Refund for returned items

dubdev

Hi there

I bought a laptop from an Irish company a couple of weeks ago but returned it last week by courier, delivering on Thursday last.

The packaging had not been opened in any way so I thought it would be a straightfoward process, but I still have not been refunded.

Since I made the original order, the card I made the purchase with had to be replaced and the card number changed, but since I did not hear from the merchant regarding any failed refunds, I'm assuming they didn't attempt to make one.

I emailed yesterday with my bank details and they said I will be refunded in the next 7-14 days, but as far as I know when buying online, I must be refunded within 14 days of receipt of goods.

Should I make a complaint or ask them expedite the refund?

Thanks

Xterminator

you have 14 days to return the item.

theres no statute saying you ,ust receive your refund within 14 days.

they have agreed to refund you. when its refunded you can calculate how long it took, however -its not their issue your credit card was cancelled, and they have agreed to refund into your bank account within 14 days of receiving your details.

all in , it sounds to me like you are looking for a reason to be annoyed where none exists?

CeilingFly

I work witha compnay that has an online operation. For smaller items with a value under €100 we'd refund fairly quickly within 2 days of getting the item back (only two people have the authority to do the refund), and it can then take 2 further days to appear on someone's card depending on the issuing bank.

So goods received last Thursday would only see refund today or yesterday.

However you are looking for a refund to be done to your bank and not to the card that was used to pay for the goods - that throws a red flag and we;d be loath to do it without extra checks.

1 - Was a stolen credit card used? - That's first question and its a well known scam.

2 - will there be a chargeback

3 - we'd still be paying credit card charges as they would not be refunded

4 - paperwork trail has to be created for revenue purposes

5 - Its an utter pain in the ass

The company is fully entitled to make the refund back to the card you paid with - the bank will then link that into your new card. I'd be very surprised if a direct bank payment is made without further investigation so that the sender is protected.

So you need to accdept that your request is unusual and can be seen as suspicious and if further info is required, you should be happy to supply it. If it was me, I'd ask for a copy of ID and a copy of a bank statement (with transactions blanked)

dubdev

CeilingFly wrote: »

I work witha compnay that has an online operation. For smaller items with a value under €100 we'd refund fairly quickly within 2 days of getting the item back (only two people have the authority to do the refund), and it can then take 2 further days to appear on someone's card depending on the issuing bank.

So goods received last Thursday would only see refund today or yesterday.

However you are looking for a refund to be done to your bank and not to the card that was used to pay for the goods - that throws a red flag and we;d be loath to do it without extra checks.

1 - Was a stolen credit card used? - That's first question and its a well known scam.

2 - will there be a chargeback

3 - we'd still be paying credit card charges as they would not be refunded

4 - paperwork trail has to be created for revenue purposes

5 - Its an utter pain in the ass

The company is fully entitled to make the refund back to the card you paid with - the bank will then link that into your new card. I'd be very surprised if a direct bank payment is made without further investigation so that the sender is protected.

So you need to accdept that your request is unusual and can be seen as suspicious and if further info is required, you should be happy to supply it. If it was me, I'd ask for a copy of ID and a copy of a bank statement (with transactions blanked)

You've jumped the gun a bit there. it was a debit card, not a credit card. Secondly, I enquired with the company if the cancellation of my card affected the refund, and they said it did. They then requested the bank details instead of my new card's details, not me.

What concerns me is that they have the goods back nearly a week, and I would've expected them to contact me by the end of last week and say that they're unable to refund to the card or if they had any other problems with the refund transaction.

L1011

Additional to the extensive list of reasons there, there's another one. A bank/cash refund for a credit card purchase effectively becomes a cash advance that the credit card issuer has not been able to charge you cash interest on. They clearly dislike this; and as a result its often prohibited in merchant agreements.

This isn't an issue in the same way if it was a debit card being used; but the rest still apply - chargebacks can be done on debit cards in Ireland and so on.

dubdev

L1011 wrote: »

Additional to the extensive list of reasons there, there's another one. A bank/cash refund for a credit card purchase effectively becomes a cash advance that the credit card issuer has not been able to charge you cash interest on. They clearly dislike this; and as a result its often prohibited in merchant agreements.

This isn't an issue in the same way if it was a debit card being used; but the rest still apply - chargebacks can be done on debit cards in Ireland and so on.

Purchase was done with a debit card. Chargebacks can be done on debit cards but they take weeks and require providing proof by the buyer that they attempted to contact the seller and resolve the issue amicably.

L1011

dubdev wrote: »

Chargebacks can be done on debit cards but they take weeks and require providing proof by the buyer that they attempted to contact the seller and resolve the issue amicably.

The same as they do on credit cards.

There is nothing to stop the retailer refunding the transaction to the cancelled card number; as the money will get to you. By requesting it by EFT you have made the entire process massively complicated and honestly I don't see how you can expect to hold them to deadlines.

CeilingFly

dubdev wrote: »

You've jumped the gun a bit there. it was a debit card, not a credit card. Secondly, I enquired with the company if the cancellation of my card affected the refund, and they said it did. They then requested the bank details instead of my new card's details, not me.

What concerns me is that they have the goods back nearly a week, and I would've expected them to contact me by the end of last week and say that they're unable to refund to the card or if they had any other problems with the refund transaction.

Not jumping the gun, just giving you possible reasons for a delay.

In any case a refund to a cancelled debit card would still get back into your account as the number would still exist within the bank's account system.

Also, not everuone in a company would have access to making a refund. Assuming they use the likes of realex you need to log in and for security purposes most companies would not have many people with that access.

For direct bank payment probably even less people have access as it means access to their online banking system - here in my place only two would have such access.

Within norms, I'd always alow 7 days for a refund. For yours, I'd be allowing an additional few days.

CeilingFly

dubdev wrote: »

Purchase was done with a debit card. Chargebacks can be done on debit cards but they take weeks and require providing proof by the buyer that they attempted to contact the seller and resolve the issue amicably.

But once notified of a possible chargeback on a debit card the funds are frozen until resolved.

With a credit card chargeback funds are debited almost immediately and returned if the merchant proves it was a valid charge.

dubdev

CeilingFly wrote: »

Not jumping the gun, just giving you possible reasons for a delay.

In any case a refund to a cancelled debit card would still get back into your account as the number would still exist within the bank's account system.

Also, not everuone in a company would have access to making a refund. Assuming they use the likes of realex you need to log in and for security purposes most companies would not have many people with that access.

For direct bank payment probably even less people have access as it means access to their online banking system - here in my place only two would have such access.

Within norms, I'd always alow 7 days for a refund. For yours, I'd be allowing an additional few days.

I wonder why they requested my bank details then? I regret buying from this company because with Amazon or Komplett.ie it's so simple to return something and the turnaround time is really quick.

The company I bought from don't give you any transparency into their returns process. I'm not happy that I've returned the goods and they are holding onto my funds for nearly a week without any explanation.

dubdev

L1011 wrote: »

The same as they do on credit cards.

There is nothing to stop the retailer refunding the transaction to the cancelled card number; as the money will get to you. By requesting it by EFT you have made the entire process massively complicated and honestly I don't see how you can expect to hold them to deadlines.

They said it would need to be done by EFT, I didn't request it.

ssmith6287

Most places work at least a day behind. eg. you will send stock back to the company on Monday. It could arrive wednesday. It will be inspected thursday, the accounts dept will be given clearence on the friday. They will refund and it can take 10 working days, sometimes longer especially if a 3rd party payments processor is used, as someone said an example being realex. So if the accounts dept requested a refund on the friday, it could be monday by the time realex issues.

I would email asking if the refund has been processed. Once they agree count 10 days. If funds still havent hit your account then contact the bank to see if there's anything due to come through. If they say no, ring the company following up with an email.