To think House of Fraser’s refund policy is another nail in their coffin

[Bearbehind]

I bought several expensive and heavy items online with the intention of choosing 1 and taking the others back to my local store for a refund

Turns out you can only exchange or get a credit note in store

If you want your money back you have to post it back at your own cost

Given the weight and value, I’m nearly £30 down for the pleasure.

Surely they can’t afford to piss customers off by refusing to refund in store - what difference does it make to them?

Very expensive lesson learned!

I will never buy from them again

Not sure if your point curious - you’ve even highlighted the fact the customer is entitled to a refund.

If they ask for it the retailer has to give it

@gemimapuddle
I went into HoF to buy a specific coat, but they didn't have my size. They could not order one for me in store but said the procedure was for me to go home and order it Click and Collect. I avoid internet shopping and although a regular HoF customer had never used that service before.
When the coat showed up, it did not fit (usual brand, usual size). Long story short, I had to post it back and pay the postage to get my money back.

I'm never going there again. I'd rather spend a day travelling to the next city and doing my shopping.

Curious those costs will be offset by not having to run so many bricks and mortar stores, with all the staff costs, rent, rates etc.

You aren't reading that right! Try it again!

You are returning unwanted items ...

If they ask for it the retailer has to give it Where does it say that???

Tolleshunt I am not sure that was the conclusion of the research!

I agree with you OP. I often buy clothes online and while I keep many of them I sometimes have to take or send things back. If I had to pay to do that I would stop ordering from that particular shop. The posters asking why House of Fraser should take things back in store are missing the point. They can't compete if other online retailers and shops take things back a free and they don't unless they're cheaper. The Sports Direct model may work because it is cheap shop but House of Fraser is not.

curious please don’t patronise me with your ‘try it again’

Please find me 1 retailer who states that they will not give refund on online sales within 14 days

Unless the items is made to order then they are legally not allowed to refuse a refund, whatever the reason

And it’s a practice that is very expensive for these stores and cutting into their margins enormously.

They need to either factor it into their margins or sell stuff more cheaply then. Otherwise there is no point in selling things online.

I don’t know who did that research to see how reputable they are, but at first blush it seems they are not comparing all costs, just picking out those involved in returns to store?

It’s undeniably the case that running an out of town warehouse on an industrial estate is way cheaper than running a shop on a high street. While we shop both in store and online I can see costs may increase for retailers, but they will need to adapt. Unfortunately it is the case that customers will shop where it is cheaper and more convenient and avoid those stores that make it harder/more expensive.

Because if you take them back to a store where they don't stock that item they need to send it back to the warehouse. It's people who over order with the intent on returning most of it (sometimes after wearing !) which pushes up prices for the rest of us and is causing shops to go out of business. Why would you buy straight away more than you plan on keeping? Just don't get it . If you want to browse go to a shop

Wouldn't it just be better to have a warehouse of stuff instead of an actual store then?
Noone actually buys from shops anymore when you can get it delivered to your house and have a few sizes to try.
I've been saying this for a while just have store fronts where you can pick up/return your order. No need to excess stock.

Why would you buy straight away more than you plan on keeping? Just don't get it . If you want to browse go to a shop

I sometimes have to buy two sizes because thanks to vanity sizing I'm never quite sure what size I will be. Whilst I am pretty good at working out whether something will suit me when I see it online sometimes I get it wrong and need to take it back. House of Fraser don't sell anything you can't get elsewhere so why buy it from there when retailers selling the same clothes will let you send it back for free?

If you want to browse go to a shop

As has been stated on here many times, the stores simply don’t stock the range that is available on line

There are entire brands which aren’t even in most HOF stores

If you'd just bought them in a shop in the first place, you would have supported your high street, known which one you wanted, and not bought things you didn't want.

Oops, x-post! 🤦🏻‍♀️

Noone actually buys from shops anymore when you can get it delivered to your house and have a few sizes to try.

Some people prefer to try on clothes in store.

curious please don’t patronise me with your ‘try it again’ Then read what is written, rather than what you want to be written.

Please find me 1 retailer who states that they will not give refund on online sales within 14 days Well, you found one, HoF. They won't offer a refund, they will offer a voucher or credit note

Unless the items is made to order then they are legally not allowed to refuse a refund, whatever the reason That is not what the Consumer Contract Regs say, they cover faulty goods, as per the WHICH information.

If you are still going by the Distance Selling Regs then you are reading the wrong documents. They were superseded in 2013

www.which.co.uk/consumer-rights/advice/i-want-to-return-something-bought-online

curious you are completely incorrect, as proven by your HOF example.

If you order online and return it back to the warehouse, they HAVE to give you a refund, whatever the reason.

Even HOF have had to concede to that part of the regulations

I don’t know who did that research to see how reputable they are, but at first blush it seems they are not comparing all costs, just picking out those involved in returns to store? Yes. That was the information I wanted to find. Online stores and the costs of returns. As the HoF online business has been separated from its bricks and mortae shops!

It was a questionnaire to 100 EU online shops. Not rocket scince, a snapshot of 100 online retailers. It shows that online returns do add financial burden to the retailer? Which is hardly rocket science!

@Bearbehind You had best get on to WHICH and let them know that they are incorrect then!

HoF may have cnceded as it is good business rather than a legal obligation. Unless WHICH is utterly wrong.

Again, I suggest that you take it up with them.

Well, you found one, HoF. They won't offer a refund, they will offer a voucher or credit note

The link you provided states "Additionally, if you are returning your online order up to or within the 14 days from the day you received your goods, under the Consumer Contracts Regulations you can ask for a refund rather than a credit note."

House of Fraser do have to refund rather than give a credit note if you post it back to them.

Yes, ask it doesn't say they have to comply (I can't find any more on that) HoF don't offer a refund they offer a voucher or credit

I'm just quoting WHICH! They are usually right on such stuff, being who they are.

curious I prefer to take my information from the actual regulation rather than interpreting what Which says about it

Like I said, the fact that no retailer states they don’t offer a refund if you return to their warehouse (unless it’s made to order), should be sufficient evidence that you are interpreting this incorrectly

I'd of used Hermes to return probably cost about 4.95 for over 2kg.

Also I've found that if an item purchased online is faulty / damaged in delivery they have to pay for the return, so not going to help with multiple items. But you could find a fault like poor stitching and get a free returned label from them. This is sometimes hard work dealing with their customer services. Obviously don't damage anything on purpose.

Consumer Contracts Regulations

Cancelling goods and services

The Consumer Contracts Regulations also give you key cancellation rights when you enter into contracts at a distance over the phone, online, from a catalogue or face-to-face with someone who has visited your home, for instance.

These cancellation rights are more generous than if you bought goods or services from a high street shop. For details on your rights when you buy from a high street shop, read our guide to the Consumer Rights Act.

Your right to cancel

Your right to cancel an order for goods starts the moment you place your order and ends 14 days from the day you receive your goods.

If your order consists of multiple goods, the 14 day period runs from when you get the last of the batch.

This 14 day period is the time you have to decide whether to cancel, you then have a further 14 days to actually send the goods back.

Your right to a refund

You should get a refund within 14 days of either the trader getting the goods back, or you providing evidence of having returned the goods (for example, a proof of postage receipt from the post office), whichever is the sooner.

If the retailer has offered to collect the goods, it should refund you 14 days from the date you informed it you wanted to cancel the contract. So, this means you don't have to wait for the retailer to have collected the goods to get your refund.

A deduction can be made if the value of the goods has been reduced as a result of you handling the goods more than was necessary.

The extent to which you can handle the goods is the same as it would be if you were assessing them in a shop.

From Which