This is a long post sorry… (probably has something to do with my anxiety being triggered)
So I randomly ordered some shirts off an advert on Instagram (I know it was a dumb move) the website made it look like they were good quality and coming from Cambridge (company is called Cambridge artisan). But they weren’t they were being shipped from China… I asked for a refund and to cancel the order the same day the order was placed when I found this out and also looked them up on Trust Pilot. There were loads of people complaining that the items if they arrived were low quality or looked nothing like what was ordered etc.
The CS person said they could not do a refund but instead they could only offer a 10% discount, or I would have to ship the stuff back to China for a refund (at my own expense). Basically almost a month passed and nothing arrived so I said I wanted a refund and it was obvious that nothing would be arriving. Got the same guff and got told the order had not been shipped due to a clerical error but that they were re-shipping it. This was after I made it explicitly clear I wanted a refund and not for the order to be re-shipped. So I rang First Direct who initiated a chargeback (I’ve retained all of my emails with the company just in case). FD gave me back my money and said the company had 60 days to dispute, otherwise the matter would be closed.
Today I had an email from the company saying they would offer me a full refund but I need to cancel the chargeback first. I rang FD and this is where I’m confused and starting to feel a bit anxious tbh. The guy I spoke to said that they can issue a refund and once the refund is in my account they would know and the chargeback would be automatically cancelled. However he seemed a bit unsure. I asked him what I should say to the company to try and bring the issue to a close. He seemed unsure about me telling them that they needed to refund me first and then the chargeback would be cancelled. He said I should email them and let them know I want the refund and to process the refund, I said should I include that I can’t cancel the chargeback until they have refunded. He sort of flitted between yes and no for that. Which is what has caused me to become anxious.
I’ve emailed and said I want the refund and that when the refund has been processed and back in my account that I will let the bank know. But now I’m not sure if what I’ve done is right and frankly what the hell is going on!
Feeling like a right fool at the moment! So my question is, have I done the right thing?
You’ve got your money back. You don’t need the refund.
Ignore them. You haven’t had the goods. You’ve had a refund. You don’t owe them and they don’t owe you.
You’ve done exactly the right thing. I’m not sure how cancelling the chargeback would even work at this point but I wouldn’t trust them to do as they should.
Yeah dont cancel the chargeback. Its a one time deal and generally cant be raised again. At best the company is trying to save on fees and worst leave you hanging.
So its fine I emailed and said once the refund is back in my account as stated in their email then and only then will the chargeback be cancelled.
I think if the refund goes through I’m going to ask FD to send me a new debit card with a new number and cancel the old one to stop them trying to charge me again or something…
Just follow up and say you’ll be sticking with the chargeback and not to refund you. I’ve seen plenty of examples of new cards still having money taken from them because MC gives merchants the new details automatically.
They had their chance to make it right, now they will have to take the lost dispute which might cause issues with their payment provider if it happens too much, which is the only legitimate reason I can think of that they would try and ask you to cancel it. Don’t cancel the dispute as this puts all the power back in their hands, and you probably won’t be able to dispute it again if they don’t follow through
Because my anxiety was running away with me and I was stressing myself decided to give FD another ring and the guy I spoke to this time said I’m in the clear and that from the sounds of it the merchant is in the wrong and know it. He seemed to be much more clued up on the whole process compared to the guy I spoke to before. He kept on having to go speak to a colleague for guidance. So I guess he might have been a newbie… So he thought they’re trying to convince me to drop the chargeback and would likely go silent after I cancel it. He said unequivocally to keep it open that its there to protect me.
No judgment and I really don’t care about some scam company but the worst thing you did was ask them to refund you after they email when you’d already had the money back from the bank.
It doesn’t really matter as they probably wouldn’t have done it anyway.
Financial stuff can be tricky when you suffer from Anxiety. I’m glad FD were able to reassure you.
One of those times when being able to speak to your bank quickly is helpful. I’d imagine sending a chat message and waiting days for a response would have worsened your state of mind.
The guy I spoke to now said it didn’t matter that I replied and that what I said was still correct, that the chargeback would only be cancelled if a refund was detected by FD. Otherwise its up to them to resolve it, I’m in the clear as far as he could see.
