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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Request a full refund

63 replies

Adventureoflife · 10/02/2023 07:52

bit of a silly one but would like to know if I’m being unreasonable here requesting a full refund for a relatively expensive gift.

I ordered a friend a gift for her baby shower last weekend. Bought it from a website simply because they offered ‘next day delivery if ordered before 1pm’ for &6.95. It was 12:57pm at the time on the Thursday afternoon so didn’t think it’d be a problem as the shower wasn’t until Sunday.

Gift didn’t arrive until Tuesday afternoon. I ended up going shopping on Sunday before the shower to buy something else instead.

AIBU to expect the seller to give me a full refund? They’re expecting me to cover the cost of the return.

OP posts:
PeachyIsThinking · 11/02/2023 20:09

Did the order reach them before 13:00? Sometimes if people buy from husband the order take a short while to clear with payment, can be up to an hour.

Did they send using a dedicated next day delivery service? If so then they did spend that full cost and I’d bday a refund depended on them being able to claim that back from the provider, if not then I think they should definitively refund.

Hankunamatata · 11/02/2023 20:16

Did you get confirmation that the order had been accepted/processed?

FredaFox · 11/02/2023 20:18

I had this with house if Fraser last week, paid for next day delivery 3 weeks ago, Evri confirmed they had it, same day Evri advised it had a delay, house if Fraser wouldn't refund despite me missing both birthdays the items were for , it finally turned up this week, tried to return it and they wanted to charge me £4.99! I eventually got given a discount code to cover my costs, now waiting 14 days for my refund 🙄

Was your order completed by 1257 or were you just starting it then? What time was your order confirmation? Did that confirm delivery for the date you wanted?

1HappyTraveller · 11/02/2023 20:20

They didn’t keep up with their end of the agreement surrounding the sale. They should refund you including all delivery costs - initial and return.

TwoMonthsOff · 11/02/2023 20:22

royal Mail by any chance ?

TheWomanTheyCallJayne · 11/02/2023 20:27

They’re wrong either way as even if your order was too late for the Thursday then ‘next day’ from Friday would be the Monday.

Jellybean23 · 11/02/2023 20:30

In law, if you are returning the whole of the order (ie not keeping one item from the parcel) you are entitled to have a refund of the postage you paid for it's delivery to you. If they don't refund this, you need to remind them of your consumer rights.

5YearsLeft · 11/02/2023 20:47

I’m a bit confused, OP. You say in your second comment:

It wasn’t sent NDD no

So you paid the £6.95, but they didn’t send it NDD? Because even if they sent it Friday, it should have arrived Saturday or Monday. In no way should NDD arrive Tuesday. What is their excuse for not sending it NDD? It’s ridiculous they’re not refunding you.

@Jellybean23 and @TheWomanTheyCallJayne both have good points re: the law protecting your refund and when NDD should arrive.

Moser85 · 11/02/2023 20:48

Did the order reach them before 13:00? Sometimes if people buy from husband the order take a short while to clear with payment, can be up to an hour.

Don't companies make allowances for that though when they decide on the cut off time?

For example if the courier is picking the orders up at 3 or 4pm they set the order cut off for 1pm so that allows time for they payment to clear and everything to get packed up etc.

WaddleAway · 11/02/2023 20:51

Moser85 · 11/02/2023 20:48

Did the order reach them before 13:00? Sometimes if people buy from husband the order take a short while to clear with payment, can be up to an hour.

Don't companies make allowances for that though when they decide on the cut off time?

For example if the courier is picking the orders up at 3 or 4pm they set the order cut off for 1pm so that allows time for they payment to clear and everything to get packed up etc.

Exactly. That’s what I was trying to say above. If they say ‘last orders by 1pm’ then that should be what it means. Not ‘but actually you have to order by 12.45’ or ‘payment has to clear by 1pm’ or ‘order needs to be picked by 1pm’. It says if you order by 1pm you get next day delivery, and they didn’t deliver on that.

plumduck · 11/02/2023 20:54

If you paid the 6.95 and it wasn't sent next day delivery then thats awful

PuddlesPityParty · 11/02/2023 21:01

If you’re returning it - yes
if you’re not - no

Did you go to checkout at 12:57? Or was it processed etc with confirmation email at that time? I think you need to see when the order actually went through

Cocobutt · 11/02/2023 21:15

Did you get an email confirmation?
If so what time was this?

I would ask for a refund if the confirmation email arrived before 1 but I do think doing it 3 minutes before the cut off time was risky as it takes a couple of minutes for the information to get to the store.

EasterIssland · 11/02/2023 21:17

She’s willing to refund you. Just wants you to cover the postage of sending it back. Many companies do this as well

DotAndCarryOne2 · 11/02/2023 21:27

Have ordered online quite a few times from Tu by Sainsburys and have learned the hard way that you don’t order anything for next day delivery because they use Evri as their courier, and they are incapable of honouring a next day delivery commitment - at least where I live. Don’t understand why large retailers use cheap crap couriers as it reflects badly on them when the customer is inevitably let down.

DotAndCarryOne2 · 11/02/2023 21:31

PuddlesPityParty · 11/02/2023 21:01

If you’re returning it - yes
if you’re not - no

Did you go to checkout at 12:57? Or was it processed etc with confirmation email at that time? I think you need to see when the order actually went through

Don’t think it makes a difference whether it’s being returned or not - if the customer pays for next day delivery and the company haven’t used the appropriate service because the cut off time has been passed, then they should refund the difference. Royal Mail are currently taking the pee due to the strikes - warning that services will take longer than normal but quite happy to take payment for a service they can’t honour !!

DotAndCarryOne2 · 11/02/2023 21:33

5YearsLeft · 11/02/2023 20:47

I’m a bit confused, OP. You say in your second comment:

It wasn’t sent NDD no

So you paid the £6.95, but they didn’t send it NDD? Because even if they sent it Friday, it should have arrived Saturday or Monday. In no way should NDD arrive Tuesday. What is their excuse for not sending it NDD? It’s ridiculous they’re not refunding you.

@Jellybean23 and @TheWomanTheyCallJayne both have good points re: the law protecting your refund and when NDD should arrive.

This is what I thought - certainly RM next day delivery if sent on Friday, should be guaranteed to arrive by 1pm Saturday.

DotAndCarryOne2 · 11/02/2023 21:35

Jellybean23 · 11/02/2023 20:30

In law, if you are returning the whole of the order (ie not keeping one item from the parcel) you are entitled to have a refund of the postage you paid for it's delivery to you. If they don't refund this, you need to remind them of your consumer rights.

Wouldn’t have thought keeping one item makes a difference to your statutory rights if you paid for NDD and the company didn’t honour it.

MadeOfSteel · 11/02/2023 21:36

I will the refund of your next day delivery postage fee cover the cost of return postage? Hopefully it'll cancel out the cost so you won't be out of pocket.

Saying that, I'd still ask them to send you a postage paid return label first.

I'm tired of having to contact retailers to request refunds of next day delivery costs. I've had 3 already in the last couple of weeks and need to contact another on Monday. I know it's the couriers/Royal Mail letting us all down, but the retailers are complicit in going for the cheapest delivery services possible.

PuddlesPityParty · 11/02/2023 21:44

DotAndCarryOne2 · 11/02/2023 21:31

Don’t think it makes a difference whether it’s being returned or not - if the customer pays for next day delivery and the company haven’t used the appropriate service because the cut off time has been passed, then they should refund the difference. Royal Mail are currently taking the pee due to the strikes - warning that services will take longer than normal but quite happy to take payment for a service they can’t honour !!

I think asking for the price difference is fine, or they can cover the cost of the return. If the gift was so essential you have to ask why the OP left it so late to order it in the first place to be quite honest. Anything could have gone wrong.

Plus - Usually it’s in T&Cs of a lot of places that the delivery dates are estimated and not guaranteed. Most next day deliveries are also usually classed as 1-2 working days in their description, even if they’re called next day. So the OP needs to check this before they go back to the company. If they do state this in their t&cs then they might be nice and do a goodwill but 🤷‍♀️

PuddlesPityParty · 11/02/2023 21:44

By they I mean the company of course.

DotAndCarryOne2 · 11/02/2023 21:45

FredaFox · 11/02/2023 20:18

I had this with house if Fraser last week, paid for next day delivery 3 weeks ago, Evri confirmed they had it, same day Evri advised it had a delay, house if Fraser wouldn't refund despite me missing both birthdays the items were for , it finally turned up this week, tried to return it and they wanted to charge me £4.99! I eventually got given a discount code to cover my costs, now waiting 14 days for my refund 🙄

Was your order completed by 1257 or were you just starting it then? What time was your order confirmation? Did that confirm delivery for the date you wanted?

I despair of Evri. Customer service means nothing to them - never yet had a next day delivery on time from them. Three parcels missing from before Christmas - three gifts I had to replace. Still not arrived and had to open non receipt cases with the retailers as Evri don’t deal with recipients, only sellers. They send recipients an email just after delivery window has expired, advising that they’ve tried to deliver but you’re not home. This is so the courier gets paid for a delivery attempt that they have actually never made (ring doorbell footage to prove it ). I make a point of finding out which couriers retailers use before buying now. If it’s Evri I don’t touch them with a barge pole. Surprising the big names that use them though - M&S, House of Fraser, John Lewis, Tu at Sainsburys, Next, J D Williams. Can only think that they don’t care about their reputations.

surreygirl1987 · 11/02/2023 21:54

You were 3 mins before the deadline. I don't u derating why people are saying it's iffy etc. They offered a service and have not met it. Of course they should cover the cost of the return. Tell them you'll make a case with Trading Standards if the refund isn't given as they have not provided the service you paid for. Most places fold and refund me when I say that.

GoodChat · 11/02/2023 21:59

You're only entitled to the difference between the next day delivery price and the standard delivery price if they didn't fulfil next day delivery.

If you return the item you get the full cost of the item refunded.

VeggieSalsa · 11/02/2023 22:00

Imtryingnottobother · 10/02/2023 12:19

I don’t understand this. The deadline was 1pm, not 12.57pm. If items ordered at 12.57pm couldn’t be sent that day, they should have had an earlier deadline. It’s the whole point of a deadline… anything sent before it (even at 12.59) meets the deadline. Anything after that doesn’t.

Someone still has to pick the order, leaving till the last minute isn’t a good idea. If you need something quickly, it’s worth messaging the retailer to confirm they are able to meet the deadline, it alerts them to your order - most e commerce sites don’t highlight urgent orders, and it can be easy to miss on a busy day. It also gives you the chance to go elsewhere if they can’t.
Although I think the retailer should have contacted the op to check they still wanted the order, when they saw the NDD option has been chosen.

Yes but I’d assume they do the last check at 13:01 and then pick any remaining orders. Otherwise they should change the website to say 12:30 and not change their processes.

A lot of websites have countdowns to the second of the cut off because the deadline is the deadline, not seconds/minutes before