Forgot to return purchases on time, retailer is charging me

[user120525]

I stupidly forgot to return £400(!!) worth of clothes within the retailer's 14 day returns eligibility window (perimenopause brain?). So I just posted the lot back to them and wrote them a nice email asking if I could please get a refund onto my original payment method (credit card).
They wrote back saying they've given me £400 credit onto my online account instead. I don't want this credit, I really need the money back.
I realise that I am entirely in the wrong here but was wondering if anyone knows or has ideas for recourse here so I can get actual real money refunded back to me?! TIA!

I agree that having set times and task lists is helpful. For me, it doesn't fix things entirely as I still have to remember to add things to the "important tasks" list in the first place and I have to stick to the set times, which isn't always easy with adhd. But I definitely find this approach more effective than reminders alone.

Wow, you're suggesting someone lie about being bereaved. How distasteful.

Yeah, fair enough.

You are lucky that they are going to give you a credit note. They don't have to give you anything.
I'm sorry but there is nothing you can do about it. They are not obliged to give you your money back unless there is something wrong with the items and they are not fit for purpose.

Fair enough but not something I've come across. Some items I simply return without notification, unless specifically requested and never had an issue.
Retailers are so varied that it's easy to get caught out, particularly with a disability....

They've done more than they needed to by giving you the credit. Honestly, this is on you.

I think you should think yourself lucky that they accepted the return at all. You can't have been that desperate for the money or you'd have done it within the 2 weeks you had to return. I think you are cheeky to send them back after double this time.

For many people on this site they're never wrong, even when they clearly are, as in this case.

If you know this is something you find hard ( remembering dates) then you need to either set up reminders on your phone or get a big whiteboard put in a prominent place so mark events, like returning clothes for a refund, on it so you see it every day. It is up to you to find ways of managing your impulsive behaviours, the world is not going to do it for you, but you know that already.

The retailer has given you a credit note, so you will have to use it up buying clothes from them, not from other outlets, if you can’t afford £400 on clothes then you need to rethink your shopping habits, only buying clothes you have seen, and tried on, for example.

Don't buy online. Go to shops where you can try the items on and not by the buying the ones that you know you don't like.

Sorry OP it doesn't sound like anything can be done. Annoying but a lesson learned. I know £400 is a lot of money but is there much on offer on the website that you could buy with the credit? Early Christmas/birthday gifts? Anything you can stock up on?

IME Next are pretty strict on credit only if > 1 month. However I've returned things almost a year late 😳 and they've given credit and tbf it's super easy to return things there. M and S are relatively chill. ASOS and BOOHOO never had an issue with but a bit more fiddly to return things so my disorganised brain tends to forget or leave to the last minute.

I now hang newly purchased clothes in a really visible part of my bedroom. Tends to make it easier to remember to return them

I order online a lot but have never done that.
I order in the size I think I want if I don't like it I send it back, usually the next day. I think ordering hundreds of pounds worth of stuff you have no intention of keeping and waiting over a month to send them back is very unfair on the retailer and it contributes to higher prices.

I have friends who buy clothes like this, wear them once then return them and get their money back, which enables them to have a constantly new wardrobe for free…be honest Op, is that you?

I've heard this referred to as the ADHD tax! 😐

I’m another ADHDer.

I can’t do returns, I never manage to get round to it and end up keeping unwanted stuff.

I get round this by only buying stuff online that I absolutely know I’ll keep, and in-person shopping for anything else.

Reminders etc just don’t work for me. I’ve had a form for 11years that I should have filled in but can’t seem to get round to - there’s no chance I’m going to return a parcel within 14 days 😂

I think knowing your realistic limitations is important. You say this regularly happens but you’ve been lucky so far. Maybe time to rethink whether buying clothes online is right for you?

Thank you for mentioning what seems obvious to me, but is probably an outrageously radical solution to most people under 40. I know a few people who would go around stark naked (and also not eat very much) if someone hadn't invented online shopping. (To their credit, I have not heard any of them bemoaning the state of the high street.)

I don't completely agree. I would LOVE to know what size to order, and run a small risk of getting it wrong occasionally.

I need to order 3 sizes for each item usually, all the sizes in my wardrobe are completely different for items I wear all the time, and I am sure I am the size size on Mondays and Thursdays.

Until the industry decide to have some kind of standardised sizing, I am not paying for 3 or 4 deliveries. I pay for one, with different sizes to try on. Technically if I am not sure between 2 different dresses until I actually see and try them, that would mean ordering 6 items.

I try not to do that because it's a pain frankly, but retailers are in the fault here.

I do agree about not keeping everything for more than a couple of days at most.

The trick is to return straight away, try on, doesn’t fit, repackage, drop to the courier/post office next day. I can’t remember anything out of sight so I need a system

@user120525 why do you think the rules don’t apply to you?

Wether it was £4 or £400 - you don’t return in the time frame you aren’t entitled to a refund.

No.

you’re outside of the window. Even for consumer contracts you’re outside the window also

they only have to refund you if you buy o line but you’ve only got 14 days to cancel the co tract and another 14 days to send it back.

and where are these shops that stock all the things you want?

I go to shops, it's rare I find what I want in the sizes I want. I try to order clothes to be delivered to the store, so I try them on there, and return them straight away, but that implies the brand I want is down the road.

Consider self lucky got the credit.

I hate when people make ignorant remarks about neurological conditions. So you think someone with ADHD only has it some of the time? Of course people with ADHD do stuff like this ALL THE TIME. It’s one of the most frustrating aspects of the condition.

The OP could try asking for her money back less 20%, on the grounds she needs the cash and that will pay for their losses.

This is great if you have a good selection of shops that have your size in stock. Clothes shops are vanishing from High Streets in many places.