RETAILERS are increasingly introducing unpopular fees to return online orders.
The latest being clothes retailer PrettyLittleThing, which recently said it would implement a charge of £1.99 per item returned.
The fast fashion retailer also said it would ban some customer accounts if they made too many returns.
But some merchants still allow shoppers to return unwanted goods for free, even if they aren’t faulty or defective and they’ve just changed their mind.
Today we have collated a list of the good and the bad to help you decide who to order from.
Among the good ones are M&S, Argos, Asda and Boots, which pay for return postage and do not charge a return delivery fee.
In the worst cases Sports Direct charges £4.99, Home Bargains £3 to £7 and New Look and Next, £2.50. The fees are deducted from the total you get refunded.
Others like Poundland and Matalan say shoppers should post the items themselves and cover the cost.
If you want to return larger items because you don’t want them, you might have to pay up to £50 to AO.com or £25 to Ikea to come and collect them.
Because return fees can be hefty, especially in the case of larger items, it’s worth checking a store’s return and cancellation fees prior to placing an order.
Sometimes it’s more complicated and hard to tell what the charges are.
Amazon, for example, says it offers free returns on most items delivered to UK addresses, with many items labelled with a Free returns badge. In other cases it’s £3.99 or more, usually for marketplace items.
John Lewis charges nothing to return smaller items, but £29.95 for the collection of larger ones.
One way to get around is to return items to a store, where you can, which is normally free. Not all retailers allow this, but where possible it saves the hassle of posting it back.
Also be aware of the rules surrounding returns. If you want a refund on something you don’t want, it will normally have to be unused, in its original packaging and in a resalable condition with seals intact.
If it’s faulty, you should get a full refund with no return charge.
Here’s our list of fees charged by 30 leading brands.
YOUR RETURN RIGHTS EXPLAINED
THE SUN’S Head of Consumer, Tara Evans, explains your return rights:
YOUR right to return items depends on where you purchased it and why you want to return it.
If you bought an item online then you are covered by the Consumer Contracts Regulations, which means you can cancel an item 14 days from when you receive it.
You then have a further 14 days to return the item, once you’ve notified the retailer that you want to return it.
If an item is faulty – regardless of how you bought it – you are legally able to return it and get a full refund within 30 days of receiving it.
Most retailers have their own returns policies, offering an exchange, refund or credit.
Shops don’t have to have these policies by law, but if they do have one then they should stick to it.