Refund And Discounted Items

[malagabob]

If you have bought an item of clothing and return it unworn and in good condition within the stores returns policy, to be told the item has been reduced in price so the refund being offered is less than what you paid for it . Is that lawfull.

[hc4361]

Probably, it depends on the terms and conditions of the shop. There is no legal obligation for the shop to give a refund, exchange or credit note just because you have changed your mind about it or it doesn't fit.

[MargoTester]

Did you have the receipt showing the 'full' price?

[sunny-dave]

Without a receipt you're stuffed.

With a receipt you are still on shaky ground unless the item is faulty - the shop may be suspicious that you have noticed the reduced price & are going to re-purchase after getting your refund.

[Retrochic]

This happened to me. I recently bought a dress from sainsbury's. I did not have time to try on -when I got it home it was too big - I took it back the following week unworn with receipt in bag and was told they had discounted the dress 25% and I was only allowed a refund of this amount or a credit note for the full amount . I was livid and asked to speak to the manager but he would not budge -I am sure its against the Law but for the £10 difference could not be bothered to take it further.

[hc4361]

It's not against the law, Retrochic.
The decision to offer refunds in those circumstances is entirely up to the store. Legally they can refuse a refund, credit note or exchange unless the item is faulty, not as described or not fit for purpose.

Not fitting you is not a reason under this law.

[Retrochic]

Thats disgraceful. I have an Ebay shop and as a business customer I have to accept returns within 14 days of purchase and issue full refunds for whatever reason. I do the same in my retail outlet.

If this happens again I will just have to unpick the zip or something (joke) ;-)

[bhg481]

If they have facilities for you to try-on the garment but don't bother then I think you lose the right to return it if it doesn't fit. If you can't try it on then I think you are entitled to a refund/exchange.

[Buenchico]

As has been stated, no shop is ever obliged to offer any form of refund on non-faulty goods (unless they were found to be 'not as described'); any refund they give is entirely discretionary. (Different rules apply to 'distance selling' but they're not relevant here).

If a shop does decide to offer a refund it would be ridiculous to expect them to lose money by doing so. For example, if you buy something for £20 then that's £20 that they've got in their till. If you then return it, and the price has stayed the same, they can again offer it for sale and eventually get someone else's £20 in their till.

However if the price has gone down to £15, and they give you £20 back, then (when they sell it again) they'll only have £15 in their till (instead of £20) meaning that doing you a favour has cost them £5. No business can afford to operate that way!

[hc4361]

Retrochic, that is because as an eBay seller you are bound by the Consumer Contract Regs which states that goods bought online, by post or telephone can be returned for any reason within a set time and MUST be refunded in full.

If you had bought the dress from Sainsbury's online you could have returned it for a full refund.

[andy-hughes]

I had a similar experience - I returned a shirt to Sainsbury's because I had not spotted that it didn't have a breast pocket, which I like to have.

In the mean time, it had been reduced from £25 to £6.50, but because I didn't have my receipt, I had to accept the 'current' price for my refund.

[hc4361]

That would have been the same with a receipt, Andy. They usually offer exchange or credit note for the full value, though.

[MargoTester]

Well in that case I think I would have kept the shirt and done without the pocket!

[Retrochic]

Buenchico -that's a very simplistic view of retail selling! I buy a dress for £100 on a card -they have no money 'in the till' as yet. Of that £100 probably £85 is gross profit (cost to purchase wholesale £15) and perhaps £45 net profit. They reduce the item by 25% to £75 - if they refunded me the full amount they took from my card, then they are losing nothing but potential profit, which they have decided to do anyway by reducing the garmet price. Technically they are not losing any wholesale cost.

[cassa333]

Dependant on the terms, such as refunds with vouchers or exchange etc if you have the receipt they should refund the amount on the recipt not the current price in the shop. If they did that then we should also be able to take sale items back when the price has gone up again and get a refund of the higher amount!!!

[cassa333]

I always thought that there was a different rule if you were buying clothes and there was no changing room to try it before you buy?