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’d send an email to customer services saying that while they have followed their procedure correctly you’d be most grateful if they’d consider giving you a cash refund on this occasion as a goodwill gesture. Point out that you are a good and regular customer who has patronised their shop for many years, the clothes are all unworn and in their original condition, and you were only a little over the returns date. That’s assuming these three things are true that is.

I had a pair of jeans fall apart just after the returns window closed. They weren’t overly expensive jeans but the retailer refused to even give me a credit note when I asked about returning them. I think you’ve been lucky OP.

It's very kind of them to have given you £400 credit.

It's really unfair on retailers to expect them to provide a free clothing loan service like this.

No thanks. My local town centre is not a pleasant or safe place to mooch around even in the middle of the day and frankly as a mum working a hard job I have better things to do with my life than paying a fortune to park, walking around sparsly stocked shops for hours then probably finding that they don't have what I want or that I have to order my size in anyway. This especially applies if you're petite like me or tall as the shops have hardly any stock in. It's not a generational thing it's because our town centres are shit. God bless online shopping

I have to order online because the clothes I wear aren't sold by local shops. I also have to order two sizes every time to ensure everything fits properly.

I don't think the OP actually said she had ordered a load of things (in this particular order, I mean). It could be two or three items for all we know.

You could try calling them as a last resort. But honestly I think this one is on you, you're a month late. I don't blame them for charging you and I think the credit to your account is generous. I believe they could refuse the return altogether.

Are you actually suggesting someone fake a bereavement to get a refund they’re not entitled to?

fuck me. I know some people are arseholes but that’s low.

I have zero sympathy with you. The company have been very fair.
If you can’t afford £400, why are you ordering £400 worth of clothes?
It is people like you that are making businesses go bankrupt and costing other shoppers more.
Dont get me started on people who order clothes, take a selfie and then return the. These people have no morals!
I only ever order what I intend to buy. Occasionally it doesn’t fit. In this case I would package it back up straight away and put by the front door to go next time I went out.

I imagine pp probably meant call them and cry. Which I still wouldn't do...but it's nowhere near as bad as pretending about a bereavement.

I was quoting the law, not all retailers require notification, smaller businesses often do so they can manage returns as we don't usually use fulfillment houses. Many of us just say 28 or 30 days to return the item to make it easier for customers.

It pays to look it up tbh we all have to state our policies clearly but as long as we comply with the law we can choose other lengths of time for returns and how we refund those outside the dates

Me too!

This is convoluted and rather unethical, but what is the returns policy on items purchased using the store credit they’ve given you? Could you use the credit to purchase £400 worth of items and then return those? Would you get store credit again or would you get a refund?

No they would not refund a credit purchase with funds.

I think there are valid reasons for sending clothes back stil in plastic. I’ve just sent back (another) top that I didn’t bother trying on - it was a different colour than I’d expected so I knew on sight that I didn’t want it. If a company is going to describe something as ‘white’ and use photos which make the garment look bright white, but they then send me clothing which is beige, then it’s their own bloody fault if they get so many returns!

And sizing is all over the place and very few online shops include measurements… so it’s inevitable people will order more sizes to try (and if the first one tried on fits well, then the other size will go back unopened).

They always have. I remember looking for a specific pair of trousers in Topshop in 2003, in a size 16. They told me they only ever order in one or two of the 16s (with a pitying glance up and down my perfectly normal, actually a size 12 in most other shops body).

I’m sure this has been suggested already, but you could get family and friends to “buy” the store credit off you so that you get some money back

This is wise.

You can't expect businesses to make allowances for personal conditions. People who can't operate within the parameters of online shopping or any other system should avoid it, not expect the rules to be bent for them.

As someone who is a 6-8 believe me they don't over buy on them sizes either

Maybe not, but there's always racks and racks of 10s and 12s in the sale.

Yes, and surely if it hasn't been opened it can be returned into stock rather than sold off? Or maybe that's not how it works.

I start with the size I think I will take, to avoid trying on an item unnecessarily. I've always thought I'm doing retailers a favour doing it that way but maybe not!

Not much point blessing online shopping when you send most of it back! You are a shop’s nightmare, and the person who gives women a bad name. You need to shake up, stop blaming nature for your ineptitude and stop bleating on here about something which is clearly your fault!
Apart from anything else, all the while you are hoarding stuff at your home while you wait for a convenient (to you) time to return it, those goods aren’t available for serious buyers to buy. Selfish in the extreme.

Exactly. It's taking the piss to repeatedly order piles of clothing and then return them. Often they are then unsaleable at the original price and have to be donated or sold in bulk to resellers. Plus the shipping resources etc. I am always happy when retailers crack down on this abuse.

And I agree with pp that the excuses pertaining to ND and hormones are getting REALLY old. If someone has ADHD then why repeatedly do things that one has found problematic? It's on us to manage ourselves, not on everyone else to bend the rules.

Same with "peri." FFS, most of us had never heard of "peri" before a few years ago. And everyone is dealing with hormonal issues one way or the other, from adolescents to those on hormonal contraception, "baby brain" (ugh), "peri" or full-blown menopause or post-menopause. It's called LIFE. Deal with it.

It feels like there are people who always blame something outside their control for their foibles and failings, instead of taking personal responsibility.

If you don’t return £400 worth of items within the time frame then that’s on you.

But what possibly reason would you use SM if not to try to put pressure on them through shaming them.

they have responded to her emails so it’s not like she needs to turn to SM to get a response.
their response is fair.

so why would you use SM if not to try to shame them. You make little sense.

I didn't know you had two lots of 14 days. Live and learn!
OP, does this cover you?