What are my legal rights?
'To the astral plane, you mean.' The astral plane is a part of the cosmos. 'Oh.' Probably.
Anyway ...
What are your legal rights when returning goods and trying to claim your money back?
Yeah, PR email. 'Haven't you got any finance emails, boss?' Plenty, Voice. But I want to do this one. And it is finance. People want their money! Like Walker in Point Blank. 'Who's not giving it to them?' Well, let's find out ...
When the rush of the festive season is over, the January sales present a further opportunity to hit the shops, whether online or in person. For some it's an opportunity to return unwanted gifts, for others it is a great time to bag a bargain. Whatever your reason, when setting out to the high street or booting up your computer, you should be aware of your consumer rights.
Well, it's nearly summer now. It's a bit late for refunds, isn't it? Never mind.
Oh, this stuff is from Kevin. (Kate sent it.) I might as well quote him -
Kevin Grix, CEO and Chief Ombudsman, Dispute Resolution Ombudsman says, "January is typically a month in which we expect to see a slump in sales once the busy holiday period is over, however many can benefit from reduced retail prices, both online and in-store. Whether you're planning on bagging a bargain or returning unwanted gifts, consumers are offered an additional layer of protection when shopping with businesses enrolled with a government approved Ombudsman scheme."
Yeah, yeah. I want to return the Voice to the cosmos. 'I ain't going nowhere!'
Anyway ...
Unwanted Gifts
We've all been there; the polite acknowledgement of a gift on Christmas morning that we know we will never use…whether it's the wrong colour or size or simply a bizarre choice, can you return it for something more suitable as the gift that keeps on giving?
Tell me about it! The Voice was a bizarre "gift" all right. Christ!
The quick answer from a legal perspective is 'Not necessarily'. Although many stores have goodwill returns policies (especially around Christmas), there are some important legal factors to consider.
You will have no proof of purchase since the contract was not made with you as recipient of the gift.
Where goods are bought in store, there is no cancellation right and you are unable to take them back just because you don't want them.
Well, never mind. It's not the end of the world, is it?
Actually, I'm not doing all of this email. I should have done that other one, the saucy one. 'What saucy one?!' The one Tatyana sent me.
Anyway ...
Goods reduced in a sale
Where goods are bought in a sale at a reduced price, consumers still have access to their consumer rights. If you bought the goods in a shop and they are faulty, they can be returned for a full refund (within the first 30 days). After that, if goods cannot, after one attempt, be successfully repaired or replaced, a price reduction or final right to reject would be the legal remedy. This means that you might get a sum of money to keep them as they are, or you could return them and get your money back (this might be a full or a part refund depending how long you have had them for before you noticed the issue).
The amount of the refund would be calculated by reference to the price paid, not the original non-reduced price of the goods.
It's also worth noting that if you were -
Yeah, yeah, Okay. Thank you, Kevin. (And Kate.)
"Our members demonstrate responsible retailer practise by helping to raise industry standards, promoting fair trade and trusting us with their most prized asset; their customer."
Yes, I'm sure. Thank you.
ENDS
You know, Lee Marvin wouldn't have any of this trouble. He would just pistol-whip the sales assistant, and that would be the end of it.
ENDS
...
Anything else?
I'm making very slow progress with the lyric for Shady, Dodgy, Shifty. It pisses me off that the music is the most important part of a song and I can quite often write it in minutes, but then I've got to screw around with words for hours on end. Maybe I should just write "mood" words like Coldplay or Nirvana. I don't know. I suppose it's worth persevering with.
Laters.
Evening fitness update: I've ordered two heavier dumbbells. 10kg each. It's time to get serious, you dig?
