AIBU to ask a charity shop to refund a fake designer jumper?

[Thelongestdayever]

My teenage DD has recently got into thrift shopping. She bought a designer sports brand jumper yesterday in a charity shop, new with the tags on, she paid £40 so not cheap but still a saving on rrp.

When she was showing me we realised it’s not real. I suspected as the quality is off and on closer inspection it’s a definite fake.

DD took it back to the shop today and they refused her a refund saying that they only refund faulty items. AIBU to go back with her and ask that they do refund? The RRP would be about £60 so not unreasonable of her to presume it was real but a bit cheaper, IMO (eg it’s not like it was a Chanel bag for a tenner which I would clearly expect to be fake). £40 is a lot of money to DD and it’s not even really a good fake in hindsight.

I have volunteered in a charity shop and know someone who is a manager. Their shop will refund clothes within 28 days as long as there is a receipt and the shops price tag is still attached (think this is more to do with GiftAid as it has an individual barcode) and in condition it was sold in. Similar to a normal shop. There doesn’t have to be anything wrong with it. Maybe check if they have an website to see what returns policy is?. Sometimes the volunteers do not always know everything and mistakes are made. It happens, and it’s one of those things so maybe they said wrong thing to your daughter. Also, under no circumstances are they allowed to sell Counterfeit goods. Not even if it was for £1. I’m sure it will be sorted out. Just speak to the Manager.

I know, that's my point, why the PP is bringing that up I don't know

Thank you so much for correcting me on something that has nothing to do with the thread, I hope you are very proud of yourself. You are in fact superior to me on all levels.

The staff probably didn’t know but I would have thought they’d have to accept refunds irrespective of reason? Definitely go back.

Charity shops are v savy about designer labels. I thrift a lot and it's very rare to find a piece that is designer that they have missed. So I guess they identified it as designer but didn't do the next stage which would be to make sure it was genuine. Selling fakes isn't legal so as everyone else has said go back and point that out. They should refund and then they will have to chalk it up to experience, not your daughter.

I have a good compromise.

No raking of anyone over any coals.

Shop refund the item in line with their legal obligation to.

No unpleasantness required.

that is a lesson learnt
you have to chose your words carefully when asking for a refund at a charity shop
and ask in advance if they do refunds

Their refund policy is irrelevant. They sold a counterfeit item so they are legally required to refund.

My local charity shop does refund as long as you have the receipt. No questions asked.

The point is shops aren't allowed to sell fakes. Afaik. Therefore they should refund with an apology.

Maybe that’s what you want in a North Face jumper. Maybe OP wants something different from hers. Neither of you should have to accept being sold something that isn’t what it was advertised as.

If you’d booked the Marriott but it turns out to be a different, worse, hotel, is it relevant that there’s still a bed in the room? No. It’s not what you booked.

About 2y ago i got dd a north face jacket from charity shop maybe about 5-8£ didnt occur to me it maybe face but after a few weeks/months i did notice, the letters had. come off. It does have a north face label stitched in.

The high price was probably a genuine mistake - the person who priced it believed it was the real thing. But your daughter is definitely entitled to a refund. The receipt should have the charity's refund policy printed on it, and the shop should follow that.

But it's good that you now know, assuming that it wasn't a typo, if I was using a word wrongly I'd want someone to tell me rather than have people silently cringe when I used it. Wouldnt you?

They are completely incorrect saying they only refund faulty goods. A consumer has statutory rights and those apply to a charity shop as much as any other shop. They cannot just ignore statutory rights. However I expect the volunteer didn't have a clue, so best to raise it with the manager of the shop. No need to kick off, you can just politely ask to speak with or email the manager and tell them what's happened and that your daughter has been sold fake designer clothes. They do need to sort this out. Ignore all the posters saying charities are exempt from the law. Charities are actually held to extremely high standards under the law, much more stringent than other organisations.

so how can charity shops refuse refunds, and i know plenty that do?

I'm sure the charity shop weren't aware the jumper is fake. They sold it as 'brand new with tags', and priced it accordingly. Yes, with a little research, it can be obvious an item is fake, but it might be they didn't do any research or don't know enough to know if it's real or a fake. Some fakes can be good ones, that aren't as easy to spot.

The shop regardless if a charity one or not isn't allowed by law to sell counterfeit items. They may have sold it unwittingly, but now they are aware, then yes, they should refund the item. If they refund the OP's daughter, then they're £40 out of pocket and might as well destroy the item, because they won't be able to sell it. They lose out completely, so it's not surprising they don't want to issue a refund.

They are using the fact your daughter is young OP, to not apply the law. Hoping she'll just accept what she's been told. You need to go back with her OP, and speak with someone. If they won't back down, then you need to contact head office and possibly Trading Standards.