Diesel Clothing Crescent Shopping Centre Limerick

tommyh1977

I know this chain of shops have been discussed elsewhere on boards, but i need to vent my fury.

My wife bought two t-shirts in there last week, asked the guy on duty if there was a size issue could they be returned for a refund (as these were the biggest size they did). He said yes no problem once returned within 14 days.

Went in today to return the items as size was wrong, was told sorry exchange only as items were on sale. Explained we were told by (name) we could get a refund no problem, and he never mentioned because they were on sale they were exchange only. Then asked to speak to the manager to be told it was actually the manager who had done the original sale and had told my wife about the refund being ok, then to be told he was running late for work and would be in for 2 o'clock. We called back at 2 o'clock to be told he was not going to be in until 3 o'clock as he was making his way from Dublin. Now how can you misjudge your travel time from Dublin by one hour. The girl said she had since contacted him on the phone and he said he never told my wife anything of the sort and there was no refund possible. We then said we would settle for a credit note only to again be told exchange only.

I then pointed out to the girl that their refund policy was not publicly displayed at the point of sale, or anywhere in the shop for that matter, that the manager had said a return for refund was ok and the only place it stated "exchange on sale goods only" was on the receipt, therefore the goods were mis-sold to us as we had no means of knowing the refund policy until we had actually purchased the items, but she had checked before the sale.

I know every store has the right to not refund items, and every store's policy differs but as I said the refund policy was not displayed anywhere within the store, and my wife had got it verbally from the manager that a refund would be ok. He never pointed out at any stage that sale items were non refundable.

Long story short my wife ended up getting a top she didn't even like or want just to get something for our money.

I am taking this matter up with the national consumer agency first and then with the Diesel Ireland head office. I'll post how I get on as its the principal of this manager denying everything that's annoying me, not the value of the goods, plus any sort of a manager with good customer skills would have insisted in speaking with the customer before calling a blunt no refund!!

Esoteric_

There's no recourse for you, really. I mean, yeah it was bad of the guy to say he'd refund and then lie about it, but you're not legally entitled to anything just because it was the wrong size. An exchange, refund or credit note in that situation as purely at the discretion and good will of the shop itself. You're only entitled to a replacement or refund if the item is faulty, which your wife's purchase wasn't.

tommyh1977

As pointed out in my original post I fully understand its at the stores discretion to offer Exchange / Refund etc, and the customer have no legal grounds to demand same if they change their mind.

But as I said above it's the manager's lying that's bugging me, plus the fact their exchange policy is not in open public view at the point of sale so you can make an informed choice whether or not to risk purchasing the goods, it's not much use having the exchange policy printed on the receipt you get when you have purchased and paid for the goods. When my wife didn't see the exchange policy posted anywhere in the store, thats when she decided to ask before buying. If the manager said yes at purchase, then said no when we went to return them, that to me is misrepresentation. There was a couple next to us with the same issue regarding returns, and again they were pretty irate.

If the returns policy was in public view, well we would have just said fair enough, we should have read that. Elvery's Sport's & Lifestyle have in big print at their cash points that sale goods can only be exchanged not refunded, so do Dunnes!!

I am not looking for any financial redress, just want to let Diesel Ireland know what kind of a manager they have running their store!! Again as I said any sort of a professional manager would have made it their business to meet the customer, not just basically tell the shop assistant over the phone to tell them to p**s off!! To be fair the girl in the shop was embarrassed by the whole thing and even gave me the head office number and area manager;s number and name.

lala88

I assume you weren't there the first time so how do you know what was actually said? Im not trying to say your wife is the one lieing but its very easy to change ones story when nothing is in writing

tommyh1977

lala88 wrote: »

I assume you weren't there the first time so how do you know what was actually said? Im not trying to say your wife is the one lieing but its very easy to change ones story when nothing is in writing

No I wasn't there, but after 12 years I should trust my wife took things up the right way, plus she works in a different area of retail, so knows what customer service is all about!!!

lala88

tommyh1977 wrote: »

No I wasn't there, but after 12 years I should trust my wife took things up the right way, plus she works in a different area of retail, so knows what customer service is all about!!!

All im saying its very easy to change your story to make you look like the victim and theres no better place then hear for people to do that

tommyh1977

lala88 wrote: »

All im saying its very easy to change your story to make you look like the victim and theres no better place then hear for people to do that

What exactly are you implying? This is a consumer issues board and I have a consumer issue!!

tommyh1977

lala88 wrote: »

All im saying its very easy to change your story to make you look like the victim and theres no better place then hear for people to do that

You seem to have a very cynical view of people on here!! :rolleyes:

lala88

tommyh1977 wrote: »

What exactly are you implying? This is a consumer issues board and I have a consumer issue!!

That most of the ''issues'' are more often then not the falt of the customer but like i said its very easy for them to clame they compnay is in the wrong

lala88

tommyh1977 wrote: »

You seem to have a very cynical view of people on here!! :rolleyes:

Like i said id bet most of the issue people calme on hear are there own falt

tommyh1977

lala88 wrote: »

Like i said id bet most of the issue people calme on hear are there own falt

Probably so!! Granted there are a lot of people who come on here who are in the wrong.

In my case the store did not have a displayed returns policy so my wife had no choice but to take it verbally. Fair enough it was on the receipt but she didn't even feel the need to look at that after she was told a return would be ok. If like other stores they had a sign up stating sale goods were exchange only if returned, she could have made an informed decision to either leave the goods or else buy them and live with the mistake afterwards if they were wrong. She took the managers word in good faith and he turned the tables. While we were in there today there was another couple at the next till having problems with returns, coincidence, I think not. It would be in the stores best interest to display a returns policy, just to save themselves some hassle.

tommyh1977

A post from the Diesel Shop thread on the Limerick board, which I also posted in.

I went after christmas too to return a shirt that did not fit. They tried every trick in the book not to give me the refund but I stood firm

They eventually gave in, they could see I would not take no for an answer

slimjimmc

If the store manager confirmed before she purchased that she could get a refund then that agreement becomes a material part of the sales contract and could have influenced her decision to buy.


The problem is proving it.

tommyh1977

slimjimmc wrote: »

If the store manager confirmed before she purchased that she could get a refund then that agreement becomes a material part of the sales contract and could have influenced her decision to buy.


The problem is proving it.

Exactly proving it is the issue. It was just coincidence the guy that sold her the clothes turned out to be the manager!!

bellieella

You bought the t shirt s in sale probably for half nothing!!! Wouldn't u just take the credit note or exchange and b happy.

CaliforniaDream

bellieella wrote: »

You bought the t shirt s in sale probably for half nothing!!! Wouldn't u just take the credit note or exchange and b happy.

In an ideal world people would read the thread before posting...

OP, not sure what your rights are in this case. Hopefully one of the regular and knowledgeable posters can inform you.

My suggestion would be to meet with the manager in person. Get a contact number from the store or a set date and time when he is there.
Explain what happened but don't be rude, argumentative or angry as you're less likely to see results.
If he won't meet with you then I'd suggest going above him to get a definite answer and letting his boss know that you didn't receive help from the manager in the 1st place.
Hope it gets sorted and doesn't happen to someone else.

tommyh1977

bellieella wrote: »

You bought the t shirt s in sale probably for half nothing!!! Wouldn't u just take the credit note or exchange and b happy.

As I said in OP, I offered to take a credit note but they wouldn't give one. Why should I just take an exchange and be happy when my wife was told a refund would be no problem? As regards buying for half nothing, reduced from by 5 euro, wouldn't call that half nothing. Again as I said in OP its the principal of the manager changing his story is bugging me, not the value of the goods.

tommyh1977

CaliforniaDream wrote: »

In an ideal world people would read the thread before posting...

+1;)