To be frustrated by the length of time online retailers are taking to refund

[inmylifeIlovedthemall]

Am becoming very frustrated by the length of time online retailers are taking to refund for returned goods.

Am I alone in this?

In the last six weeks my refunds have taken;
Jigsaw - 18 working days
M & S - 13 working days
John Lewis - 16 working days

However, the prize goes to The White Company who 27 working days after collecting a parcel from me using Hermes (faulty goods) have just told me the parcel, has not arrived and I won’t be credited.

This is the third time I have had issues with the White Company and i won’t be using them again,

I am fed up with companies blaming CV for long winded returns and am wondering if we need to start naming and shaming these companies into improving their customer service when it comes to refunds.

This is not watchdog.

I work for a big retailer. It's frustrating, but in order to comply with social distancing there are less staff and things are taking longer now. (A lot of retailers still have furloughed staff so whilst that might not make you feel better, its still an explanation!)

If things were as quick as normal, it's likely because they're breaking rules at work, which no one wants to do.

Rest assured you will always be refunded.

Remember that if you go to a store, you will be refunded instantly. (If you're happy to go to a store that is l)

And no idea why you would want to shame. What is your line of work, as I can guarantee you I will be able to come up with something your industry is doing wrong right now

Yet Amazon refund instantly as soon as return label is scanned.
JD Sports told me to expect up to 28 days to process return and a potential further 14 for refund, oddly enough within 24 hrs of complaining they miraculously processed my parcel and refunded my £70!

Uniqlo took an age to confirm they had an item. I used a Hermes label they provided to do the return and their tracking for that stops at the point the item is collected from you. They finally confirmed receipt and refund on the same day over 5 weeks after it was returned. I understand the need for social distancing and quarantined items but to not actually confirm that items have been received back is poor

It took us 2 months to get a refund from Currys due to them suddenly not being able to supply a cooker we ordered. It was £2400 which was a nuisance - put off buying high value things from them now.

Iv had 2 companies not refund me at all.

One was 6 weeks later when I noticed it and the other was 4 weeks later when I noticed.

Once I contacted them the money was in my account within 3 days. Bloody cheek.

Did you not have a receipt for the white company return?

Yes, I do have a receipt but as ‘councilworker’ has confirmed the Hermes receipt only allows tracking to the point where the parcel was collected. It does not track delivery.

Thanks kittenpeak that is a useful explanation.

I am not currently able to get to store for The White Company and Jigsaw but my on-line experiences of the last few months have probably ensured I will no longer buy from them anyway.

Some companies are getting it really right in terms of on-line retailing and I guess it is those that will still be around in 10 years time.

Similar experience here with an average of 2 weeks for items to be processed then a further 3-5 days to receive a refund.

Returned a package to Boden just over 2 weeks ago that hasn’t been processed yet BUT they’ve processed a refund for me now anyway so presume they must be in receipt of the package and good customer service from them (as always).

This is why I am buying from Amazon mostly. Fast and no quibble.

Off to check out Boden TheGlitterFairy. I have never bought from them before but may now!!

I agree op. If they haven’t got the staff to deal with sending out goods and inevitable returns then stop selling so much.
Funnily enough they always have staff and systems available to take your money.
Here’s looking at you QVC who took three months to refund and when I finally got through to customer services on my 37th attempt told me I was unreasonable it was due to Covid.
Phew thanks for letting me get that off my chest

@Fairyliz

I agree op. If they haven’t got the staff to deal with sending out goods and inevitable returns then stop selling so much. Funnily enough they always have staff and systems available to take your money. Here’s looking at you QVC who took three months to refund and when I finally got through to customer services on my 37th attempt told me I was unreasonable it was due to Covid. Phew thanks for letting me get that off my chest

That's because it's easier to take money than to give it back. Not psychologically but physically.

If you pay me for an item, I have to print your order slip and send you the item.

If I have to refund you, I have to: check you're eligible for a return, check that you have the receipt and I'm giving money to the right person, arrange the return, check that the item is received, check the condition the item is received in, then arrange a bank payment which may need authorising by more than one person.

Consider how long it takes to buy something in a shop. Now consider how much longer it takes for a refund to be processed in the shop. Most of us will have taken items back at some point. It takes several times longer.

@Lockheart
But surely companies have some idea what percentage of orders are returned on average?
If you can normally cope with 1000 orders a day but only half your staff are working, only accept 500 orders then you will only have half as many returns to deal with.
You don’t need to be Einstein to work that one out. Are you really saying that it is acceptable to wait three months for a refund?
I certainly don’t think so and I won’t be using companies that do this again.