The Outnet won’t refund me - help!

[Peppercorn9]

Several weeks ago I returned an expensive pair of boots to the Outnet. According to their website/their customer services, they were safely received and my refund is “under review”. However, this has been the case for weeks and each time I ask how much longer it’ll take to process my refund, I’m met with the same generic reply (“during busy periods refunds may take longer to process”). I can’t get a straight answer from anyone there and looking at Trustpilot, Twitter etc I’m not alone. Has anyone successfully got their money back from them? Is this something PayPal might help with? Any advice gratefully received!

If you paid by PayPal and have proof they've received the item back, I'd lodge a dispute and see what happens. Might kick Outnet into doing something if nothing else.

Same experience. Nothing helped in the end I just had to wait for it. They are not dodgy so they will definitely refund though.

Thanks, I’ll give PayPal a call.

@AnaViaSalamanca that’s good to know - thank you. How long did you have to wait in the end?

In my experience they are good, you will definitely get it but it may take a bit of time

I expect they have one person doing refunds and a big pile they are working through . They will have to check they are in re sellable condition before they refund .
I try and buy from places I can return to store as it's quicker and less faff !

how many weeks?

I don't know OP, i don't think its fair or accurate to say they "won't" refund you, because they haven't yet. Online ordering during the pandemic must be through the roof, and we are talking the weeks before xmas after all. Staff shortages in retail are significant due to isolating and positive PCR's. Given the nature of the goods I think they do have to check each return quite thoroughly to assess it is in the condition it was posted out in.

I appreciate it is not ideal and waiting for money would also put me a bit on edge but it seems like it will be processed eventually. I've had a wait before (2 weeks or so) but never a refusal of refund.

Yes, that is a fair point. However it’s been over a month and they’ve refused to answer my question of when I’ll be refunded in a straightforward way. I’d be a bit happier if they’d just admit there were delays, but all they will do is keep copying/pasting the same “during busy periods your refund may take longer” answer, which tells me nothing. Of course I’m willing to cut them some slack under the circumstances but it’s very frustrating that they won’t just be upfront about processing times. Their website still states “within 3 working days”! Given the high value of the items they sell, I’d expect better customer service tbh.

Definitely lodge a dispute via PayPal - you can do this on the PayPal site, no need to call.

I did this recently as I didn’t receive an online order - it had been lingering at customs for weeks and seemed to have disappeared. The seller wasn’t helpful so I went through PayPal and got a refund in days.

Having the same issue with Lavish Alice. Returned 14th November and still waiting for the money. I ordered a few dresses and they’re not cheap so I could do with it for Christmas!

They will all refund eventually though, it’s just annoying isn’t it.

I think this is just their MO. I had the same experience. It took over a month as my return had to go all the way to Italy. I wouldn't order from them again because of this as the stress was not worth it.

Always use Klarna if you can do it's not real money until you decide to keep. I e it to my advantage on everything I can do money isn't in their account!

I think a month is totally unacceptable, regardless of covid and isolation. They have both the goods and the OPs money and have done for a very long time. I don’t think they need to be made excuses for, I think a so called premium business selling expensive goods needs to pull its finger out and deliver better customer service. Too many businesses have used covid as an excuse.

Always use Klarna if you can do it's not real money until you decide to keep

This is exactly why I use Klarna

They must refund you within 14 days of you returning the goods to them, providing you have proof of postage.

relevant info for them here
Government website uses the word 'must', so I'd contact them again and send them the link.

@ginnig 100% .. I use it totally to my advantage ! Never pay a penny in interest !

@Peppercorn9 about five weeks for me

@dontgobaconmyheart I would have agreed with you if it was a small independent retailer with cashflow issues and staff problems, but this is an international company selling designer items and has to be held to a higher standard

@gunnersgold same!

Thanks for the link @SylviaTrench - that's v helpful.

I hadn't thought of using Klarna - will def look into that for next time (not that I'll be ordering from this company again!)

It's good to know some of you had similar experiences but were refunded eventually - thank you for giving me hope! I completely agree that a month or more is too long to wait from a well-established multinational business, pandemic or not!

I’ve returned stuff to them before and had no issues, maybe it really us a covid or Christmas related issue.. one month is really long!

Hi
Usually no problem with this company. However, my recent return appears to be held up in Border control for the last 3 weeks!!!

I buy a lot from The Outnet and they are generally very quick with refunds. I recommend you phone them - the number's at the bottom of their home page. They usually answer pretty quickly and get it sorted.

And I've just seen this thread is from Dec 2021, so I really hope you have your refund now, OP!

Hello-did you get a refund? I’m also having the same issue. 3 months on and they owe me £1500