Aibu to think Dunelm are unreasonable?

[LadyGodHelpUs]

On Saturday I bought £217 worth of stuff from Dunelm. I paid £40 using a gift card given to me as a Christmas present. The rest I paid by card.

Today I returned £97 worth of things. They insisted that £40 had to go back on the gift card.

I wasn’t made aware of this or I would have carried out separate transactions. I didn’t sign anything and it didn’t mention this on the back of the receipt where it said refunds would be no problem within the set time period.

AIBU that this is unfair practice?

Sorry I mean choose to be refunded for the whole lot* not redeemed. Up to the value of £40. If it falls below that she’d have to take store credit/another gift card.

This is the most infuriating thread ever.

oh deary me. She got the £40 gift card back. Presumably she didn’t get herself the gift card did she? She’s not actually down on any money. Dear god yourself.

It doesn’t matter because the point is she’s not actually lost £40 has she?

If you pay by gift card the usual default is the refund by gift card. I’m not defending it and I agree OP should’ve got cash but to say they’ve swindled her out of £80 as the poster I was replying to is trying to do is just daft and shows how out of touch half of the people on here are with reality. A lot of posters seem to live in a dream land where those big stores and chains are your friends and must do everything to appease. They’re not! They are there to make money.

Agreed 🙈 I don’t know if people are being deliberately obtuse at this point.

my above message was in response to this

No but her friend or relative bought the card, committing to a £40 spend at the shop. That £40 was spent at the shop. Dunelm shouldn't be issuing another gift card requiring another £40 spend at their shop. It makes no sense. As said in probably the third post in this thread the op is totally within her rights to return everything and she will have her cash back and 40 gift card to spend in the shop so she will be better off (and the shop will have lost nothing - apart from a happy customer and the various additional sales they made.

Of course it makes sense, they want money to spent there at dunelm 🙂 They know most customers would just accept it and not scream ITS ILLEGAL since, luckily, MN doesn’t reflect the real world a lot of the time. It’s not illegal to start with.

Of course the OP can return all her stuff, no one is stopping her 😂 that’s just a moot point to be honest.

If there’s nothing wrong with an item shops don’t even have to accept a return. Maybe some people should try researching things before kicking up a fuss

Dunelm have their own refund policy which clearly states Please note that all refunds will be made to the original payment method. - so if it was part paid for originally on the gift card they’re within their rights to refund it in part on the gift card.

Again, I agree the OP should be able to get cash but like a lot of things - that’s life.

Which part of that link is relevant here?

Many people commenting don't understand your point, how frustrating. Do they offer cash refunds or only credit notes? If it's the former the things you returned pertained to the money element of the transaction so should be refunded likewise. You are right to find this a very unfair practice.

The part that explains refunds for items you’ve changed your mind for. Since some users want to cry that what dunelm did is illegal or better still immoral

If you’ve changed your mind

In store

If you’ve bought something in a shop but got home and changed your mind, you’re not automatically guaranteed to get a refund.

Retailers each have their own policy on unwanted goods. Some give a full refund and others might just offer an exchange or gift voucher, but these are both goodwill gestures - legally they don’t even have to do that.

It really is. The number of posters who are doubling down on their miscomprehension is astonishing.

@ABBAsnumberonefan

I haven't seen a single poster on this thread say they have a statutory right to a refund if they change their mind about something they've bought in person.

If you look back at page 32064 of this thread the point is made that each retailer makes their own policy and makes it known in their shop and online. And then they stick to it. That's not in question here as, either way, Dunelm will be sticking to their own policy.

The point is about the method of refund and the logic of it. But if you don't see that logic then there's no point going over it again.

Is there a support group I can join to process the feelings I about this thread?

Can I join the support group?
ABBA you’re responding to different points each time. Someone shows you the working and then you respond ‘but they don’t have to give a refund’ ‘but retailers are going to do that aren’t they’ ‘but she still has the £40 gift card’ and tbh you’re being quite tetchy

I'm setting one up. But there's an admission price and it's only payable with a giftcard. No refunds available because they're illegal.

Could you show me where she called her a bitch and a twat, I’ve searched and can’t see it anywhere. She also didn’t threaten that she wanted to kick sand, she asked who kicked sand? But I think you’ve made the bitch and twat part up to fit your argument so… 😉

Crazy how angry some of you get over stuff that isn’t even important 😂 Calm TF down 😂

@Dailydripfed

The comment has been deleted now (just checked, it was at 12:58), probably because she called another poster a bitch and a twat. 🙄🙄🙄

Take something else back work £40 get the money back on the card then buy it back with the voucher

Sounds like poor staff training tbh. That won’t actually be the policy. It’s just a slightly unusual situation, and the cashier won’t have the flexibility to do anything else / manager doesn’t have the sense they were born with.

wow what a frustrating thread.

I've learned something OP. So for next time it would be well worth splitting transactions into gift card (pref stuff you know you'll keep) and the rest.

All the more reason to give cash as presents, rather than gift cards.

Darthwazette · 09/01/2023 14:24

I’d have returned the lot and repurchased what I wanted.

Me too

I would have also done this

Hmmm. I don’t know if your comprehension skills are up to much either.

Return and refund don’t mean the same thing.

OP couldn’t have read all the terms and conditions- as their policy is online. Although she knew returns were possible, she found out to her detriment that refunds are to the original payment method.

This stores particular policy around mixed payment is that the money goes back on the gift card first.

It is unfortunate for OP, but ultimately it’s her mistake for reading the terms and conditions on the website. Dunelm have themselves covered.

OP wasn’t trying to exploit the situation, but this policy clearly exists to prevent gift cards being exchanged for money.

For example-

You have a £40 gift card for Dunelm but want cash instead. You give it to a friend who is making a large purchase there. That friend intentionally uses the card as part payment, return some items and then gives you £40. Magic! It becomes cash.

They don’t have to offer a refund at all…

From gov.uk website guidance for retailers:

“You do not have to refund a customer if they:

knew an item was faulty when they bought it
damaged an item by trying to repair it themselves or getting someone else to do it (though they may still have the right to a repair, replacement or partial refund)
no longer want an item (for example because it’s the wrong size or colour) unless they bought it without seeing it
You have to offer a refund for certain items only if they’re faulty, such as:

personalised items and custom-made items, for example curtains
perishable items, for example frozen food or flowers
newspapers and magazines
unwrapped CDs, DVDs and computer software”

I’ve marked the relevant line with an asterisk - OP didn’t buy the goods without seeing them…. They’ve refunded the gift card as a goodwill gesture