Request a full refund

[Adventureoflife]

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.

You’re entitled to the original delivery cost back because you’re returning the whole order. I would also refuse to pay the return delivery because you ordered on the understanding it would be sent the same day.

I think maybe this could be reported to the advertising standards authority because they’ve admitted they didn’t do, or have any intention of doing, the service they’re advertising?

Morally I think they should but it really does depend on T&Cs.

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

I’m only speaking as a small retailer, but during busy periods you won’t always get all the orders out to a cut off time. I do have a disclaimer on my site explaining and ask people to message me if something is urgent, but even the likes of Amazon will experience delays when they can’t meet demand, they probably have a system that can give a better delivery time estimate, but it’s not infallible.
To me the time deadline is a guide for customers, that I generally stick to, but mostly it’s to stop people placing orders at 5:30pm and expecting it in their lap the next day.
I would advise messaging the retailer to check and not leave it to the very last minute before ordering.

Exactly this. You could easily explained that the gift hadn’t arrived, maybe leaving out that you didn’t try to get anything until the last minute, then either pop round with it or post it if they are far away. It’s a baby shower so presumably there’s plenty of time before the baby arrives.

Look at section. 28 of the Consumer Rights Act and take it from there. In your situation I'd request a full refund including of the delivery fee and return cost. They didn't deliver when they promised.

You’re entitled to all of the cost back including return delivery fees and your original delivery fee.

You should either be refunded the next day delivery cost and get to keep the item, or you should pay to send it back for a full refund. Even amazon expect you to pay for returns if there’s no fault with the item.

We clearly live in very different worlds, no one I know would think it rude to not be able to hand or a gift on the day because of delivery issues. Imo that's ridiculous, if there's a postal strike are we all expected to go out and buy replacement gifts?

Unles the OP tells everyone she made the order at 12.57, which surely no one would do, whyould anyone thinks her disorganised

And uness the OP is the only guest what difference would it make to have a gift on a later day? Would that really bother you if you were the mum to be?

The last time I checked this, you have to specifically notify them that you are returning in accordance with the Consumer Contract Regulations for this to apply.

If OP does this, then she should get delivery cost refunded.

Unfortunately distance selling regulations cover you and the seller to a certain degree. You are entitled to a refund for your original postage and the item, by notifying the seller in writing that you wish to cancel the contract of sale. You are not however entitled to the return postage to be paid by the seller. You are only entitled to this if the item is faulty. All sellers have 28 days to get your parcel to you, regardless if you paid for for expedite shipping. The seller can claim with their shipper for the parcel not being delivered next day, but that’s if their shipper offers compensation, all shipping times are estimated and are never guaranteed.

Thanks for all your replies.

the reason I didn’t order until then is because I was waiting for my friends husband to confirm it was a gift that she would actually like/use. I didn’t want to spend so much money if it was going to be wasted.

This friend is really good to me and so I thought it rude and a little embarrassing if I turned up empty handed. As a previous poster has said, if she had opened them all on the day it would have been very obvious I was gift-less and didn’t want to then have to publicly explain myself. I was also mad at myself that it was close to the wire as I didn’t speak to her husband until the weekend before so wanted to make sure I had my shit together on the day.

The NDD was via DHL (sorry I said DPD before). I received a confirmation of my order email at 12:58 saying I’d receive a tracking notice upon it being en route. I emailed the seller to politely ask if she could give me an update on the Friday AM as I hadn’t heard anything with regards to a tracking number and she said:

‘Thank you very much for your order and your message.

I'm afraid your order was placed only 3 minutes before 1pm and there was not enough time to dispatch your order that day.

Your order was dispatched on 3rd February with DHL UK next day delivery, tracking number xxxxxxxx’.

When it still didn’t arrive on Monday I emailed again to say that I needed the parcel at the weekend and as it failed to arrive within 2 working days, I would really appreciate being able to return it for a refund and she said:

‘Of course, please see our returns information below:

Please repack the item with care using all the original packaging. As the goods are your responsibility until they reach our warehouse please ensure you package your return to prevent any damage to the items or boxes. This does not affect your statutory rights.

With the exception of faulty and damaged goods we are not responsible for the return postage and we do advise that you obtain a certificate of postage in case the parcel fails to reach us.

Please ensure the item is received by us within 14 days of today's date in order to receive a refund as per the Consumer Contracts Regulations 2014.

Please add a note with your order number and reason for the return (if this information isn't included the return will be put to one side and not processed until that information is provided, causing a delay with the processing of the refund).

The address (in case you no longer have the dispatch note) is:
xxxxxx’

I know I’m being OTT and dramatic saying this but I’m just so tired of nothing being straight forward. I ordered from this site as I prefer to give my money to local businesses (and the bonus of NDD) and not large corporations but the level of customer service sometimes is disappointing. I don’t want to have to twist her arm to cover the cost of the return but equally don’t see why I should be out of pocket for something that turned up on Tuesday when expected on the Friday. Just yet another thing to add to my never ending to do list!

thanks all for your replies

Tell the seller you are cancelling the contract returning in accordance with the consumer contract regulations and you should be refunded the delivery cost.

Refund cost is on you though.

I agree that a 1pm cut off should be 1pm, but it was a gamble ordering at 12.57pm. Yes it’s on them but it was very close to the wire and I’ve been in a similar situation with John Lewis where they couldn’t deliver for the same reason.

I think the 1pm thing goes out the window anyway because the item arrived on Tuesday. If it arrived Saturday or Monday she’d have an argument but it didn’t so she doesn’t.