to think Boden should just exchange my jumper.

[ToastyFingers]

I bought a jumper for dd2 a few months ago in the sale but it didn't fit so I popped it in the back of the wardrobe until she'd grown a bit.
It now fits and she wore it earlier this week and I washed it today.
After one wash, on 30 degrees, with non-bio and no tumble drying it has pretty much fallen apart, the furry lining has bunched up and lost all its plushness and the sleeves are all droopy and mis-shapen. Dd1 has a jumper from them, in the same style, which has been worn for over a year and looks better than this one, it was also washed at the same time and didn't end up like this one, so I know it's not my machine iyswim.

I complained this morning, as I think there must be something wrong with the jumper to deteriorate so badly after one wash, and asked if I could exchange it for another one.

I got a reply saying as the particular one was no longer in stock it couldn't be exchange, and they had processed my refund, 5.60 pound of which was returned to my card, and 12 pound given in the form of an account credit and that I was expected to return the jumper to them.

I didn't want a refund, at no point did I say that. The amount the have refunded me isn't enough to purchase a replacement, which I feel I am entitled to, as the original didn't last one wash! And to add insult to injury, they've told me if I don't want a refund then I can keep the damaged jumper, and they will charge my debit card £17.60!

Aibu to think this has been handled really badly, and they should just send me a replacement jumper (they have the exact same one for sale now, just in a different pattern), or should I just suck it up and accept that I'm going to be £12 pound worse off either way, thanks to their shoddy jumper.

So despite being faulty and falling apart it's worth £17.60? When you could use a 20% off code and pay @£6 more for a new one? How weird.
Did you just want the new season one offered?

How odd to keep the old one.

This is all very odd - they should have confirmed that the refund was OK before processing it, but they didn't really have many other options

This thread is loopy

It'll be in the conditions of the sale, that you only get a refund of what you paid. Which is perfectly reasonable.

You're actually lucky they're prepared to refund you at all, seeing as it's been several months. They only have your word that this was the first time you washed it.

They should have asked you to return the faulty item for a full refund and the reufnd should have been gven in the same way that you purchased it. It wasn't fit for purpose end of.
And no, they were not obliged in any way to give you a replacement that was dearer.

Maybe the heat has melted my brain but i dont get it.

This is one of the most bizarre things I've ever read.

Was the jumper reduced further in the sale after you purchased it? Could explain the credit rather than full refund.
Of course they want the jumper back. They will use it to see what has gone wrong in the manufacturing chain in order to get money back of them.
This is why working in retail is rubbish.
People are completely unreasonable.

OP, I don't think YABU. I'm not sure what the other people on this thread aren't getting, if I'm honest.

Boden has a 365 days return policy for goods. I returned something 9 months after buying it- it was unworn and they refunded me.
The normal return time is 3 months but they will also accept anything up to a year.

See here
"We operate a no quibble returns policy and if you return an item within 3 months of receipt, we'll give you back the amount you paid for the item (see postage and packing cost terms) or offer an exchange, whichever you prefer, no questions asked.

Just send the item back to us or return to one of our shops with your receipt and, depending on your preferences and stock levels, we'll either exchange it or give you a full refund.

If you are sending your order back to us, please fill in and enclose the form attached to your delivery note. You can (if you like) let us know that you are going to send back the item by filling in and sending us the form at www.boden.co.uk/cancellationform, but it is not necessary to do so.

After this period, until the first anniversary of your order arriving, you can still return anything that does not meet your naturally high quality expectations (things like wear and tear are included, though garments that have been mauled by pets, drawn on by nephews, worn while decorating and so forth, don't qualify and we can only accept swimwear if the hygiene strip is still in place).

So if you're not happy, we will give you account credit for the amount you paid for that item. Almost all of you are lovely people and will see this as us being helpful and confident about how well made our clothes are, but there will be a few rotten apples who might look on this as an opportunity to refresh their wardrobe for free each season (you know who you are).

__

With goods that are faulty you can return at any time and they will refund what you paid and you return the item.

Their prices in the sale as very much linked to colours- so a jumper can be £10 in a shitty colour on sale and £50 for a nice colour.

They are excellent usually. If you buy an item at £50 and then you return when it's on sale, for £20, they will refund your £50.

M&S will only refund what the current sale price is.

So you are happy to keep the faulty jumper?

So really you were just trying it on to blag a £30 brand new jumper but now you have been caught out.

got a reply saying as the particular one was no longer in stock it couldn't be exchange, and they had processed my refund, 5.60 pound of which was returned to my card, and 12 pound given in the form of an account credit and that I was expected to return the jumper to them.

This only happens if you have paid for the item with a gift card or with existing credit in your account. So...if you had credit in your account to the tune of £12 they would put it back as credit to your account. It's like if you buy something with a gift voucher in a shop and return it- they won't always give you cash as a refund.

There is no other reason why they would split a refund between credit on your credit card and credit to your Boden account.

One of the worst phrases in retail parlance is "hygiene strip" - urgh!

@ProfessorMoody

OP, I don't think YABU. I'm not sure what the other people on this thread aren't getting, if I'm honest.

^What are you talking about? Have you even read the thread?

When clothing items go on sale, they generally are sold through and not replaced, or if they are replaced the new version may have slight differences so it’s not quite the same item. Therefore I’m not quite surprised that they don’t have any more stock left. You said it yourself, you purchased it a few months ago which is quite a while in the retail world, so any remaining stock would have been sold through by now. It’s an old line so you can’t necessarily have a replacement.

Also the law states that a retailer can offer a refund, replacement or repair for faulty items - you can’t demand which one.

And to be honest, it really sounds like it IS your washing machine or washing technique that ruined the garment. Did you follow the washing instructions of this specific jumper, or did you just assume it would be same as the other jumper? I used to work in fashion retail when I was at uni - the amount of customers that would throw their products in a random, generalised wash/tumble dryer cycle which damaged their garments, and then expect a refund as the product was ‘faulty’ was insane. The reality is that the customer made a mistake when washing the garment and so the retailer isn’t responsible.

“Oi! This jumper is faulty!!”
“Very sorry Madam, here’s your money back.”
“No! I don’t want it! I want this more expensive thing instead”
“Very sorry Madam, that’s not how retail works”
“Then I want to keep my faulty jumper!”
“Okaaaay then.”

The Boden no quibble return policy excludes sales items where they have to be returned in a much shorter time period, I think it’s either 7 or 14 days. After than time you can return but only for a credit note. Seems the problem here is the length taken to query plus a question over whether the goods were really faulty.

I would have pushed for a refund of what you paid and returned the jumper. I had a similar issue with Joules although it was only a month or so since I had bought it. They had reduced the dress and wanted to refund me the sale price on a gift card when I had paid full price! I asked for a manager and they quickly sorted it out for me.

Unless OP's in south New Zealand or somewhere, I'm sweating at the mere thought of wearing a jumper with a furry lining in August.

The Boden no quibble return policy excludes sales items where they have to be returned in a much shorter time period, I think it’s either 7 or 14 days.

maybe read my post a few posts down? I have copied and pasted from Boden.

Fair wear and tear is valid for 365 days irrespective of whether it's sale or no sale. Not fit for purpose- ie falling apart- would be refunded up to a year.

The issue is the split credit card refund/ credit to account. That's the puzzling bit.

@Toasty I think you are confusing us or yourself. Why would you pay twice? You paid £17.60 for it. Why would they take the same again if you keep it?

I think your problem is you aren't very good at explaining what they said.

b) if I don't want to return the jumper they'll take £17.50 from my debit card, which is £12 more than they refunded to my card THIS DOES NOT MAKE ANY SENSE AT ALL..

I dont understand why they gave you credit? If its dodgy they should refund how you paid?
Why are you not returning it?

Why would your daughter have worn a jumper recently? misses point of thread

Marks and Spencer's will refund the actual paid amount rather than the currently in-the - sale as long as you have the original receipt. But it's the current selling price if you don't.