Returning an item

First Up

Naomi Bitter Threat wrote:

You are being a bit misleading there. In this case it was change of mind so no refund was obligated at all.

It wasn't change of mind as such. A second copy of the same book was bought by mistake. Both in same shop.

First Up

A Dub in Glasgo wrote:

This only works if the chain has that as their return policy, most do but some will only refund the current price of the item, some will not accept a return unless faulty. There is no should about it, it is particular to the shop

Yes, some shops understand customer relations and customer retention better than others.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

First Up wrote: »

It wasn't change of mind as such. A second copy of the same book was bought by mistake. Both in same shop.

Comes under change of mind though. It is not faulty.

Penny Tration

First Up wrote: »

It wasn't change of mind as such. A second copy of the same book was bought by mistake. Both in same shop.

It comes under change of mind because it's not faulty, there's nothing wrong with it.

It's the very definition of change of mind. he already had one, he purchased this one, realised he had another, so changed his mind about wanting the second.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

First Up wrote: »

A purchase in error is not a change of mind but it is immaterial what you call it.

You seem determined to avoid the point. The item was not faulty. Your error. The goods were as advertised.

First Up

Penny Tration wrote:

It's the very definition of change of mind.

A purchase in error is not a change of mind but what you call it hardly matters.

The shop had the option of honouring its own receipt and chose not to.

GerardKeating

First Up wrote: »

If an item can be returned, the refund should be for the amount paid. Mark downs are temporary selling ploys and prices go back up. In real terms the item was worth the same today as last Thursday.

Why, if the resell it, they only get the lower price now.

If they wanted, they could have a policy that all Change of Mind returns are subject to a 200% restocking fee, since they have no legal obligation to accept such a thing, as long as the policy is clearing advertised.

First Up

Naomi Bitter Threat wrote:

You seem determined to avoid the point. The item was not faulty. Your error. The goods were as advertised.

Of course it was my error. That is not disputed. I'm not arguing the legality of their position. I'm arguing the sense of it from the perspective of how to treat customers.

First Up

GerardKeating wrote:

If they wanted, they could have a policy that all Change of Mind returns are subject to a 200% restocking fee, since they have no legal obligation to accept such a thing, as long as the policy is clearing advertised.

There's lots of things they could do if they want to go out of business.

Diamond Doll

You do realise the cashier probably pocketed the €7.50 you were entitled to and didn't bother telling anyone senior about your little strop?

Some protest!

GerardKeating

First Up wrote: »

It wasn't change of mind as such. A second copy of the same book was bought by mistake. Both in same shop.

First Up wrote: »

A purchase in error is not a change of mind but what you call it hardly matters.

The shop had the option of honouring its own receipt and chose not to.

Someone purchased the book, realised a second copy was already purchased, and changed their mind on the purchase, unless the store had agreed in advance to allow a return, they have no legal or moral obligation to accept the return.

Remember their is a cost to the retailer in accepting a return, (apart from the now lower price).

Penny Tration

First Up wrote: »

A purchase in error is not a change of mind but what you call it hardly matters.

The shop had the option of honouring its own receipt and chose not to.

Well, it is actually. It's not the shop's fault if you purchase something in error, then change your mind and return it.

It is a change of mind. you realised you didn't need it, so changed your mind and no longer wanted it.

First Up

Diamond Doll wrote:

You do realise the cashier probably pocketed the €7.50 you were entitled to and didn't bother telling anyone senior about your little strop?

Makes no difference to me.

First Up

GerardKeating wrote:

Remember their is a cost to the retailer in accepting a return, (apart from the now lower price).

The cost of losing customers is higher.

Many comments in this thread display a primitive understanding of what constitutes succesful retailing.

eeguy

First Up wrote: »

The cost of losing customers is higher.

Many comments in this thread display a primitive understanding of what constitutes succesful retailing.

Many of your comments show no understanding of a retailers obligations to their customers.
In your case, there's none.

Just accept that and stop ignoring every comments that doesn't agree with your own incorrect opinion.

R.D. aka MR.D

First Up wrote: »

Depends what you call a strop. No voices were raised - the whole encounter took under a minute.

Did you even give them a chance to resolve it to your satisfaction? It was probably just the sales assistant who you were talking to who has absolutely no authorisation to do anything other than policy (unless you want them to risk their job to keep you as a customer).

If you weren't happy you could have spoken to a manager who might have given you more satisfaction as they have more leeway in returns etc. In fact, if you had of been more patient, the most likely outcome would have been the assistant asking you to wait for a manager (it's usually how lowest rung retail workers are trained to deal with difficult customers).

First Up

R.D. aka MR.D wrote:

Did you even give them a chance to resolve it to your satisfaction? It was probably just the sales assistant who you were talking to who has absolutely no authorisation to do anything other than policy (unless you want them to risk their job to keep you as a customer).

Yes I did but person at desk was adamant and I was not interested in making a scene or delaying those behind me.

First Up

First Up wrote: »

As I said before, I had no interest in doing business with a shop with that attitude. The €15 (or €7.50) was neither here nor there.

I have plenty to read; I went to another bookshop and spent considerably more than €15.

Did you consult the refund policy in the new bookshop before making your purchases?

Had a few customers bring products to my Tesco with no receipt, swearing they definitely bought it there. You look at it and point the Dunnes label out and sometimes they still insist. :-)

Minderbinder

First Up wrote: »

The cost of losing customers is higher.

Many comments in this thread display a primitive understanding of what constitutes succesful retailing.

I think there is a lower standard of service in Ireland because customers are generally pushovers who rarely argue about things that cause them grief.

Despite that, I think in your case it's your fault for not talking to a manager. I guess if you explained your situation to someone who can actually make a decision then you'd have got your full refund.

You seem to have a primitive understanding of how to deal with people.

runawaybishop

First Up wrote: »

The cost of losing customers is higher.

Many comments in this thread display a primitive understanding of what constitutes succesful retailing.

Some customers are clearly worth losing. The shop was more than reasonable accepting a return on what could easily be a used item. You have no valid reason to be upset, they went above what they are required to do.

R.D. aka MR.D

First Up wrote: »

Yes I did but person at desk was adamant and I was not interested in making a scene or delaying those behind me.

Was it the manager?

If it wasn't, then asking for the manager isn't causing a scene and it won't delay anyone except yourself. It probably happens at least 5 times a day in a busy shop, more at this time of year when there are so many returns.

First Up

eeguy wrote:

Many of your comments show no understanding of a retailers obligations to their customers. In your case, there's none.

I assume (and hope) you are not in retailing.
This was never about "obligations". Stop viewing this as a legal issue and try to think of it in business terms.

DivingDuck

First Up wrote: »

Makes no difference to me.

If €7.50 makes no difference to you, why do you care about any of this? That's all that was at stake here at the outset...

First Up

Deleted User wrote:

Did you consult the refund policy in the new bookshop before making your purchases?

No, and any retailer that wants to make it harder for people to buy won't be around for long.

Deleted User wrote:

Had a few customers bring products to my Tesco with no receipt, swearing they definitely bought it there. You look at it and point the Dunnes label out and sometimes they still insist. :-)

As explained in the OP, I had the receipt. There was no dispute that I had bought it there, the only issue was their devaluing the receipt because they had devalued the item.

eeguy

First Up wrote: »

I assume (and hope) you are not in retailing.
This was never about "obligations". Stop viewing this as a legal issue and try to think of it in business terms.

I outlined my thoughts in a previous post.
It's common practice among small retailers to either not offer refunds on sale items or only offer the sale price.

runawaybishop

First Up wrote: »

I assume (and hope) you are not in retailing.
This was never about "obligations". Stop viewing this as a legal issue and try to think of it in business terms.

In business terms, a reasonable and appropriate effort should be made to appease customers. For a 15 euro book a refund of the current price is more than reasonable.

mfceiling

Some shops are better than others. I got a shirt from louis copeland from my mother in law for Xmas and it was too big. I brought it in to them...unworn, still in the louis copeland box and with the labels on it. The guy in the shop was adamant he couldn't do anything without a receipt. I told him I had no receipt and my mother in law lived down the country and I might not see her for a few months so getting the receipt might be a long process. Eventually after a big discussion between him and louis he comes to me and says "sorry I can't give you a refund...the only thing I could do is let you exchange it". He must have been hard of hearing because the initial conversation between us was me explaining that the shirt was too big and could I exchange it for a smaller size!!

First Up

runawaybishop wrote:

In business terms, a reasonable and appropriate effort should be made to appease customers. For a 15 euro book a refund of the current price is more than reasonable.

For a retailer, a lost customer over €7.50 is lousy judgement.

First Up

eeguy wrote:

I outlined my thoughts in a previous post. It's common practice among small retailers to either not offer refunds on sale items or only offer the sale price.

Maybe that's one of the reasons they remain small.

salamanca22

Simple case of the customer is not always right it seems. I don't think the shop is worrying about your business op. Plenty of reasonable people out there that will give them custom.