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.

Who cares what she was planning to do with it. Shops are. not. allowed. - by law - to sell counterfeit goods.

As an aside, £40 still seems a lot if RRP would be £60 from a shop. I've bought high-end store returns from charity shops and I would say average pricing is max 40% of their RRP new.

Did she get a refund OP?

I used to sort lost property items that came from local hotels and a local airport for a charity shop. So many donations were fake, bags, wallets, jewellery, clothes, watches. We couldn’t sell any of it. All got cut up/ binned. It was very surprising though how many people must be happy to buy and wear fake stuff.

Mind you, every so often we did get amazing stuff, though since the hotels and airport held on to lost property for a year they were always several seasons out of date!

Charity shops don’t tend to sell ordinary jumpers at the £40 price point. It is obvious that the reasoning for asking for such a high price is because of the (alleged) brand.

Whist it is unreasonable to expect charity shop volunteers to be experts at spotting counterfeit goods, it is absolutely reasonable to expect the situation put right once they have been alerted by a member of the public that they are selling counterfeit goods. The reasonable expectations would to be to refund the item (if already sold—the law states this must be done in 30 days—see my second link below), or remove the item from the shop floor (if unsold).

Gov.uk makes it very clear that counterfeit goods CANNOT be sold; in fact, there is a link to report. I would be letting the manager who is refusing the refund know that this is my intention.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/meta-counterfeit-and-piracy-campaign/the-effect-of-counterfeit-goods

https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/consumer/somethings-gone-wrong-with-a-purchase/report-fake-or-counterfeit-goods/

Hope your daughter was able to get her money back.

The till receipt in a charity shop will never have the brand name on, they’ve vast amounts of random goods going through the tills so till systems are set up for generic items. The poster who thought this would be significant doesn’t understand how charity shops work.

The charity shop is bound by consumer law same as any other shop. This page is useful.

https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/consumer/somethings-gone-wrong-with-a-purchase/report-fake-or-counterfeit-goods/

The charity shop should dispose of the item when your daughter has returned it, not put it on sale again. It will have been a mistake but it’s a good opportunity for the shop to do some staff/volunteer training on handling of counterfeit goods.

They do it all the time - every time I do a lunchtime browse, they always have fake Mulberry and I tell them and they say so what - we are charging £80 and Mulberry is a thousand. Just as nice, they say.

I've taken an item back to a charity shop for less and I don't feel the least bit guilty about it because - 1. They have a returns policy 2. They have paid staff as well as volunteers (not that it should make a difference 3.Not everyone is shopping for charity purposes. We are encouraged to recycle, save landfills, save money etc, so why wouldn't we be offered the same rights as if we were shopping in a regular store?

That's not how brands work though.

Report them.

Don't have the heart - they are a local charity, totally run by volunteers, not the big chain with executive who sexually exploit, etc..

I get what you’re saying, but their attitude sounds very arrogant.

People who aren’t as savvy as you won’t necessarily spot that they’re fakes.

I am not savvy at all - I dragged my friend in, saying 'look, they have mulberries all the time' and she explained. Also, a few years back they had a shedload of Ugg boots they were selling at £60 a pair - I don't like Ugg boots, but know they are all the rage with young people, now I am thinking 'fake'? However, I never heard of any scandal about that shop, no whispers or anything. All I am saying is I am convinced lots of charity shops are selling fakes.

It is a counterfeit good. This means you can report it and you are entitled to your money back. Doesn't matter that it's a charity shop, the Consumer Rights Act still applies. Contact the charity direct. If they're being difficult I'd take it to the bank, trading standards, and a newspaper.

https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/consumer/somethings-gone-wrong-with-a-purchase/report-fake-or-counterfeit-goods/

https://www.theguardian.com/money/series/consumer-champions

I know, but I refuse to be sucked in to paying more for something because of a little bit of fabric sewn in with a 'name' on it.

They are not allowed to knowingly sell fake goods. They have to refund you by law. Tell them you will report then to trading standards if they don't.

I think that, given the age of your DD and the amount of £, that a manager (not just someone at the till) of the charity shop would consider her returning the goods. However, she might get a better response if she asks for a substantial amount off the price, rather than a full refund. How much would she pay for it knowing that it's a fake? Or does she not want it at all now? Some charity shops allow you to return goods for whatever reason. I've not been able to try something on in one and the assistant told me that if it didn't fit, I could return it. If it were my DD, I'd go with her to the shop, ask to speak to the manager, and just ask if the goods could be returned. No need at this point to say why. If the manager doesn't immediately agree, then explain about it being fake and what you think a fair price would be for it. Also emphasising the age of your DD and how much £40 was to her. Good luck. But I'd also be encouraging your DD not to bother with spending ridiculous amounts of money on clothing just because it has a designer label!

What are you talking about? She was buying an item from a shop not making a charitable donation. She’s absolutely right to return it for a refund. If you ordered a latte at a national trust cafe and they gave you a cup of warm water, would you not say anything because it’s for a charity and staffed by volunteers?

Most people who work in charity shops have no idea what is designer or not! So why report to trading standards? It is new with tags on so why would they think otherwise? When buying in a charity shop you’re taking a risk with new goods!

Stop being stupid! You can’t compete a latte at the NT with a charity shop buy 🤦‍♀️
Of course you’re making a donation to the charity, it’s a charity Shop not Fenwicks!

This
go back with her and say if they don’t refund the £40 you’ll report them to Trading Standards and the charities commission. There is a chance a volunteer priced this up and had no idea it was a fake but now it’s been identified as one this needs sorting. If it was one of my kids I’d rock up and I wouldn’t be moving until I got my refund!

i’d defo see the manager. it was priced as a genuine item. otherwise it would be under a tenner. fake goods are illegal to sell i believe.

id go with her and speak to the manager. they may think she swapped out their genuine one for a fake but if the charity shop tags from them are still on…

🤦‍♀️ I doubt the staff knew it was fake! It’s a charity shop not M & S! Comments like yours are truly ridiculous, I doubt you’d have recognised it as a fake and it’s still not clearly a fake other than OP thinks it is’

Do you have teenage children? That’s not how they work.
Many teenagers LOVE designer/branded items and won’t wear anything else. They’d rather have ONE such item at £60, say, than 6x £10 primark items.

DC1 is like this. DC2 couldn’t care less.

The OP’s DD saved up her own money so why can’t she buy an expensive branded item if she wants to!

I agree. I would want a refund too, but a compromise of a partial refund if I keep the garment may work too if she is happy to wear it. Not much good if she is a collector though.