Massage chair impulsive buying: my struggle to cancel the order

I ordered a super expensive massage chair in the Sydney Home Show last Friday and I fully paid for it using my credit card. I got an impression from my wife that she wants me to buy it at the time (she was not with me). When I got home, I found out that she is completely against it.
The chair is not delivered, and the order form said it will be delivered in 2 weeks.
I immediately texted the sales person and asked her to cancel the order.
She says that they do not refund if buyer simply changes their mind. She says that she will ask the ‘head office’ but they may not accept the refund request.
In my opinion this is a very harsh unfair sales tactic. I literally changed my mind 5 hours after the order was placed. The goods is not delivered. I doubt that other than charging my card, anything else has happened in their system. I know that when buying a car from a dealer, you have a cool off period. but not sure if this applies to appliances.
What are my options? what should I do?

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Hi @Hamid, welcome to the community.

The retailer is correct that your situation falls under ‘change of mind’ and outside the Australian Consumer Law.

Some products do have cooling off periods legislated by State Governments. Unfortunately purchasing of appliances don’t have cooling off periods and one needs to look at the terms and conditions associated with the purchase. Businesses can have their own cooling off periods (where not legislated) and change in mind policies.

While a business can rightly refuse a refund for a change of mind, if they had good customer service one would hope that they also use their discretion to keep a customer happy. This is done rather than strictly upholding the terms and conditions/their change in mind policy.

Unfortunately if they are unwilling to give you a refund, there is little you can do. You can try and contact the company, not the sales guy you bought from, to see if they are more compassionate and willing to cancel the order and provide a refund. Maybe also try an negotiate a reasonable cancellation fee if you hit a brick wall with a full refund request.

If this doesn’t provide a satisfactory outcome, the only option may be accept the purchase and use the chair or sell the chair at a loss on its arrival on a public selling marketplace.

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To echo @phb, stores do not have to give refunds for change of mind.

I recall some years ago a couple of shoe stores were offering a refund if I return the shoes in a month and they are still in mint condition.

Those stores stopped that policy a few months ago. Now they will offer only a credit voucher if I return shoes in a month and do so in mint condition.

And that is for regular priced items or those on sale.

If shoes are on CLEARANCE then an exchange voucher is offered only if the goods are faulty.

Service at most retailers seems to be a race to the gutter.

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I know how you feel but sadly, it’s up to you to deal with it after the chair arrives. Advertise it everywhere and see if you can get the price you paid for it. I had a similar thing happen with a mattress I ordered online… I could not even lift the box it came in, much less open and get it onto the bed. They did agree to a return and refund but by the time i would have paid for return shipping and this nebulous thing called “stock replacement” which was not even going to be done, i was going to lose 50% of what I had paid. So I opted for local sale via Gumtree and it was gone in a day and cost me only the initial shipping.

Good luck…

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I tried to convince the company to cancel the order, and also offered to compensate them for doing so. They refused.
I told them my only other option would be to sell it online. They are now telling me that the warranty does not extend to the buyer. I have not even received the goods. They did not tell me this at the time of purchase. The order page that I signed is a single page with no reference to warranty conditions. (indeed there is no company info on it either).
Can they do this?

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Unfortunately in your case the business is correct. It was discussed in this thread. Unless the terms and conditions state the warranty is transferable, the warranty applies only to the purchaser/buyer and not anyone the chair is on sold to.

As they have specifically told you this, they might be a business that checks those who make warranty claims against their sales records. Many businesses wouldn’t if you had the original purchase receipt/tax invoice, assuming your name and address wasn’t on the receipt/tax invoice which would give away a resell of a product.

This is why if you decided to sell it it would be at a discount to new purchase price.

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