Gift Receipt Advice - update good result

staffitaxi

staffitaxi

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Andrea
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I don't know if anyone can help me but:

I bought my sister a top from River Island for Christmas and gave her the gift receipt. Unfortunately it didn't fit so she took it back today to exchange it. As you might expect they didn't have the same item in her size.

However they refused to accept the Gift Receipt as proof of the purchase and woudn't refund the full value of the item as to what I had paid before Christmas.

I thought the whole point of a Gift Receipt was so that the person could go into the shop and exchange it at full value. If this isn't the case then it actually isn't worth the paper it is printed on.

My sister being as green as grass accepted what they told her and has now lost out on probaly around £10.00 of what I spent on her at Christmas.

I'm sitting here fuming but unsure as to where we stand.

Any advice greatly recieved.

Thanks

Andrea
 
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theyre talking out of their bums, a gift receipt is proof of purchase. they may only accept an exchange however depending on their policy.

id go back and demand to speak to the manager if you havent already.
 
Hi Andrea, I have never heard of a gift receipt but couldnt you go in with the original till reciept and get something that fits or a refund

Pete
 
Dangermouse1964 said:
Hi Andrea, I have never heard of a gift receipt but couldnt you go in with the original till reciept and get something that fits or a refund

Pete
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basically its a receipt you can give with a gift (normally at christmas) that does not display any prices so that if it is not to the recipients taste or size they can exchange it.
 
Unfortunately I wasn't with her and she returned from town a few hours ago.
They only offered her £12.00 for the top it cost me £24.99.

She swapped if for something costing £29.99 and had to pay £17.00 difference.

Now I'm really stonking.
 
neil_g said:
basically its a receipt you can give with a gift (normally at christmas) that does not display any prices so that if it is not to the recipients taste or size they can exchange it.
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Thanks Neil, Eileen has also explained it as she works in a shop and they gave them out this year too
 
I f I was you I would go back into town with her to River Island with her purchases and receipt which should have an exchange on it.Although it didn't have a price on it the shop can check on their computer the price as to when it was purchased.
We at Wilkinsons had gift receipts and many of the gifts are half price now but if someone brought a gift back for exchange ,it would be at ex-christmas prices.
 
I've just sent a strongly worded but polite message via the website. I'll give them until Wed to respond and if I don't hear anything I'll take it further.

Thanks for the replies folks.
 
staffitaxi said:
I've just sent a strongly worded but polite message via the website. I'll give them until Wed to respond and if I don't hear anything I'll take it further.
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That's probably the best route.
You'll have more luck going via the head office than through the individual store.
Also make sure that you have the necessary documentation to hand.

Proof of purchase for the original item - that can be a bank statement / credit card statement showing the original price that you paid.
The receipt for the replacement item showing how much it was refunded at.

Good Luck!
 
staffitaxi said:
I've just sent a strongly worded but polite message via the website. I'll give them until Wed to respond and if I don't hear anything I'll take it further.

Thanks for the replies folks.
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Thats probably a waste of time. Just go to the shop in question or phone them. Speak to a human rather than type to a website.
 
andrewc said:
Thats probably a waste of time. Just go to the shop in question or phone them. Speak to a human rather than type to a website.
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Sorry, but I really don't agree.
Having worked at the head office for a national retailer, I know that despite the best will in the world with training programmes etc, there will always be staff members who don't quite understand consumer rights.
I've been on the receiving end of lots of phone calls from store staff asking "can we refund this?" etc etc. Unfortunately, if the POS system has been updated with new sale prices, there is a tendency in stores to just refund at whatever price the till tells them - as the OP has discovered.

Most retailers now have a dedicated customer services EMail address - and while it may not be speedy, IMO the OP is likely to get a better response. If not a refund, then vouchers or a credit note for the shortfall.

:shrug: Just my personal opinion / experience.
No harm in trying either way.
 
Odd, i took something back to a major retailer today for which i didnt even have the reciept for, they offered either a gift reciept or exchange for the full value. Being as they had another item i wanted i simply swapped it.
 
Recently I had to return a faulty purchase to a major retailer - would you like a cash refund (£60) I was asked - stupidly because I intended to buy some other goods I opted for a credit note - however I only spent £25 and expected to receive £35 in cash change - no chance it was another credit note so I ended up buying a coat for £35
Spoke to the manager who informed me it was not possible to give cash change, also noticed the credit note had an expiry date (1 year)???? - which is in common with gift cards HMV etc - WHY?????
Personally I will never purchase a gift card or stupidly opt for a credit note again
 
Doc said:
also noticed the credit note had an expiry date (1 year)???? - which is in common with gift cards HMV etc - WHY?????
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why not? if youre planning to go back within a year then youre really not that bothered on buying anything anyway..

youll probably find that 99% of retailers have this policy.

youd be surprised on how many gift vouchers never ever get redemed. with this in mind its the only way a retailer can make money out of the sale of vouchers concidering the cost of printing the voucher/card/envelopes etc etc.
 
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Same thing happened to me on Friday 31st dec. 09 at Republic. I had to produce original receipt before getting correct refund. I took it up with their head office today where I was told this was their policy. I am sure it must be against our statutory rights as it says on the gift receipt that if you produce a valid receipt and goods are as purchased, then you are entitled to a full refund. Only giving sale price would mean the gift receipt was infact not a valid receipt.
I would like to take this further. Anyone got any ideas?

staffitaxi said:
I don't know if anyone can help me but:

I bought my sister a top from River Island for Christmas and gave her the gift receipt. Unfortunately it didn't fit so she took it back today to exchange it. As you might expect they didn't have the same item in her size.

However they refused to accept the Gift Receipt as proof of the purchase and woudn't refund the full value of the item as to what I had paid before Christmas.

I thought the whole point of a Gift Receipt was so that the person could go into the shop and exchange it at full value. If this isn't the case then it actually isn't worth the paper it is printed on.

My sister being as green as grass accepted what they told her and has now lost out on probaly around £10.00 of what I spent on her at Christmas.

I'm sitting here fuming but unsure as to where we stand.

Any advice greatly recieved.

Thanks

Andrea
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rambits said:
they will not do anything if u cant provide a reciept
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Not quite true. The legal requirement is to provide "proof of purchase", which can be a receipt, but can also be a bank statement / credit card statement or anything else proving that you paid for the goods.

angistair said:
I would like to take this further. Anyone got any ideas?
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In the first instance I would contact the head office as opposed to the store. You'll probably find that the customer services department is more clued up on consumer rights than the individual store staff.
If you have no luck, then contact Trading Standards.

Unfortunately, if the goods are not faulty (i.e. you are just returning them because you don't like them or they don't fit) you don't actually have a legal right to a refund, so the store could quite legitimately refuse any refund / exchange at all.

However, issuing gift receipts and then only offering a refund at sale price rather than what was paid is completely out of order and should not be going on. If you returned the goods with a standard receipt, they wouldn't think twice about issuing a full price refund.
 
Well I did get a reply from my email and I was asked to send the receipts through as proof with a covering letter which I did.

This morning I received a letter from them with gift vouchers for the difference in price which I just passed on to my sister.

I had to put a bit of effort in to get a result but I'm pleased River Island have sorted it out. Hopefully they will also sort out the training of the staff in their Preston branch as well so other people don't have to mess around.

A thumbs up for River Island HQ though.
 
I think some people are expecting too much.

If you go into a shop and buy something which is faulty - then you are entitled to a refund.

If you buy something and decide that you don't like it, wrong colour/size or whatever then you are dependent on the shops goodwill - which is why they may offer credit notes or exchange. There is no obligation on the shop when you make a mistake/change your mind.
 
who? said:
I think some people are expecting too much.

If you go into a shop and buy something which is faulty - then you are entitled to a refund.

If you buy something and decide that you don't like it, wrong colour/size or whatever then you are dependent on the shops goodwill - which is why they may offer credit notes or exchange. There is no obligation on the shop when you make a mistake/change your mind.
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I thought you had 30 days to change your mind, regardless of whether the goods are faulty of not? There was a programme on TV recently about it.

Or is that to do with internet shopping?
 
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CarMac said:
I thought you had 30 days to change your mind, regardless of whether the goods are faulty of not? There was a programme on TV recently about it.

Or is that to do with internet shopping?
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Consumer Protection (Distance Selling) Regulations 2000 - 14 days to change your mind for mail order goods.
 
who? said:
I think some people are expecting too much.

If you go into a shop and buy something which is faulty - then you are entitled to a refund.

If you buy something and decide that you don't like it, wrong colour/size or whatever then you are dependent on the shops goodwill - which is why they may offer credit notes or exchange. There is no obligation on the shop when you make a mistake/change your mind.
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This was a gift not for myself. The whole point of Gift Receipts is so the person can change the item after Christmas if it either isn't something they would wear or if it was the wrong size. The Gift Receipt had a date on it which gave you extra time to return the item after the Christmas rush.

My sister wanted to replace the original item with the same thing only a size smaller but due to the sale they didn't have one.

I exchanged a cardigan my parents bought for me from River Island after Christmas because it looked like something Val Doonican would wear and it buttoned under the sleeves so was like wearing a straight jacket. I had no issues exchanging it for gift vouchers in the River Island store I visited.
There was nothing in the sale I wanted to buy so I took the vouchers instead and will hopefully find something when things are back on racks in their designs and sizes rather than it looking like a jumble sale.

This was all about staff not being properly trained to deal with returns from Christmas. I suspect as they also didn't get her to fill in her address details on the returns note that there may even have been some dodgyness going on, I hope not and that it was just lack of training but you never know.
 
on a seperate note i ventured into the mens section of river island when dragged in by my GF, jesus i took one look at the 'clothes' and the 'people' in there and decided best to leave, bloody hell it was horrible, i swear the men in their had bigger tits (definetly not pecs) than most of the women downstairs and they clearly had no concept of what size tshirts actually fitted them!

what is this current obsession with flourescent colours and tshirts with glitter on them, its not the 80s and your not boy george. its horrible.

whereas a trip into next all the male staff look like they are trying to adhere to some sort of 'must look like a cross between a gorrilas and a library clerk' code
 
i think in the UK, the squeeky wheel gets the oil. we're just not used to complaining or standing up for what we believe is right.
i've seen so many people get trodden on by the retail sector and accept it that i just will not let it happen to me anymore.
so much so, (and this has no bearing to the current thread), but i was behind a (approx. 12 year old) girl in macdonalds a few weeks back and she ordered whatever it was and she paid her money. the assistant was about to give the change of 1p and said... oh sorry, i've got no 1p's left... and the young girl said oh right ok... i piped up behind her... well give her 2p then and if you've not got that.. give her 5p! the assistant went red as a beetroot and went to another till to get the 1p!! honestly... am i a grumpy old bloke or should we see this more often?
 
staffitaxi said:
This was a gift not for myself. The whole point of Gift Receipts is so the person can change the item after Christmas if it either isn't something they would wear or if it was the wrong size. The Gift Receipt had a date on it which gave you extra time to return the item after the Christmas rush.

This was all about staff not being properly trained to deal with returns from Christmas. I suspect as they also didn't get her to fill in her address details on the returns note that there may even have been some dodgyness going on, I hope not and that it was just lack of training but you never know.
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I wasn't directing my comment specifically at yourself, but several people seem to think that they have a legal right to a refund - they are wrong (unless bought mail order and DSR applies as Photon says. But DSR is to cover the fact that you didnt get to see the actual item when you bought it.).

All this refund/replace/gift receipt stuff is down to the goodwill of the retailer. They have no legal obligation to swap/refund/replace anything unless it turns out to be faulty and even then a cash refund isn't guaranteed.

In your case the retailer has a policy that allows returns and it sounds like the staff didn't implement that policy correctly. But that policy is giving you something beyond your statutory rights.
 
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