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Salvation Army rip off

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Thunderchild | 07:13 Fri 10th Apr 2009 | Law
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My sister went into the local salvation army shop and wanted to buy some cloths, however there was no changing roon. so she bought the cloths on the understanding that she could bring them back if they did not fit. one item did not fit so she returned it, only to get a credit note issued rather than a cash refund so she has to spend the money in the shop again to get her money back. Is this sort of behahiour allowed from a shop ?
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Yes this practice is acceptable. In that type of shop image the confusion if people kept taking stuff out, use it and then get money back when returned. It would turn into a loan shop. So the credits put a stop to misuse. My concern over these shops is that they also sell stuff AS IS meaning if you buy it there is no return at all. This is usually applied to electric/electronic goods. I have purchased a VCR (AS IS) which tested fine in shop but when home there was a flaw in it. Of course this is why it discarded by the original owner. For me I am stuck with it.
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I think stuff has to be verified now if electrical but I think thats only for safety really its the nasty person that donated a brocken item thats to blame (unless of course they told them about it)

My concern is that there is NO changing room to try clothing on, but if it don't fit you don't get the cash back.

I've bought cloths in the red cross shop didn't feel like trying them on and assumed they'd fit (yes typical man+cloths situation) but I returned a couple of shirts with all the red cross labels still on and they were quite happy to give me the cash back despite I'd had the chance to try them on.
Even if you bought brand new clothes from a retailer there is no legal obligation to refund if they don't fit, unless there is a sign saying refunds are given in those circumstances. This applies if you bought the item as a present so the item could not be tried on before purchase.
It was wrong of the shop to agree to refund at the point of sale and then refuse to later, though. Could she have sold it on eBay? I assume she didn't pay a lot of money for it, and could make a profit.
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well I'm not sure on laws about cloths but I always thought that you had 28 days to return any item in a saleble condition.... unless its an item of underwear or other limitations on other types of products. of course there are people that abuse this but I/we are not of that kind.

it should be recognised that no clothing item can be guaranteed to fit satisfactorily merely because its "the right size" and if you have NO oportunity of trying it on in the shop then to turn round and say that you can only be given a voucher (to be spent in the same shop not even a salvation army shop of another town) is just a tad wrong.

luckily its only a question of � 2.49 but I'm rather usettled by the actual principle of it and luckily it was not more money.
II'm not aware of the 28 day rule that you describe.
f you want to be able to try things on or get money back even if the goods are not faulty then you need to go to M&S etc. Of course you'll end up paying more than �2.49! At least the money has gone to a good cause. Why not donate the item to another charity shop?
No, thunderchild.
The Sale of Goods Act state that goods can only be returned for a full refund if they are not as described, not fit for the purpose or of unsatisfactory quality.
The courts held long ago that being too big or too small is not a reason for a refund.
M&S and some other stores have a refund policy, but that is their own terms and conditions and not the law.
You've no theard of it because he imagined it. There's no such law.

Retailers are under no obligation whatsoever to give any refund at all if items are simply the wrong size or you decide you don't like them. Only faulty goods can be returned by law. nor are clothes retailers actually under any obligation to provide changing facilities, though of course any half decent one would since they want to make the sale.
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Thank you for the clarification barry and skyline that does make sense
I am sorry,but people like your sister make me sick!
These are charity shops for god's sake,not M&S,John Lewis or Christian Dior.
They are scraping money together to help the homelessfinding,lost persons, and others who cannot cope in the world,and all your sister can worry about is the fact that she got a credit note.
If it was up to me I wouldn't give any sort of refund,not given the very low prices that garments sell for in charity shops.
The only person doing the ripping off is your sister!
She should grow up and live in the real world.
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put it this way Mr veritas, we are strugling too, one of the reasons why we get cloths from charity shops is apart from helpig them out too the cloths are cheap and we care not for so called brandnames just quality clothing, one could infact sped quite a sum on cloths in that shop only to find they do not fit, you have no guarantee these days that a size whatever is the size that it says. and before you start lecturing us on charities we do already spend some of our our time helping more than one charity so we're not uncharitable at all ! I've worked for an import company and fast learnt that to the chinese a size 16 means: anything between 8 and 20 will do, Given the lack of consistency these days in some cloths sizes I feel it essential that you should be able to try something on before buying, no 2 people with the same clothing size will be the same and I can assure you that ANY shop where the cloths were originally bought doesn't really care about what they are selling and if the sizes are correct just about making money
You beat me to it, Mr Veritas!

Well said!

It's a CHARITY shop
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I also did point out earlier we're not so concerned about the money given the amount but the priciple that presumably any shop could do this. Also why can't the voucher be used in another salvation army branch ?
I think using the term 'Rip Off' is a bit heavy handed.

No shop has to actually refund you. She could take them back if they didnt fit as stated, just not for cash thats all.
Mr Veritas & Panic Button - you are being ridiculous.

Who do you think shop in charity shops? People who have to watch every penny. If you buy something that does not fit, that money is completely wasted.

To ask for a refund for goods which don't fit when there is no changing rooms is not in any way outrageous (however as pointed out there is no legal obligation to give a refund).

Thunderchild - I always ask in shops if I can get a refund if something doesn't fit before I buy anything - at least this way you know.

(And incidentally, M&S do not always allow you to return items - if they have clearance items, they will not allow you to return them unless they are faulty)
Let me expalin myself.
My wife Elsie (who is 85) works in a Charity Shop two days a week.
She has previous experience in retail,but she says she has never before met people who are so greedy,grasping and generally bad mannered(and that counts for those on low incomes,and the better off too).
They seem to equate the word Charity Shop with Jumble Sale,and try and bargain down already low prices to practically nothing.
The shop my wife works in is in Tenterden,an affluent town on the Kent/Sussex border,where many of the customers are equally well off,and these people can be the worst for money.
It doesn't really matter WHO or what class the customer is,they seem to forget that the shop is on (usually) a short and expensive lease,that the Charity has to pay Business Rates,and this is before they have even sold one item!
Yes,SOME customers shopin these shops because they are short of money,BUT the funds raised(in Elsie's shop for instance) go to those who are on the streets,or are at their lowest ebb;this is why I begrudge ANYONE taking pennies out of their hands.
In some ways I think we British despise those who are in the gutter(so to speak) because we are scared of being there ourselves,so we (finacially) are happy to cr@p on them first.
I just hope when you are down there,someone will stretch out a hand a help you up,not worry about a credit note.
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to clarify veritas she said to the shop that she was unsure whether it would fit and they said she could return it but failed to mention that the refund would be in the form of a credit note.

theres a fine line between legally right and legally+morally right.
ME being ridiculous! Unbelieveable.

I have never heard anything so ridiculous as someone expecting to return goods to a charity shop and expect cash back!
I understand what you are saying Thunderchild.
I just think it is a sad reflection on our society today that someone would want (or expect) a CHARITY shop to give a refund on an item costing �2.49!
An ordinary shop maybe,but not a charity shop.
As someone else has said,either give the garment to another charity shop,or just get on with it.
If it WAS an ordinary shop that refused,I have no doubt your sister would have accepted it,but because it is a "jumble sale" charity shop they can be browbeaten and threatened.
Peoples attitudes today make me weep.
What a greedy and grasping materlialistic society we have today.
I really can't stand people like you Mr Veritas.

You don't know what the budgets are of people with low incomes.

�2.50 is a lot of money for some people. I have slept on the streets and used to live in the YMCA when I was 18. I now run my own business and contribute a lot to the local community - BUT even though �2.50 doesn't mean anything to me, I regularly see people who can't afford to buy 'luxuries'.

I have been buying some books in a charity shop and seen a woman count out her pennies and not buy some clothes for a kid because she didn't have enough.

I am sure that while you are reading this that you are thinking that she was probably smoking cigarettes or smoking it all away - I don't know her circumstances, but I do know that she certainly didn't look like a dreg of society.

When people say "only �2.50" they have no clue at all about some peoples' budgets.
Peoples attitudes today make me weep.
What a greedy and grasping materialistic society we have today.


Couldn't have put it better myself.

When not knowing anything about an individual's case, you can make sweeping judgements about them.

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