Refunds - Postage costs

[Joop]

Hi,

In the UK, the distance selling laws mean if a customer returns an item, we refund the total price paid, including the postage costs.


We send everything out recorded delivery, but the customer sometimes chooses Special Delivery which obviously costs more.

In these cases, what postage costs should I refund?

[Rugles]

we refund the total price paid, including the postage costs.

That is a bad law. It promotes the "renting" of products and does not put any onus on the customer to make sure they really want something before the purchase.

[jwolthuis]

It may be a bad law, but it's the same as USA merchants who offer free shipping. In both cases, the costs are worked into the product price, and the consumer ends up paying more for the product.

In the case of Special Delivery, I would refund them the same delivery class they used to return the product to you. If they returned it via Special Delivery, refund them Special Delivery. If they used Second Class, refund them Second Class.

It would be hard for them to argue for a higher refund, when they took their time returning it to you (costing you increased inventory and potential lost sales).

[piatkow]

It would be your local Trading Standards office who would prosicute if you got it wrong so why not address the question to them? I am sure that they would far rather spend a couple of minutes making sure that they didn't get mickey mouse complaints about you distracting them from serious work like catching low life who re-lable out of date food products.

[enigma1]

but the customer sometimes chooses Special Delivery

You should put in your terms and conditions to return products with a standard delivery. What that "special delivery" anyways? The customer may decide to take a flight and deliver it himself that doesn't mean you will pay his travel costs.

[jwolthuis]

"Special Delivery" is a class of service offered by Royal Mail. It's equivalent to UPS Red in the states.

[jecasc]

Tricky questions. I know that if the customer uses express for return shipment or a courier on horseback you only have to reimburse the costs for a standard parcel. But if this applies for the shipment to the customer too, I do not know.

That is a bad law. It promotes the "renting" of products and does not put any onus on the customer to make sure they really want something before the purchase.

Yeah that's consumer protection in Europe. The consumer in the eyes of European legislators is a drooling retard that has to be protected from himself. Funny thing is - as soon as the drooling retard opens a small business he is transformed into supermerchant in the eyes of the law. Expert in the laws of 27 EU member countries and tax law professional.