Sports Direct Refusing Refund

[SwiftyFrisco]

I recently ordered some trainers only worth around £30, but Sports Direct sent the wrong size. Fair enough, these things happen. Sports Direct accepted the error, but before issuing a refund, I was told to return the trainers via Evri using a label supplied by Sports Direct. I did this via the Post Office and have a Certificate of Posting.

Evri's tracking info says they have the parcel, but that it's now lost. Other than an email about it being 'investigated', it's impossible to get any real help from Evri as their customer service all seems automated. So, I assume the parcel is gone for good.

Sports Direct are now refusing the refund and keeping my money, saying that the T&Cs state it is my responsibility to ensure the return gets to them. But I think that's really unfair as they sent the wrong size in the first place, and I did what they asked in using Evri for the return, and obtaining proof of postage. Was I supposed to take them back to the warehouse myself?

The treatment from Sports Direct has been pretty horrid. They keep denying the refund and couldn't care less. It's quite humiliating.

AIBU to keep trying to get the £30 back from them (perhaps via a chargeback which will take some time to submit), or should I just write it off?

I'm not saying it's a negative thing, the law is there and they are entitled to stick to it. It's a valid business decision and I thought, maybe wrongly, that it was commonly known like as you say Ryanair

You know there's not a register no one's checking the voting 😂just click the other one if you feel it's compulsory

I had similar with Joules after they sent me a faulty item. Posted them back using their returns label they went missing in the post. Joules refused to refund. Post office also refused to refund as they said the postcode wasn’t a valid postcode. Joules said it was a valid postcode. Post office continued to say it wasn’t. Never did get my money back.

I’d be getting on X (twitter) and complaining for all to see. Get AI to help you write it succinctly.

Sports Direct are an absolute joke of a company, run by a joke of a man.

If Evri have lost your parcel, can you not claim compensation for the cost of the item?

EVRI customer service is just dire, it's all automated and they really don't care - and as they're the ones who have lost the parcel surely they should be responsible? When i had an issue with them with not receiving something they said they could only deal with the sender - you are the sender and they still aren't interested.

i have also never returned to sports direct

Autocorrect but probably both are correct!

What good will that do, you know SD don't care and won't suddenly change their procedures because of a random tweet. You can't shame them into action

I had a very similar situation with Sports Direct and EVRI recently. I tried to return trainers, EVRI said they had collected them but they hadn’t and so I couldn’t get a refund. I could have paid for a new EVRI delivery but why should I. It wasn’t my problem. And SD don’t let you return online orders to a store. Reaching both was a nightmare but I persevered and threatened SD that I would do a chargeback for the full cost of the trainers which I’d tried to return.

In the end they relented and offered me a new collection at their cost but even dealing with the credit card company was challenging as it wasn’t a case of not receiving the goods.

Good luck. It’s like Ryanair. Fantastic when it goes smoothly. Nightmare when it doesn’t.

Keep citing the Consumer Contract Regulations to them.

The item was not fit for purpose and they are therefore responsible for its return.

Whether they listen is another question though…

Thank you for the various responses and votes – glad to know I'm not BU in wanting my £30 from Sports Direct...! To answer some points:

I can't really deal with Evri as you can't talk to anyone anyway. Plus I'm not their customer, as SD sent me the label to print for the return. The parcel is on their tracking system. It's just got stuck (lost).

We did a chargeback against EasyJet which took months as we had to keep rebutting pages and page of irrelevant counterclaims sent by a company called Accertify who were defending them. This took a lot of time and we did win, but I'm reluctant to go through all that again! I believe with Money Claim there's a cost, so am keen to avoid that as I might not win this time if the Sports Direct T&Cs are legal?

Maybe "humiliating" wasn't the right word. It's just that the tone of the live chat and the emails with Sports Direct started off as being quite helpful with accepting the return, but now I feel as if they're belittling me and mocking me, or even accusing me of lying about having sent the trainers back. It's quite unlike the tone you get with other companies.

It all seems very unfair, and some effort to sort, but I think I will do the chargeback, and then see what happens there. Thanks again!

Unfortunately a chargeback is your best way to get your money back. It does depend on the company and amount how long it takes. We did one for £140 a few months ago and our bank put the money straight back into our account, I know someone else who claimed the same amount at the same time and they are still waiting. Get all your evidence together, emails etc showing what has happened will give you your best chance as a quick resolution from the bank. I wouldn't use money claim personally as there are fees.

Well lots of people get good outcomes by complaining publically on Twitter. It works often - companies don’t want bad press over £30.

People complaining about Sports Direct?

Id be amazed if Mike Ashley gives the slightest stuff about what anyone says about him or his businesses online

Sports Direct are the Ryanair of retail, can you just claim it back from your bank?