Payment of refund from shop - what are my rights?
Discussion
Guys,
Hopefully a quickie.
Mrs 2Btoo and I ordered a kitchen from a major DIY chain last summer. We paid a £900 refundable deposit and have now decided not to go ahead with the kitchen from them. The store in question is 25mins or so travel from my home and is the nearest one of the chain.
I visited the store in late November as I was in the area to ask for a refund. The person whom I dealt with was not in but a message was passed to him. He subsequently 'phoned me and I explained the situation, and he asked me to eMail him in order that he had the request in writing, which I did in early December.
Come late December I had heard nothing so called the store, and was promised that the guy in question would call me back. He didn't.
I was in the area yesterday and so called in to see what was happening. The guy was in but denied receiving my eMail, until I showed him it on my 'phone. He then told me that he had requested the cancellation the day before (i.e Monday) and it would be with me by the middle of next week and there was nothing more for me to do.
He then called me twice yesterday afternoon with a series of stories that didn't add up (he was processing the refund more quickly and needed my card details over the 'phone, which I declined to give him, and later that the system had lost my card details and that a refund could ONLY be processed if I gave them to him over the 'phone, which I again declined to do.)
I have today been called by the store manager who admitted that giving the card details over the 'phone would be unwise and that I had to come into the store to put the card in their machine. I explained that I had called into the store twice and no neither occasion was I asked for my card. He said that they did have the card details but that they had been lost in a 'Google system migration', and later in the call said that the card details had not been retained as it would be in breach of GDPR legislation. I have subsequently contacted the regional manager who has eMailed me to say "I appreciate that you have visited the store twice in pursuit of the refund but this is the only option to give you back the money that you are owed."
I have no confidence in what I have been told by the store and do not want to waste an hour of my time going to the store a third time to give them card details. Refunds can be made by many processes; direct bank transfer being one of them and I'll happily give my bank details to them to enable this to happen.
In short, what are my rights in this situation? Do I have to spend an hour driving 30+ miles or can I insist on them refunding by another means?
All advice welcomed, thanks.
Hopefully a quickie.
Mrs 2Btoo and I ordered a kitchen from a major DIY chain last summer. We paid a £900 refundable deposit and have now decided not to go ahead with the kitchen from them. The store in question is 25mins or so travel from my home and is the nearest one of the chain.
I visited the store in late November as I was in the area to ask for a refund. The person whom I dealt with was not in but a message was passed to him. He subsequently 'phoned me and I explained the situation, and he asked me to eMail him in order that he had the request in writing, which I did in early December.
Come late December I had heard nothing so called the store, and was promised that the guy in question would call me back. He didn't.
I was in the area yesterday and so called in to see what was happening. The guy was in but denied receiving my eMail, until I showed him it on my 'phone. He then told me that he had requested the cancellation the day before (i.e Monday) and it would be with me by the middle of next week and there was nothing more for me to do.
He then called me twice yesterday afternoon with a series of stories that didn't add up (he was processing the refund more quickly and needed my card details over the 'phone, which I declined to give him, and later that the system had lost my card details and that a refund could ONLY be processed if I gave them to him over the 'phone, which I again declined to do.)
I have today been called by the store manager who admitted that giving the card details over the 'phone would be unwise and that I had to come into the store to put the card in their machine. I explained that I had called into the store twice and no neither occasion was I asked for my card. He said that they did have the card details but that they had been lost in a 'Google system migration', and later in the call said that the card details had not been retained as it would be in breach of GDPR legislation. I have subsequently contacted the regional manager who has eMailed me to say "I appreciate that you have visited the store twice in pursuit of the refund but this is the only option to give you back the money that you are owed."
I have no confidence in what I have been told by the store and do not want to waste an hour of my time going to the store a third time to give them card details. Refunds can be made by many processes; direct bank transfer being one of them and I'll happily give my bank details to them to enable this to happen.
In short, what are my rights in this situation? Do I have to spend an hour driving 30+ miles or can I insist on them refunding by another means?
All advice welcomed, thanks.
FWIW said:
Haha 
Wren are horrific, but they’re actually quite good at issuing refunds when people see sense and cancel.
Just had a Wren kitchen fitted.Wren are horrific, but they’re actually quite good at issuing refunds when people see sense and cancel.
Wren are a f
king joke. To many fkups to list. However the fitter was absolutely excellent and made the process bearable.Thanks Jack, if you ever read this.
scorcher said:
Every time I have had a refund, they have always insisted on refunding to however it was paid. Either back to the card by which it was paid, cash if it was paid for by cash etc etc.
Agreed. It is also so the company receives a "refund" on any commission/card fees charged by the acquirer.DSLiverpool said:
If you paid by card it must be refunded to the same card - no other alternative. Go down and sort it.
That isn't even remotely true though. It's massively preferable to reverse the transaction rather than dealing with card charges and account reconciliations, but the store can very obviously refund in anyway that they like. For example, they will usually try to fob you off with a refund using store credit because that way they keep the money.
DSLiverpool said:
If you paid by card it must be refunded to the same card - no other alternative. Go down and sort it.
I've always wondered what they would do in the event that the card has subsequently expired and you have a new one with a different card number.Unless they can go back in time, there MUST be an alternative.
paradigital said:
I've always wondered what they would do in the event that the card has subsequently expired and you have a new one with a different card number.
Unless they can go back in time, there MUST be an alternative.
Guidance here Unless they can go back in time, there MUST be an alternative.
paulrockliffe said:
DSLiverpool said:
If you paid by card it must be refunded to the same card - no other alternative. Go down and sort it.
That isn't even remotely true though. It's massively preferable to reverse the transaction rather than dealing with card charges and account reconciliations, but the store can very obviously refund in anyway that they like. For example, they will usually try to fob you off with a refund using store credit because that way they keep the money.
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