Retailers who deduct money from refunds - why do they keep doing it?

[orangeispurple]

This is the second time in a couple of years this has happened to me.

First time I ordered a large mobility aid online for my dad and there was a £45 courier charge P&P charge on top. We returned it (new and in original box) as it was too big for his door frames/living space and paid the return courier cost but then the retailer deducted their original courier charge too (even though I’d paid for it!). It meant we were £90 worse off. I looked into it and they’re not allowed to do this under Consumer contracts law. I eventually got the money back via Chargeback from the bank.

It’s happened again, this time with a much smaller amount. I returned an item, paid for return postage (which I expected) but the retailer has also deducted the cost of the outbound postage from my refund. If they do that to every return, they’d presumably be making a nice little bit of cash on the side. I messaged them and explained the law but their response was ‘It’s in our Ts and Cs and everyone does it and that’s the way it is’. I was polite but responded by saying ‘sure, but just because your terms and conditions state it, your Ts and Cs don’t line up with consumer rights’.

It seems really petty to pursue a chargeback for the sake of a fiver but perhaps that’s what these companies are relying on? Putting through a chargeback takes a couple of minutes to do and I wonder if it’s worth it on principle.

Anyone else experienced this?

So if you take longer than 14 days without notifying them, then they don’t have to refund?

So the key for it being done automatically is returning within 14 days?

Yeah that makes no sense. I would pursue it. I’ve never had that happen!

No, I paid the postage both ways - I paid postage of £3.99 for them to send it to me and I used their pre-paid label to return it. They deducted a total of £7.98 from my refund (£3.99 for sending it to me, £3.99 for me sending it back). I expect to pay postage for returning it (after all it’s my choice to send it back). They are not entitled to keep the original £3.99 that it cost to send it.

Surely this is all going to the courier though, so the seller is losing the first delivery fee if they follow the law you mentioned? Don't see how this could possibly benefit them.