Cant return clothes, consumer rights?

Airyfairy12

I ordered a coat off the gap website, never ordered from them before but on the website they say they have free returns by mail. My order finally came after 2 weeks but the coat is too big so decided to return it, went onto the returns section and it says I have to bring the returns to a DHL centre, the nearest one is in Dublin which is miles from me and I dont drive, theres no other way of returning it. I tried emailing the contact support and got no reply, theyre not answering the phones either, it also has to be returned within a month of date of purchase. Ive never encountered this problem with a company before and always saw Gap as a good company. Do I have consumer rights regarding this?

dudara

As you purchased online, you have the right to return up to 14 days from receipt of goods.

Do you have the return address? If so, I'd send it back via registered post

Peregrinus

dudara wrote: »

As you purchased online, you have the right to return up to 14 days from receipt of goods.

Do you have the return address? If so, I'd send it back via registered post

That'll cost her about 30 euros, assuming the package weighs between 500g and 1kg, and assuming it has to go to the UK. She says the website promised free returns by mail.

Airyfairy12

dudara wrote: »

As you purchased online, you have the right to return up to 14 days from receipt of goods.

Do you have the return address? If so, I'd send it back via registered post

Thanks Dudara, Theres no return address. I might contact the courier company today to see if they can help me out

Airyfairy12

Peregrinus wrote: »

That'll cost her about 30 euros, assuming the package weighs between 500g and 1kg, and assuming it has to go to the UK. She says the website promised free returns by mail.

Thanks Peregrinus, yes this is my problem it will cost so much to return it, I only ordered because the site said free mail returns

Airyfairy12

So I rang the courier company and they told me theyve had similar problems with gap customers trying to return purchases, they dont provide customers with the account number from the delivery service so the courier company can't collect and return the items. Does anyone know my consumer rights regarding this? I cant afford to be out of pocket over this.

dudara

You are entitled to return it for a refund under Distance Selling legislation, but the retailer is under no obligation to pay for the return. Many of the retailers provide free returns as it's worth it, but they don't have to.

It's always worth reading in detail about returns & postage policy before buying.

In your case, they've offered a returns mechanism and I don't think they're obliged to do more. Keep chasing them though to see if you can get a response from them.

Airyfairy12

dudara wrote: »

You are entitled to return it for a refund under Distance Selling legislation, but the retailer is under no obligation to pay for the return. Many of the retailers provide free returns as it's worth it, but they don't have to.

It's always worth reading in detail about returns & postage policy before buying.

In your case, they've offered a returns mechanism and I don't think they're obliged to do more. Keep chasing them though to see if you can get a response from them.

Thanks Dudara, ill try them again later x

Peregrinus

You could post the coat to the DHL centre, which will cost less than posting it to the UK.

I had a look at the gap.co.uk website. It does say "free returns on all orders" right there on the landing page, but it's highlighted to show that it's a clickable link, and if you click on it up pops a box which refers to "the pre-paid Royal Mail or Collect + shipping label included in your package". It's obvious that a prepaid Royal Mail label is going to be useless in the RoI, and I wouldn't assume that a Collect + label is much better. I'd always assume, when buying online from another country, that things like shipping charges, delivery times, return arrangements, etc, may not be as advertised on the landing page, and that I need to burrow down a bit to find out what the deal relevant to me is.

Having said that, they do mention a Collect + label, and I believd Collect + has an arrangement with Parcel Motel in Ireland, which would give you a lot more potential return locations. Did you get a Collect + label? It might be worth looking into whether that would be a better option for you than DHL.

Airyfairy12

Peregrinus wrote: »

You could post the coat to the DHL centre, which will cost less than posting it to the UK.

I had a look at the gap.co.uk website. It does say "free returns on all orders" right there on the landing page, but it's highlighted to show that it's a clickable link, and if you click on it up pops a box which refers to "the pre-paid Royal Mail or Collect + shipping label included in your package". It's obvious that a prepaid Royal Mail label is going to be useless in the RoI, and I wouldn't assume that a Collect + label is much better. I'd always assume, when buying online from another country, that things like shipping charges, delivery times, return arrangements, etc, may not be as advertised on the landing page, and that I need to burrow down a bit to find out what the deal relevant to me is.

Having said that, they do mention a Collect + label, and I believd Collect + has an arrangement with Parcel Motel in Ireland, which would give you a lot more potential return locations. Did you get a Collect + label? It might be worth looking into whether that would be a better option for you than DHL.

Thanks Peregrinus, no it didnt give me anything. Ill try Parcel Motel like you suggested and see how I get on. x

poppies2

I returned half an order to Gap there last month and when I printed out the label it just said bring it to an post and not a dhl centre? It is very confusing but when you print out the label the address is to DHL Germany as far as I remember. When I went to an post they just scanned it and didn't have to pay, the girl even said "ah yea GAP that's already paid for"

Scraggs

poppies2 wrote: »

I returned half an order to Gap there last month and when I printed out the label it just said bring it to an post and not a dhl centre? It is very confusing but when you print out the label the address is to DHL Germany as far as I remember. When I went to an post they just scanned it and didn't have to pay, the girl even said "ah yea GAP that's already paid for"

I've had same experience with Banana Republic which is same company as GAP. Print out returns label and drop off at Post Office. Unless you've not ordered from the Irish (eu) site? If it's ordered from UK site use Collect+ and Parcel Motel.

Airyfairy12

Yes ive finally found the an post label.. doh! I had to fill out the DHL form to get to it, dont know why the lady in the DHL office didnt tell me that when I rang, although she was nice and v helpful otherwise.

Thanks for your help everyone.

eviltimeban

Where are you based OP? There's a few DHL depots around the place: https://www.google.ie/search?q=dhl+drop+off&oq=dhl+drop+off+&aqs=chrome..69i57j0l5.3421j0j7&sourceid=chrome&es_sm=93&ie=UTF-8#q=dhl+drop+off&rflfq=1&rlha=0&rllag=53335057,-6256446,1109&tbm=lcl&tbs=lrf:!2m1!1e3!3sEAE,lf:1,lf_ui:3

There's one around the corner from where I work, very handy as you just drop your box in and walk out again. I've returned many clothes items this way, free of charge.

Oh and it's right across from Pearse Street Dart station, so if you are on or near a Dart line that might be of help.

Airyfairy12

Thanks eviltimeban, I got it sorted. x

Mods can you close the thread please?

dudara

Delighted to hear it's all OK. Closing thread now