I’m posting this thread because twice in the last month I have been ripped off by well known brand names when buying online.
A couple of weeks ago I ordered a caulking gun from B&Q’s website DIY.com which turned out to be a purchase from a third party supplier on their “marketplace”. The purchase came without any charging mechanism and no battery. They first wanted to give me only 30% reduction then 60% and it took a few emails to get confirmation that I could return to store. If I do I have no idea whether I will get a refund and I now see on trustpilot that B&Q have a terrible reputation for online purchase refunds. Buyer beware
Today I have tried to return some scholl Bahia flip flop type slip ons as they are a) uncomfortable at the toes and b) very slippy on wet floors. I used to wear flip flops around the house until I fell over in the kitchen last year on a patch of water. So the whole point of getting these types of slip ons was to ensure they are safe on wet surfaces. I wanted to try scholl to replace some croc classic sandals (which I highly recommend).
On trying to return the scholls I am directed to a website which gives the only options as a UPS carrier that would leave me with only a 31% refund of the total I paid! I’m guessing these days the shipping costs are lost but even if I knock that off I am only being offered 50% of the cost of the item! Absolute shocker - be careful out there to check the return terms and conditions before you buy from big names you thought you could trust!
Please do share your own experiences on this thread so that we can all be warned of other websites to avoid.
I buy very little online Annie, only if I have to. I’ll even pay a bit more and go to a shop 50 miles away so I can examine/try on before I buy. I do shop at the B&Q in person and find some of their stuff very cheap and shoddy. We have shot ourselves in the foot, because half the people are lazy, preferring to shop from the comfort of their armchairs, and the other half, haven’t got time to go out and visit a proper shop in their rush to watch box sets, social media or some other cyber time wasting amusement, so most shops have closed and gone online…
OGF I too try to buy in person but as you say, many shops are no longer there or just don’t have the variety of stock in the shop. Trusted retailers are dwindling.
I called scholl and it turns out they have two companies and the Scholl UK side only sell the foot creams etc. Scholl shoes are based in Italy and Scholl UK won’t help with that as they say it’s a different company. They offered me an Italian phone number…
I haven’t bought on line in years. You do sometimes see something on Amazon that costs about £5, I get my neighbour to buy it as she get points (or something).
I know, there are some things you just can’t buy anywhere else. Electronics components are as rare as hens teeth since Tandy and Maplins closed down, so I found a little family run outfit that stock most of things I need and I’ve been doing business with them for a few years now…
you should be able to get a refund if you complain about online grocery quality. At least ocado refund right away if you complain a product is damaged etc
If I got a squidgy cucumber from Tesco it would be my fault because I always visit the store and choose my own. The only time I ordered online was just the once when we both had covid…
yes if it’s store bought you would be to blame for not squeezing the ends. You should always pick up your cumber, check if it is bendy or soft. That’s if you want to pay the 89p in the first place!
Dood I think amazon are maybe better than others in obtaining a refund or for returns. You do have to ensure you’re buying from amazon and you can easily check seller reviews there. I buy quite often from amazon and rarely have a problem. I did once have a quality problem with a piece of furniture so avoid buying anything bigger from there these days and am very careful to check reviews.
The nice thing about Ebay is that if you are dissatisfied with a company you can get a full refund (assuming you paid via PayPal). Over many years I have had to claim it back twice which I thought was a pretty good record.
The most recent was an order I made at the beginning of last month for some books, they did not arrive so I contacted the company, no reply, contacted Ebay and had the refund within a few days.
I used to sell Caridina and Neocaridina shrimp on ebay , it was a hobby as kept them / bred them but USPS was so bad that went only with Fed-ex but even then was a pain unless ideal temps or buyer used over night delivery which was to expensive so after bit over a year stopped and yes I always refunded if any problems
If I can’t get anything in the shops my first port of call will be ebay, but I don’t use paypal…
I bought some flags (I’m very patriotic) last month off ebay, and Amazon delivered them…
What’s that all about?
There were three different flags, 2x St George, 2x Union flags, and one for November…‘Lest we Forget’ St George was delivered by Royal Mail next day the union flags were delivered by Amazon in two days…and finally the ‘Lest we Forget’ flags by Evri…in 5 days, and the foreign driver nearly knocked my garden wall down in his van…
During COVID this really took off but I still went to store and stood an hour on line 6 feet apart with mask , n order to get fresh blood pudding , lol but yes what a pain it all was and creepy .
the union flags were delivered by Amazon in two days…and finally the ‘Lest we Forget’ flags by Evri…in 5 days, and the foreign driver nearly knocked my garden wall down in his van… 