costs?
And if you’ve recently come across any retailers which have started charging a restocking fee, we want to hear about it! Please name and shame them using the comments box below.
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I recently bought speakers from Sensible Audio in Bend, OR. After talking several times with Jerry, the owner, he ordered the speakers we agreed on. For the $1250 price he agreed to come and install them and get them working. Jerry received the speakers, and finally after about a week found time to deliver them and set them up. He came and set them up, was unable to answer several question I had about them, and was gone a short time later. After connecting the speakers several problems with the rest of the system started happening. The sound from the speakers was not impressive and when compared to my very old speakers ($200) neither my friend or myself could hear a real difference. When I told Jerry I was not happy and wanted to return them, he then told me there would be a $200 restocking and return shipping fee. I challenged him on the fee, but so far he is insisting on it. My reasoning for not paying the fee: 1 - The speakers did not live up to expectations as he had them hooked up. 2 - After connecting the speakers, several other problems started with the systme. 3 - He claims these were special order, but I was never informed of anything like that. Jerry Ellis of Sensible Audio in Bend, OR - you let me down.
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I bought a power chair from SpinLife. Completely online, there was no way to test the chair to see how it operates. The chair jerks upon starting to move, jerks upon stopping, and hurts my neck every time it does. This chair is making my disability worse. But I am stuck with it, because when I tried to return it because of the defect, they wanted almost $1000 up front, out of my pocket, for delivery and restocking fees. They said that because it was financed, I would have to pay them this money upfront, out of my pocket, to be able to return the chair. Or else I would have to keep it. So, that's exactly what I am having to do. Keep it, and suffer through every day, with pain worse than the day before. Carolyn
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I want to name and shame River Island!! Going back to 2019 I brought a £3 plain white T-shirt in the summer sale. When I got home the T-shirt had brown/grey dusty marks on the back of it as if it had been dropped on the floor and then trodden on. This alone didn't really bother me as I just thought it would be fine after washing. STUPIDLY I didn't try the item on in store so before I washed the top I put it on to check the size was ok. It was size L which for a few years I have brought and still do to this day. This top however was soooooo tight!! Decided to take the top back assuming a refund would be fine . I had worked in retail as a manager for years for the Arcadia group and it was always fine to return items if unsuitable for a refund sale or no sale. I explained to the sales person, who by the way was a really pleasant and helpful person, that when I got home I noticed the top was marked and it didn't fit and in fact it was so small I questioned if it had been miss size labelled. She hesitated for a moment and unbeknown to me her manager had been listening to our conversation from across the shop floor. The manager instantly jumped in and abruptly told me "you can't return that" when I asked why her reasons were; 'sake items are non-refundable, the t-shirt had been worn, I had stained the top myself, the top was creased and couldn't be re-sold'. She was very direct with these reasons and intact was just rude to be frank. I replied and asked her to show me on the receipt where it states sale items are non-refundable - this wasn't written on the back or front anywhere. She then took a flimsy piece of card that was stuck to the side of the counter, not near the full point which did in fact explain River Islands refund policy. Whilst not mentioning sale goods it did state that they do not refund items unless faulty. Contesting her points I explained that the top was really tight and that I didn't think it sizes correctly, I even held it up to another large T-shirt nearby and it was definitely smaller. To my astonishment I was told that the top was not faulty and that I could either try to loose weight!!! (I know right!) or give it to someone smaller. I consider her response to be extremely rude and admit that I raised my voice at this point. I was told to calm myself down or she would be radioing for town security to assist. By this point I'd had enough, I asked for the name and contact details for her area manager so that I could complain. Her response; area managers do not respond to complaints. Really??? Ok I said, I asked for contact details for customer services. Her response; I do not know these off the top of my head you can get them online. I was fuming by her rude obnoxious attitude and disgusting customer service. As a manager I expected so much more. I left the store and to this day refuse to shop there. Things got worse when I did contact customer services and after explaining every detail of what had gone on was told swiftly over the phone that the managers say is final, that I could not return the top and that there was no option to escalate the issue further. Now I know it's £3 but £3 is still £3 the top was faulty and not fit for purpose - the purpose being I am size large I brought a size large and it was evidently much smaller than other river island size large items on sale. The top was also soiled in store which again I would say makes the top faulty - it was not in the condition as the retailer should have been expecting to sell the item. Because of River Islands actions - I and none of my immediate family no longer choose to shop in any of its stores. After retelling my horrific experience to friends and colleagues many agreed with my decisions and others retold of similar battles within the same store and more than likely the same manager. And now I'm writing it here. The manager and by de facto the company committed an offence that is clearly written into law as being illegal. They refused the return of a faulty item. Sadly I did report this to trading standards even demonstrating that the measurements of the T-shirt were considerably less than the measurements stated for size large on River Islands website. Alas I never got a response from trading standards. I guess £3 wasn't a big enough "job" for them...
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20 August 2022