Ok so I'll try to make this story short and simple.
1. On October 21st, I bought an item off an internet shop for listed price of CAD $358.68 with a coupon offer of "Free UPS shipping". The purchanse invoice listed as below:
Item no.: RB-Ltr_02 $358.68
Neb Coupor : $0
Sub total : CAD $358.68
Shipping : Free
GST : CAD $17.93
Total : CAD $376.61
2. I've read and aware of their return policy, they have stated info regarding shipping cost on their website as follow:
"For products with shipping included, shipping will be charged to cover the original shipping fee. You must also cover the cost of returning the product. Shipping fees will be refunded only if the return is a result of our error."
3. Unfortunately, this product didn't work as intended, so I've went thru their return procedure of re-packaging the product and so on so on. I've sent them an email confirming the return claim and all of a sudden they said I will be charge with the original $50 shipping cost. Here is what they've said in the replied email:
As mentioned in the below email: For products with shipping included, shipping will be charged to cover the original shipping fee.
The shipping was included with the purchase of the unit had you decided to keep it. Unfortunately, XXX is not responsible for this shipping anymore since you have decided to return it. In the case of a litter-robot, we will refund you the price of the unit minus $50 for the original shipping.
3. So then here is the problem, I don't mind paying the return shipping cost as a customer, but where did that $50 coming from all of a sudden? I've looked thru all the order confirmation email, purchase invoice, shipping document on the package, everywhere, there is no where on these documents clearly notify or indicate the actual cost of the original shipping. The $50 shipping fee claim is such a surprize to me as a customer, as being told to be liable for a "free" shipping instead of an "included" shipping is somewhat confusing. I asked them to provide a prove of a $50 shipping fee of the original charge, and they replied as follow:
It is impossible for us to indicate the exact amount for the actual incurred shipping cost since it depends on the location of the customer. In your case this shipping is $50 which will be removed from the total price of the litter-robot. It is unfortunate that you had not correctly read our return policy before purchasing the unit.
We appologize for any inconvenience but, there is unfortunately nothing we can do.
4. So what I got from this message? does that mean the listed price of $358.68 included the shipping cost to it? If there was a shipping cost initially, why didn't they list it in the invoice separately so the customer is aware of this "included" fee? If the coupon promotion is about "free" shipping, then why is it an "included" in the purchase price? What if they decided that they estimated the shipping cost initially was $100 instead, with no prove of such cost, am I still be liable of this charge? I guess I cannot make any more argument if they have issued a valid invoice such as:
Item no.: RB-Ltr_02 $358.68
Neb Coupor (promotion): - $50
Sub total : CAD $358.68
Shipping: $50
GST : CAD $17.93
Total : CAD $376.61
i think you should file to bbb now, because it takes a long time to process.
visa won't deal with it, because you did authorize the transaction and the amount. unless you told them they charged you a different amount that you auth.
i heard a similar situation recently, someone brought a tv with free installation. when he returned the tv, the shop charged him the installation free. the store manager explained to him, it is free if you buy the tv, but you don't buy(return) the tv, so it is not free anymore. just like gift with purchase, if you don't keep the purchase, you need to return the gift as well. i am not sure how's this end. but be honest, they did state clear in the refund policy.
shutterbug is right, "the product does not work as advertised" is the good point to get your money back.
其實佢明明將 shipping fee 加咗落去果 item價錢度， 又懶係俾著數人地話 free shipping, 究竟佢咁做有咩好處同合唔合法嘅哩. easy for book keeping + some manufacture may have control of the price, so in this case, they are not lower the price, they just give bonus. they have discount with usps, so the amount they actually paid is much less. this is free shipping with purchase, not adding shipping fee to the item.
From what I can understand, I did not find a problem anywhere. The line that says "shipping will be charged to cover the original shipping fee" is very clear that should you return it, they will charge you that as a "restocking fee" and you pay for the return shipping.
However, since you mention about "coupon" for free shipping, what is the actual coupon value? How much is the item with shipping cost (without the coupon)? If the coupon amount is less than $50, then you can use this and argue the $50 amount charge is not justified.
Large vendors such as amazon will show a seperate discount field to cover the shipping cost, so there is no surprise there.
I don't know but I doubt VISA will give you the refund. The reason is because the seller hasn't made any mistake and you received your product on time. The error seems to be the buyer finding the product not useful for her/his own purpose. If you can prove that the product does not work as advertised then I guess you can ask VISA for refund.
Yeah.. return the item. Then once the refunded has been processed dispute the rest of the amount on your VISA. I would told by VISA that the dispute work agaist the business, since the businesses being disputed are being fine for each dispute process.
You may also included in your e-mail that you send to them about your next step of resolving this issue would be a dispute with VISA, because VISA will ask you if you have taken the extra steps to resolve this with the business first. And your e-mails would be the prove.
did you pay with a visa card? visa is usually very flexible on issues like this one. if you tell them what happened, just ship the item back to the merchant, and visa might just deduct the amount from your bill from the merchant.
plus, you used a coupon to receive the free shipping. so technically shipping is NOT INCLUDED in the price of the item.
OK you should file a complain online at BBB. I don't care what they say, "free" is free!!! It's not "included" or whatever. It's FREE to you as a customer! Whatever they inccur is their problem, not yours. You shouldn't be charged for original shipping like that.
發表於 2009-12-9 14:57
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