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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Refund AIBU

133 replies

Yousillything · 06/01/2022 23:51

So I made a purchase before Christmas from a large online retailer. When I received it, I knew straight away it wasn’t right, so I returned it the same day with a view to getting a refund.

I knew it could take a week, plus Christmas so I left it until today to chase the refund. They claim they refunded me, and yet it definitely hadn’t reached my bank.

Just found out that they had refunded me in the form of a ‘gift card’. I’m both confused and annoyed. I never paid them with a gift card, and could totally understand that if I’d originally paid using a gift voucher, but I didn’t and this is a massive company that does very well for itself.

I asked for it to be transferred back into my bank, and they had said it’s not possible and that it can be used against my next purchase. Tbh I’m fuming as I wasn’t aware they could just use your refund as a sort of voucher retainer system. AIBU?

OP posts:
NewYearNewMeFeckthatshit · 07/01/2022 12:21

@Yousillything

YANBU. Of course it’s bloody sneaky, that’s the way it’s been designed. 🤦🏻‍♀️

They should not have a default option already ticked but require the customer to actively choose which box.

Keep pursuing it with them, and don’t it go. Amazon are bastards but if you keep pushing it, they will back down eventually. I had a similar issue where they refunded the gift giver by mistake, (THEIR ERROR) and I gave them hell until they refunded me fully.

slashlover · 07/01/2022 12:25

Why do people say had the same/a similar issue and then post about something completely different?

NewYearNewMeFeckthatshit · 07/01/2022 12:41

@slashlover

Why do people say had the same/a similar issue and then post about something completely different?
Why? Presumably because it’s the same retailer that the issue is with? 🤷🏻‍♀️

Or must you only post if the issue you have had is 100% identical?

Sorry, I must have missed reading that particular posting rule. Hmm

SoupDragon · 07/01/2022 12:49

Or must you only post if the issue you have had is 100% identical?

Well, maybe don't claim it's the same when it isn't 🤷🏻‍♀️

melj1213 · 07/01/2022 12:57

[quote MapleMay11]**@SoupDragon No, I was given a credit with no choice and told the return had been 'processed' so there was 'nothing they could do' to try to avoid refunding me. The amount was actually around £1,200 but that's irrelevant.[/quote]
The key word here is choice ... you were given no choice, the OP was given a choice and chose the wrong thing because she didn't pay enough attention to the process - that is not Amazon's fault.

slashlover · 07/01/2022 13:03

Why?
Presumably because it’s the same retailer that the issue is with? 🤷🏻‍♀️

Or must you only post if the issue you have had is 100% identical?

Sorry, I must have missed reading that particular posting rule. Hmm

I had a similar issue vs I had an issue with Amazon too.

NewYearNewMeFeckthatshit · 07/01/2022 13:24

@slashlover @SoupDragon

I said I had a similar issue with Amazon. Similar in this case meaning an issue getting a refund out of them after they had issued the refund wrongly, which is what happened with the OP.

Collins Dictionary definition

Similar
(sɪmɪləʳ )
ADJECTIVE
If one thing is similar to another, or if two things are similar, they have features that are the same.

I think you are confusing the word ‘Similar’ with ‘Identical’.

slashlover · 07/01/2022 13:29

Weird that you automatically assumed the original reply was about you and not the PP though.

Also, your issue was apparently their error, OPs issue was user error.

SoupDragon · 07/01/2022 13:32

I think you are confusing the word ‘Similar’ with ‘Identical’.

No. If you didn't call it "the same" then I'm clearly not referring to you, I'm referring to the poster who said they had "the same" scenario.

melj1213 · 07/01/2022 14:04

I said I had a similar issue with Amazon. Similar in this case meaning an issue getting a refund out of them after they had issued the refund wrongly, which is what happened with the OP

But that isn't what happened with the OP.

In your case, the online retailer wrongly refunded your money as credit without giving you the option of a cash refund.

In the OPs case, the online retailer correctly refunded the OPs money as credit, because she was given the option of credit or a refund to her card and, in her haste, chose a credit refund. The option was provided, the OP just didn't take it because of her own oversight. Amazon are not then obliged to fix the OPs mistake.

DontTellThemYourNamePike · 07/01/2022 14:26

I got credit instead of a proper refund from Amazon last time I sent something back. I didn't even know they had done this until I ordered a Kindle for my son and the purchase came up as £35 instead of over £100. It worked out ok for me but I did say to DP - what if I hadn't bought a Kindle and had been waiting for that refund so that I could buy something elsewhere? I was surprised because Amazon have usually been pretty decent for refunds.

DontTellThemYourNamePike · 07/01/2022 14:29

Ha! Didn't RTFT. I probably didn't tick the right box. But it has never happened before. Maybe I was drunk!

BoredZelda · 07/01/2022 16:58

It’s not hidden at all.

And the Prime thing was an auto renewal after a free trial. Everyone who was auto renewed has signed up for the free trial. It’s not an uncommon business practice.

There are lots of reasons to want to avoid Amazon, but having standard business practices isn’t one of them.

CorrBlimeyGG · 07/01/2022 17:02

Ha! Didn't RTFT. I probably didn't tick the right box. But it has never happened before. Maybe I was drunk!

You'll have also had two emails, one confirming you've started the return process, and the other stating the refund has been complete. Both state the method of refund.

Few of us read things properly anymore.

Thisseatisnotavailable · 07/01/2022 18:08

I originally put YANBU, but have now changed it to YABU after seeing that you clicked to accept the gift card.

Redarrow2017 · 07/01/2022 18:25

This reply has been withdrawn

Message from MNHQ: This post has been withdrawn

SagittariusDwarf · 07/01/2022 18:32

It's not sneaky. The options are clear. You didn't read them properly/at all.

DontTellThemYourNamePike · 07/01/2022 18:45

@CorrBlimeyGG Just checked my account/emails and, according to Amazon, they were supposed to refund to my payment card.

But I am definitely guilty of not reading things properlyGrin

Original poster
Yousillything · 07/01/2022 19:01

Wow, go away for a day and the responses pile up. In my defence the box was already checked, so you could argue they were waiting for me and several thousand people to slip up in their haste and make a human error. I wonder how much custom they retain that way?

OP posts:
Original poster
Yousillything · 07/01/2022 19:05

I didn’t click to accept the option BTW that is an automated option that you have to opt out of. Forms can be constructed where you have to check a box option or you can’t move on. Clearly this has been set up for you to move on without having to click. It’s definitely sneaky and most people probably don’t care, but I just happen to think they set this up in their favour

OP posts:
Itsalmostanaccessory · 07/01/2022 19:18

@Yousillything

I didn’t click to accept the option BTW that is an automated option that you have to opt out of. Forms can be constructed where you have to check a box option or you can’t move on. Clearly this has been set up for you to move on without having to click. It’s definitely sneaky and most people probably don’t care, but I just happen to think they set this up in their favour
So you went through clicking on confirm without reading what you were agreeing to then?

I never feel sorry for anyone who gets stuck in a subscription or gets the wrong thing because they just click agree to anything without reading it.

All you had to do was read what you were agreeing to. It is very clearly laid out. A list of options with a question asking how you want to receive your refund and then you click through to the next step. You cannot get to the end without seeing this very very simple multiple choice. You didnt bother to read it. Get over it.

Itsalmostanaccessory · 07/01/2022 19:20

@Redarrow2017

You are wrong.

Online orders are entitled to a full refund for any reason. It does not need to be fault. Read the thread. This has been exhaustively explained.

The issue here is that the OP actually asked for it to be refunded as credit into her account so that's what Amazon did and now she has changed her mind.

Tevion28 · 07/01/2022 19:36

My understanding is retailer's don't have to refund your money unless the item is faulty.

EarringsandLipstick · 07/01/2022 21:11

@Yousillything

I didn’t click to accept the option BTW that is an automated option that you have to opt out of. Forms can be constructed where you have to check a box option or you can’t move on. Clearly this has been set up for you to move on without having to click. It’s definitely sneaky and most people probably don’t care, but I just happen to think they set this up in their favour
Wow. You really know how to double-down OP!

The information was right in front of you. You had to read it before moving on, and then you'd have seen the options available to you.

You didn't read it. Then the consequence is you didn't get the refund in the form you wanted.

That's on you. Not Amazon.

EarringsandLipstick · 07/01/2022 21:12

@Tevion28

My understanding is retailer's don't have to refund your money unless the item is faulty.
As has been pointed out earlier, that's wrong. There are different entitlements with online orders.