To expect Gap to give me a refund and to think they have gone seriously downhill?

[MilaMae]

I bought some jeans for ds( It's a nightmare getting jeans to fit him) from Gap.After the 1st wash they changed texture and had a streaked blackish appearance,the button thing was impossible to do up. I followed the care label to the letter and have had jeans of a far better quality for less than £2 in Asda.

Went in and asked for a refund as not fit for purpose,didn't have receipt as presumed at £12.50 they would survive the 1st wash. I was only offered a credit note which is no good as I have no intention of buying Gap jeans again and ds needs them now. I argued to no avail so went with 3 dc under 6 to find some, had none in my sons size bar one pair at £20 for a 5 year old!!!!!!!! Yes really so had to except a credit note-I want a refund,how do I stand????

I am shocked at how shoddy Gap clothes now are and the couldn't give a shit attitude. It was like a jumble sale in there nobody offered to help, heaps of clothes everywhere, limited stock. They also seemed to have stopped stocking clothes in any colour other than beige,black or white in the adults section.

Any suggestions on how I can get a refund?

Have been following this. It's an interesting point isn't it?

Can totally see LLPJ's point, especially having been in retail management myself aeons ago. You wouldn't want it to be easy for anyone to bring back something in a less than perfect condition with no proof that they'd bought it at all or at least very recently, and be able to easily get a refund.

But what would happen if someone had purchased something the week previously with cash, so no credit card or bank statement, or even cheque stub, and had thrown away the receipt, and the goods were faulty? Tricky one isn't it?

From this page on the trading standards website:

"However:

If the goods are damaged because of misuse by the customer you are not responsible.
If the customer changes their mind, you are not responsible.
You are entitled to ask the customer for proof of purchase. This is usually a receipt but other forms of proof such as a credit card statement would be acceptable.
Customers are not entitled to a refund for goods they bought when they knew they were faulty e.g. goods marked as ?shop soiled?."

I would agree that there are murky issues with the fact that legally, a seller is not obliged to give a receipt, but as it is a major store and they are likely to be able to provide cctv footage to prove that they do give receipts then that seems rather pointless.

I really don't understand your point about the goods being the proof of purchase...

flowery, it would depend on the store. And the people working I guess. We would go about that situation by asking what day they bought it on, and whether it was morning or afternoon and roughly what time. I would ask them who sold it to them if they could remember and then in our shop, you could check the systems as they showed all transactions. You need to know details to get the information and it is a pin in the arse, but at the end of the day, if they are genuine it is worth it, as they are likely to be grateful you have gone out of your way. One transaction is not worth losing a customer for.

You need to be careful though. We had someone steal some stock from one store and then try it on in our other store in the same city asking for a refund. What a cheek!

Cheeky indeed!

I do remember getting people to go away and come back with a statement or something.

But where I was a manager it was a fairly high-endish fashion chain with reasonably small stores and fairly low footfall so it was quite likely we'd remember the person or someone at another store would remember the person, so never a real problem, fortunately.