It is worth reading the information presented by Choice in Chargebacks…
Detailed information on the two most popular credit cards used in Australia can be found here: Mastercard and Visa. These provide information on how to increase likelihood of a chargeback success and also the merchants involvement in disputing chargebacks.
As indicated, a chargeback won’t work at this stage for number of reasons, firstly TGG have agreed to refund, they are waiting for bank details by email as they requested and there is opportunity for one to communicate with TGG to get it resolved. TGG would dispute any chargeback on this basis. The chargeback won’t occur due to risk of double dipping - from a successful chargeback and the retail independently providing a refund as they have agreed
As indicated above, on further contact, if they refuse a refund one would then have grounds for a chargeback.
It is unfortunate that a mistaken email address has lead to the grief @siegrist has faced. As I keep indicating, TGG hasn’t refused a refund and contact (phone/in person) should be made with TGG to resolve. This is outlined as the first course if action in the above Choice advice.
This is a problem. I expect retailers are chasing sales rather than meeting all a customers expectations.
The old adage of rubbish data in equates to rubbish data out still applies. Human error is also possible.
With online shopping and poor consumer behaviour of a minority, the days if COD are gone.
We can argue whether TGG proposed refund method in this case is reasonable or whether stock inventory shown online should be accurate, but example also shows that simple mistake in an email address can cause things to go wrong. It also shows it possibly could have easily been resolved by a simple phone call and/visiting the store in question if convenient.
Why the original communication between @siegrist and TGG led to a different outcome with a suggested direct deposit by TGG to a bank account is not evident. IE Whether it has been a misunderstanding, encouraged by TGG or a specific request by @siegrist.
Another Community member with a problem at TGG tried sending them a registered letter to their head office a year or so back. TGG did not collect it. It appears they will not accept registered post, reinforcing their corporate view of relationships with customers as well as potentially with regulators and antagonistic lawyers.
OTOH I have had nothing but good experiences with the Northland (Melbourne) store so going to the store personally or by phone seems the best approach with them.
Our last returned product to a major retailer we were bombarded with refund options…refund back to the debit/credit card, store voucher, store credit or to purchase other things while in store to use some of the refunded monies. We chose refund to our debit card.
I have noticed many businesses offer a range of refund methods. Many of these are to maintain the sale/cash flow to the business.
I am surprised that a business would offer a bank transfer when the original payment was using a debit/credit card. When such transaction occurs, the business pays for the merchant fees for the original transaction. If the original credit card transaction was reversed/refunded, the business does not pay any merchant fees (these are reversed with the refund). For a $1000 sale, using bank transfer would cost the business between $10-20 for the failed sale…not great business practice.
It is likely that TGG may also offer a range of refund options, which may include bank transfer.
An individual may also ask for a specific refund method. An example may be that the balance of the credit card has been already paid and the particular card issuer doesn’t allow positive card balances/loading up the credit card (like outs doesn’t).In such case, one might ask for a bank transfer to return the funds to the account used to pay the credit card amount off.
There is always flexibility to best suit the circumstances at hand.
Please call them to reorganise the refund. It is the simplest advice I can give. Make sure you have your online purchase receipt when you call. Also advise that you tried emailing your banking details but used the wrong email address which bounced. Ask if the refund can be made back to the credit card…or to the refund method of your choice (such as bank transfer). Give them the details over the phone to ensure that they have them rather than relying on sending it by other means.
It will possibly will save you a lot of time and effort trying to pursue other pathways which will only extend the duress and may not give you the outcome you are after.
Not only did I read that Choice article, my experiences in doing chargebacks are in the article.
But you give good advice. Since email and snail mail don’t seem to working, a store visit if possible and speak to someone about this is probably better since the company has offered a refund in full.
It used to be that the card was not charged until the goods actually shipped.
Has this changed? Because that would certainly have eliminated the problem the poster had.
Reading the T&Cs there are other representations by the seller that the availability of a product is not assured at the time an order is accepted. IE ‘the certain circumstances’ per para 6.1
As has been pointed out by @phb in post number 2, the email address you sent your email to is incorrect. Perhaps you typed the address incorrectly as the return message sounds like it has come from your email client, which has not been able to deliver to a non-existent email address.
I would write a formal email to geelong@thegoodguys.com.au requesting for the $1,000 to be recredited to your credit/debit card as per the discussion you had with their staff member. Do NOT provide any details for any other account (as mentioned in a number of posts).
If they reply that they will provide the credit, but they can not recredit to the credit/debit card, in your position I would ask for the cash. ((You may have to make a trip there to collect it.)
@ siegrist, Actually given the relatively low amount involved here, you can make a claim to the small claims court, and for that you do not need a solicitor!
There is usually an assumption that in making representations to the person or business to recover the money owed, all reasonable steps have been taken and failed.
The Good Guys T&Cs set out what steps a customer can take to obtain a refund and to resolve a dispute. There are numerous previous suggestions from the community pointing out the relevant steps to take.
If not a starting point for VCAT or the Magistrates Court will expect supporting documentation, records or evidence relating to the matter. The credit card transaction record as proof of payment, a printed copy of the online order confirmation including order number, and a record of any other correspondence received by email, SMS etc. For phone calls a record of the date and time and who one spoke to at TGG might be the minimum required to establish any account also written down as notes at that time.
Should @siegrist make one last effort to go in person to a nearby TGG store, IE with a printed copy of the order confirmation in hand, or phone with those details as previously suggested, before escalating this to a possible court action? The following may be useful content to consider before legal recovery is attempted.
Going down this path when non-legal avenues are available and highly likely to be successful, is very risky. Magistrate/small claim courts can award costs and if it could be demonstrated that the matter could have reasonably resolved successfully without the need of proceeding to court (courts and tribunals frown upon actions which are seen to ‘waste’ their time)., TGG could request their costs be paid. This may mean the costs will escalate and the printer/losses may be more than the purchase price.
I really get the impression that @siegrist is determined to get the money refunded the hard way via court proceedings, which could take a long time and expense, rather than the easy way.
Communicate with the company.
So email didn’t work, because the wrong address was used and it could not be delivered. Has this been retried using the correct address this time?
A letter has been tried, but no action. Again, was the correct company address used, or could it have been lost, or if not lost, just sitting in someone’s inbox whilst they are on leave or working from home?
Have you tried a good old fashion phone call?
Have you tried a store visit to talk to the manager or someone with authority to handle your refund?
If you can’t say that all the above have been tried then I would think a court would consider you to be wasting their time and dismiss your case. And costs can be awarded against you. Highly likely to be more than your original refund.
And since you paid by credit card, you always have the right offered by the credit card companies of a chargeback. But time is running out for that option.
There is a saying. Anyone who represents themselves in a court has a fool for a client.
Also, just because you as a complainant represent yourself does not mean that the defendent will do the same. No doubt the company would just hand over to a law firm who will charge big money to deal with it and seek to reclaim any and all costs if the action fails.
@Gregr Depends who you are and what the case is. I took on the ACCC in the Federal Court represented myself and won. I also took on an errant builder in the Magistrate Court, District Court and Local Court representing myself and won in every jurisdiction as well as the original case in NCAT (three times). So what does that say about me?
In the small claims court, most people are not represented and in any case, solicitor fees are not recoverable even if you win. The purpose of the small claims court is to offer a low-cost (lodgement fee only, and this is recoverable if you win) method to recover lost money for goods or services. The maximum that can be claimed is about $2000 so this case would easily fit the criteria. Often the threat of taking this action will solve the issue and if not then apart from your time, and the small fee, you will have lost nothing but may gain far more. There is a small claims court in every jurisdiction and certainly worth looking at in this case.
What does it say about you?
It says that you are a lawyer, or very knowlegable about legal matters, or had a very good case that a defendant really could not defend.
I would say that the ‘case’ in this post is nothing like you dealt with, and also the OP does not share your legal knowledge.
This is just a matter of arranging a refund, which the company has offered, and getting it sorted with a bit of sensible communications.
Advising court action should be a last resort, not the first.
