Mail Order Company Refusing to Allow return on Faulty product

[Charliesunnysky10]

Recovering from pneumonia, I bought a tub of health drink online, but it tastes awful, really salty and gave me a headache.

The company offer '365 day returns guaranteed' so I contacted them to let them know. They came back and said unsaleable items are excluded. And I've obviously tried the drink so it's unsaleable.

I countered that under distance selling laws i have 14 days to return any item, even if it wasn't faulty (I believe it is, as it shouldnt be so strongly salty on a weak dilution). I offered to pay return postage.

They disagree but offered me 10% discount on future purchases.

Are they having me on or am I correct?

I would imagine this classes as sealed goods that are not suitable for return for health or hygiene reasons. If that is the case, I'm afraid they are correct. The 14-day right to return does not apply.

@prh47bridge Thanks. Even if they're faulty?

If the goods are faulty that brings the Consumer Rights Act into play. Under that, you have 30 days to reject the goods and receive a full refund. However, the fact you dislike the taste does not necessarily mean the drink is faulty.

@prh47bridge its more that it doesn't taste like mango as advertised and does give me a headache (which wasn't advertised).

Plenty of things don't taste' like they should' (which is subjective) but that doesn't mean they are faulty.

And something giving you a headache may be you have a sensitivity to it, or something completely unrelated to the product. So again, very hard to prove.

If it was covered in mould or obviously contaminated with a non-food element that would be different. Could it be that it contains rehydration salts which is why it tastes salty?

Under distance selling you don’t have 14 days to return “any” item. You can’t return food, especially not after you’ve opened it.

Fair enough. Thank you for clearing it up. I'd rather know the reality 😊

You don't like it, doesn't mean it's faulty!

What does it say in the small print about the "365 day returns guaranteed?" If it says if you try it and you don't like it you can return then I guess you can argue that only way to try it is to open it. If it doesn't specifically say then then you're stuck with it!