Neither do Ambrose Wilson, Marisota etc refund postage. I guess really next time I should take it up with them and see what they say.
I always challenge online stores who donāt refund, and they have always paid out. Quote the UK Consumer Contracts Regulations for online selling - or the EU Distance Selling Regulations - insist they refund in full and give them a deadline before youāll report them to Trading Standards for breach of the regulations.
Trouble is, most people arenāt aware of their rights, so the sellers get away with it, and those that are aware canāt be bothered to chase it up for just a few quid.
It only applies to UK/EU businesses, so check their website first in case theyāre based elsewhere.
Ah now thereās a different thing. That whole huge store ethos with its blind consumerism. So we get these delivery vans to pollute the planet making pointless journeys to re-collect and redeliver. Whose carbon footprint does that add to? We chose to do something different. So is it trading standards I need to talk to to clarify?
I canāt wait to see what it is that you are selling Iām expecting something very eco friendly
Itās worth reading through some of the Consumer Contracts documents first, as they might answer your questions. Here are a few I found helpfulā¦
http://www.tradingstandards.uk/extra/news-item.cfm/newsid/1527
https://www.businesscompanion.info/en/quick-guides/distance-sales/consumer-contracts-distance-sales
Iām not necessarily marketing myself as eco friendly but just having a moan. There will be some of my products with a better footprint than others. But it will still be there doing its job in 400 yearsā time so thatās only one delivery on a van shared with other goods every 400 years. I suppose that if I compare it with that latest energy saving gismo that consumes more in delivery joules than it gives back then maybe itās quite green. Iām also using some home made charcoal from my woodland to fire up and the tuyereās hydropowered, blown by a turgo wheel on a radial fan. But the charcoal-making process is quite smelly anyway. Itās a tricky one innit? I will also use mined coal but that depends more on how you burn it to keep the particulates down. Harder to get now so charcoalās the way to go.
Christine, thanks for those. Iāve got a ticket in with trading standards and waiting to hear from them.
Just had that call from Trading Standards. It all seems a bit woolly. When I asked for something more concrete the chap said that at the end of the day itās not down to trading standards but the Judge who would be "interpreting " the āguidanceā on the day. So it seems there is no way of knowing how they will treat you til youāre hung by the scruff of the neck. Big hooks for hanging people up - thatās what I should be selling! His key phrase was āmade to customerās specificationsā rather than selected from a list. So if you let them write the length down itās different to if they choose a length off a list. Crazy.