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!

Sorry but as someone with adhd I hate that you're using that excuse and expect that it somehow means you should get special treatment.
The onus is on you to find a method that means you don't repeatedly do this. If you know its something you struggle with, you need to find a better way of dealing with it. It's not the companies fault. Trying to shame them on social media would be really shit.

..

Honestly, as an ADHD person… I’ve done this before 😭.

An acquaintance managed to get her money back by basically crying on the phone and explaining she has a disability - ADHD (well technically others too). But £400 is worth trying to have a cry about? 😆

Pretty standard. Credit note better than having to keep the clothes.

If you make a habit of this then I would look to resolve that, appreciate adhd/perimenopause can make it difficult. Reminders in phone, smaller orders so less risk. Leave the returns at the front door so you cant forget them.

Could you maybe sell things on Vinted/Ebay?
Things tend to sell well as brand new/unworn - you could make most of your money back, I would have thought 😀

@rosemarble terrible right!

Giving that poster the benefit of the doubt, they didn't actually specify shame the company on social media, just to contact them via it. Which could mean asking nicely, giving it the whole "I appreciate the credit note but is there any possible way...."

If they say yes then the company gets good publicity. If they say no there shouldn't be any "shame" on them for sticking to their guns if they give a factual and polite response like "unfortunately we make our 14 day return period very clear, we might occasionally make an exception if something is receive a day or so late due to postal delays but looking at your account you returned the items over a month after receipt."
As a bystander if I read that exchange I wouldn't consider the company to have been "shamed" in any way?

I don't have much sympathy with the OP, particularly after the update that this isn't the first time they've done this, but there's this weird attitude atm where people are so conflict adverse that they seem to think the only two methods of reaction when something goes wrong is either to accept it and do nothing, or completely kick off, no middle ground. Whereas often just having a polite conversation can end up with an appropriate resolution for both parties.

To add to this, if you’re anything over a size 14 your size may not actually be stocked in the shops or completely sold out by the time you get there.
nowadays purchasing managers keep overdoing the 6-8s and massively underdoing 14-18.

Same happened to me, though only £75 worth and I did put it in the return box (at my local station) within 28 days but they didn’t receive it until after 28 days so had to suck it up unfortunately.

Really? That's not been my experience at all! If you mean sell well as in quickly, maybe but I've never seen brand new with label items sell anything close to the original price, and I'd never agree to pay it myself.

Why would you, there are usually so many 10% deals in shops or whatever it would be mad to buy something where you've got no right of return rather than just buying it in the shop for two or three quid more. Apart from anything else there's the risk hat a lot of that stuff has been stollen.

Unless something was so popular it had sold out online the chances of getting even half the purchase price back on vinted are low.

@user120525 You're lucky they even gave you a store credit OP - they would have been totally within their rights to simply return all the clothing to you.
You have rights to a minimum 14-day cooling off period under The Consumer Rights Act 2015 (some retailers choose to offer longer, but they don't have to) and you exceeded this. You have no legal recourse as the retailer has acted entirely within the law. Unfortunately, you didn't and are now paying for it.
See: https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/consumer/changed-your-mind/changing-your-mind-about-something-youve-bought/
Given that you say your ADHD means this isn't the first time you've done this, you need to use a technique to stop it happening in the future - I would suggest you set a reminder in your calendar, as soon as your order arrives, for 5 days hence reminding you to return what you don't want.
Incidentally, you can actually lengthen the 14-day period to 28 days if you notify the retailer of your intention to cancel the order within the initial 14-day period as you then have a further 14 days to returns the unwanted items. So, for example, if you'd realised 13 days from receiving the order that you should have returned it, you could have emailed the retailer your intention to cancel the order and then returned it to ensure they received it within the next 15 days.

You’re incorrect.

unde consumer contracts (which was online distance selling regulations). It’s 14 days.

however shops don’t legally have to refund at all!!! If you’re buying from the shop and not online.

I put mine on a chair next to my bed with all the packaging so I can't forget about them!

I think they were fair to give a credit note.

And returns policies vary more than ever now - always check before you order and if there's a decent risk you won't be able to return in time (or won't be happy to pay the returns charge) then don't enter into a sales contract with them.

I have found that I absolutely have to pack it all up as soon as I know I'm not keeping it; that also means I have to force myself to be decisive about what I am going to keep. I've got much better at that over the past year or two because I have been working on lowering excessive consumption and I no longer keep anything that I don't absolutely love. If I'm unsure it goes on the return pile straight away.

Pack it up, process the return online, put the label on and then it goes out the very next day (or as close as possible).

Yeah, stop all that having ADHD nonsense and rewire your brain silly …

Yes and it's a vicious circle. The more we start relying on online to fill the gaps, the fewer shops there are and the more reliant we've become on these really inconvenient online retailers. I don't know what the solution is.

Absolutely 👆

Do you realise that the retailer didn't have to offer you any refund at all? If you know you are likely to forget to send things back on time, then you really need to stop ordering lots of things at once, especially if you are likely to return most of them.

Tbh you're lucky they've given you a credit note you're well over the 14 days to inform and 14 days to return.
They could just as easily said pay for them to send them back to you and they would have been within their rights to do so.
To try and shame them on sm seems rather harsh.

I have adhd - you are lucky they gave you a credit they could have just sent them back.
Also - I tend to 'return' them shortly after getting clothes and leave return info in a draw - companies tend to not mind late posting but you just need to have gotten paperwork sorted before deadline.

This ordering a ton of clothes with the intent to return most or all of them isn't just reserved for ND people. I'm always perplexed that so many people think this is ok.

But as people do think it's ok and will carry on doing it. Then it's about time a charge for returns was universal.

You were lucky!

I was one day over the limit for a return to Zara and they refused to even give a credit note. Needless to say I never shop there now.

Boden, for example, have a business model that relies on people ordering items, probably in excess of what they need, and then returning.

They have generous return terms but their return window goes down to 14 days in a sale. (we only shop the sale)

I have several neurodivergent family members for whom I buy jointly chosen clothes, from Boden, M & S etc - easier most of the time than in -person shopping - and then I chivy them to try the stuff on and let me pack and return what they don't want.

It usually works alright.

I put the packets in the boot of the car ready to go, as soon as we have decisions.

I agree. I begrudge paying for delivery and returns but when the shops locally have maybe 2 items out of the 6 I want to try on in stock there isn’t really another option. The stupid sizings don’t help either you can’t trust that the size ordered will fit.

You should think yourself lucky to get a credit.