What to do about refusal to refund?

[PhilT]

@mel94

whether I should be naming the company

Please post it so we can ascertain if you shopped at a domestic or off-shore ecommerce site and so others can at least be aware of how they operate.

@mel94

When the shoes arrived, over 3 weeks later, I found

There are periodic posts about ecommerce businesses that are difficult to deal with when an item of apparel does not fit. Some think that is unconscionable and others think a consumer needs to read the T&C. Here is a related topic that may be instructive.

When did “does not fit” become a “change of mind” policy?

Living in a regional area, there are limited options for purchasing clothing. Covid 19 forced many (clothing) retails to close their doors. Out of necessity, I now need to shop online. In May I purchased direct from Princess Highway/ Dangerfield Brand some skirts on Sale. I had previously purchased this brand from either Myer or direct from them, without any problems with sizing and fit (pants, dresses & tops). The skirts I bought where too short. After giving up on trying to navigate there N…

@mel94

[the ecommerce site] have posted on our website that items that are on sale can’t be returned

That is contrary to Australian Consumer Law. From p14 (hot linked)

… signs that state ‘no refunds’ or ‘no refund on sale items’, could lead consumers to believe they have no right to a refund under any circumstances, which is untrue because if a statutory condition has been breached, the consumer may be entitled to a refund. Policies that set a time limit, such as ‘no refunds after 30 days’, can be misleading because statutory rights have no time limits, other than what is ‘reasonable’.

The crux of the matter is whether you had a change of mind or there are other issues.

@mel94

To me … any reasonable person would take their Returns page to be the authoritative source of how to get their returns processed, plus they push the “easy returns” policy as part of their advertising.

If it is a domestic ecommerce site you could write a formal Letter of Complaint citing that, and noting their ‘no refunds of sale items’ is against the ACL. If they are offshore they probably will not be impressed.

A bottom line oft repeated is prior to purchasing anything online, and especially clothing, it is imperative to look at their change of mind policy because if it goes poorly that will often be the litmus test regarding consumer rights - unless there are other issues in play.