Refusal of refunds

[japancool]

One of my competitors refuses to give refunds on certain limited edition items. These items have to be ordered several months in advance, and because they have to be ordered as a retail customer via third parties, there is no right of return (particularly given that the seller is in Japan).

Another of my competitors will only provide refunds in the event that the product is damaged.

This, as far as I understand, is against the CCR. If an order is cancelled even before it actually arrives in the UK, there is also no justification for any kind of deduction for wear and tear.

What are the legal implications of stating this in their T&Cs? I offer the normal protection outlined in the CCR, i.e. within 14 days of receipt, the customer can cancel for any reason whatsoever, and I'm somewhat annoyed they think they can get away with this.

 

[JEREMY HAWKE]

It's not unusual for LEI and bespoke items to have a no refund policy and I too myself have wondered how they get away with it

 

[LPB 123]

It's surprising how many companies state things like this in their terms. Do they actually get away with it though, if a problem arises and the customer wants to return? Or do the customers just do a chargeback or Paypal case etc and get a refund through those means anyway if the seller is being awkward?

I wouldn't be annoyed at them, just keep doing what you're doing. It's likely you're going to pick up customers, if they spot this in the companies terms or they actually bumped in to problems trying to return with one of those companies, they likely won't ever shop with that company again and then they could be coming to you.

I'm not sure what the implications are of illegal T&C's.

 

[antropy]

Slight different but related, Martin Lewis has been used to promote scammy ****** schemes / frauds. He and loads of others have reported it to Action Fraud, the Police, etc. etc. and nothing happens because those organisations don't have the budget or resources to police it, see here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=peIqNiLKWk0

So I suspect that even if customer started to try and get the relevant authorities involved, not a lot would happen.

As it says in that video, the Internet has become a lot more like the Wild West again.

Paul.

 

[japancool]

It's not unusual for LEI and bespoke items to have a no refund policy and I too myself have wondered how they get away with it

You're allowed to do it for bespoke items, but not limited edition, unless these have been personalised in some way (e.g. having the customer's name engraved on it).

 

[japancool]

It's surprising how many companies state things like this in their terms. Do they actually get away with it though, if a problem arises and the customer wants to return? Or do the customers just do a chargeback or Paypal case etc and get a refund through those means anyway if the seller is being awkward?

I'm not sure if they get away with it or not, but I've certainly had customers cancel orders for the same items, so it can't be that rare. With items having to be preordered 2-3 months in advance, there's a big risk of people just changing their mind.