Mattress Return Distance Selling Regulations

A question about : Mattress Return Distance Selling Regulations

I have a mattress purchased and the supplier refuses to refund me the money under DSR until I return the mattress. I understand that the supplier should refund the money before the goods are returned. Is this correct? Also the seller did not state in their Ts & Cs that the buyer should return items at their own expense.

I have looked at DRSs...
They state the following yet the retailer does not want to refund my money until I at my cost return the item to the factory for inspection!!! I refuse to do this as once it leaves my possession in perfect condition I have no idea what they might find wrong with it.

They refuse to follow clear guidelines saying they want the mattress delivered back to them first.

Refunds

The retailer must refund the full amount including the delivery
costs as soon as possible after the consumer cancels, and in
any case within 30 days at the latest. You cannot insist on the
goods being received by you before you make a refund.

Returning goods

Only if it is covered in the contract and the written information
can you require the consumer to pay for the cost of returning
the ordered goods. If the consumer then fails to return the
goods, or sends them at your expense, you can charge them
the direct cost to you of the return, even if you have already
refunded the consumer’s money. You are not allowed to
make any further charges, such as a restocking charge or an
administration charge.
If you do not include these details in the required written
information then you cannot charge anything. You can never
require consumers to pay the cost of returning substitute
goods. If the goods are faulty or do not comply with the
contract, you will have to pay for their return whatever the
circumstances.

Best answers:

• Just to add - The key issues here are:
  1) The seller demands that I return the item before a refund is paid.
  2) The seller refuses to collect the item despite not making it explicitly clear in their Terms and Conditions that the buyer is responsible for the return of items.
  It is also woth noting that the seller tried hard to encourage me to sleep on the item for a few nights knowing full well that this would have meant that I could not return it under DSRs.
• Yes - sorry I meant the seller.
• Legally is it ok to say who they are?
• Absolutely. We here to help so any extra info is always welcome.
• B-e-d-l-u-m beds
• It's pretty clear that their T&Cs would contravene the DSRs, particurlarly their mention of deducting delivery charges and charging admin fees. To help you should read the following: https://www.oft.gov.uk/shared_oft/bus...ral/oft698.pdf
  You need to remind them they have 30 days to fully refund you and this right is unconditional of them recieving the goods back.
  
  When do I have to refund a consumer’s money if they cancel an order?
  
• Thanks very much for your help - it confirms what I thought.
  The owner - Tim Deegan is very active on these pages.
• Exactly - that's why I am surprised. My wife is pregnant and has a bad back as a result of a car accident in the last 2 weeks. This is why we refused to sleep on a mattress that was clearly not suitable for us. We used Tim because we had confidence in him gained from this site. After our experience with the first mattress we wanted to go somewhere and try before we buy - even if that means paying more.
  I would love him to come on here and answer on line but he refuses to do this. Instead threatening me with legal action (!) if I made innaccurate or libellous statements. I am extremely disappointed with the whole thing.
  I suspect he expected me to back down when he mentioned me having to return the mattress at my expense but I would have delivered it personally myself if I had to just over the principle of the matter.
  Correction - he threatened legal action for libellous or inaccurate posts - not for just airing my thoughts.
• So Tim - I ask you online Will you refund me as per DSRs?
• I just want my money back so I can go and buy a bed from somewhere I can try it out first.
• Why are you posting the same question on several legal forums ? Are you looking for different responses ?
• I was trying to get Tim to come on here and reply to me online so I posted on threads where he had posted recently. In hindsight perhaps that was not the right thing to do. I'll remove the other posts.
  RE: other forums. I was anxious to find out my correct legal position.
• It sounds like Tim has a healthy business with a good reputation and many satisfied customers so I will not reveal all details of our communication as it may not help people overall.
  I do however want my money back.
• Hope you get it sorted. My experience with two purchases from Tim's company has been nothing but positive. That doesn't of course mean your complaint is not valid, just pointing out.
  Its always the risk of posting visibly through your company on these forums that if there is a problem it will become much more "public" than a complaint might normally be - hope it all gets sorted
• Sunshinetours,
  Did you request a refund though? I would be interested to hear from anyone who has had a refund from Tim.
  I am a reasonable person. I spent up to an hour and a half on the phone to Tim over this in the past week. In addition we have exchanged close to 100 emails! I also made it clear that I would raise the issue on MSE to get impartial views on the situation and gave him time to resolve the situation before posting so this is very much a last resort. Even last night I received emails from Tim at after 1:00am in the morning stating that he would not use his van to collect the goods as he felt his employees were in danger of verbal and physical abuse!
  This is almost laughable! I simply want my money back. I paid cash on delivery so I would also like to be refunded by cash on collection - there is no need to inspect goods in a factory - especially as they are all still sealed apart from the mattress.