Returned Goods Lost By Courier - Merchant won't refund

[JimS]

I purchased an £85.00 dress online from Monsson on 9th April, and it was delivered on the 11t April, and as per usual when it arrived my wife didn't like it. I processed a return via the Monsoon online portal and obtained a returns label via EVRI.

I dropped off the return along with another return from different company at a local EVRI parcel shop on 12th April, and received 2 receipts, one for each parcel.

After 11 days I reached out to Monsoon as I hadn't received any notification from them that they had received the return or processed the refund. Monsoon stated they hadn't received the the return, and the receipt I had related to a Parcels2Go label. I checked this online and they were correct. I then checked the 2nd receipt and it had been allocated the same barcode as the first receipt so got me thinking that both parcels had been treated as one return. I checked the photograph of the item being returned and sure enough there is a picture of my Monsoon bag, it appears EVRI have returned it to a different company.

Monsoon have stated via a WhatsApp chat that they won't refund me as it isn't their fault that EVRI delivered it to the wrong address, they first of all suggested that I try to find out where it had been delivered to and get it returned, when I said I wasn't doing that they told me to take it up with EVRI.

Now where do I stand legally. I used my rights under The Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013 and returned the item in good faith using the label they provided. I have never had a contract with EVRI so I don't feel I need to take it up with them, surely this is for Monsoon to chase up with EVRI as they are the ones who entered into a contract with them.

I can't believe Monsoon are being so bloody minded over this.

[echat11]

Hi JIMS

Welcome to LB

What you are saying is that you carried out a return, but an error occurred at the local EVRI parcel shop.
What happened shouldn't have happened as each returned item should have a 'unique barcode', this didn't happen.
Had everything occurred as it should have you wouldn't be in this position. Monsoon arranged the admin of the return,
EVRI arranged the collection. I can see why they won't refund the item as they haven't received it back.
Speak to EVRI, you want them to find the item.

Update the thread once you've spoken to EVRI.

[JimS]

Thank you, I have contacted EVRI, although experience tells me I am going to get a reply along the lines of take this up with Monsoon. Ultimately I will need to know who I need to pursue for this refund, and I would imagine it will boil down to who had the contractual relationship with EVRI. As the return was generated and paid for by Monsoon, it will be them.

[echat11]

Thank you, I have contacted EVRI, although experience tells me I am going to get a reply along the lines of take this up with Monsoon. Ultimately I will need to know who I need to pursue for this refund, and I would imagine it will boil down to who had the contractual relationship with EVRI. As the return was generated and paid for by Monsoon, it will be them.

How did you pay for it?

[echat11]

Write a formal letter of complaint, explain what's happened, how they've let you down (add your evidence i.e. barcodes etc) and what you want them to do.

Email it to:

Martijn de Lange
Chief Executive Officer
Evri UK
company.secretary@evri.com

[JimS]

Paid using a debit card, so I could start a charge back

[JimS]

OK I have had two replies this afternoon, one from EVRI, one from Monsoon.

Here is the EVRI reply.

"
Thank you for getting in touch with your enquiry regarding your recent parcel delivery H00MND0009044185. I have conducted an extensive search and unfortunately, our tracking system is currently unable to locate your parcel. Due to the amount of time that has elapsed since we last received a tracking update on 12/04/2025, I’m sorry to say your parcel seems to have been lost on its journey to you. I apologies for this disappointing outcome, I can appreciate how frustrating this news may be to receive as the parcel has not reached you yet. The quickest way to resolve this quickly is to contact the retailer/sender of the parcel who will explain their options to you, We refer customers back to the original shipper because you made your payment directly to them. They have the details of your order and items, and they then pay us for the delivery, they are the best point of contact for resolving this matter. Furthermore, your retailer will have access to the delivery information for your parcel and can assist you with the next steps. In turn, Adena Services Ltd will reach out to us on your behalf to discuss the issue further. I hope this clarifies why we're directing you to the sender

Here is the Monsoon reply.

xxxxxx (Monsoon) 24 Apr 2025, 15:54 BST Good Afternoon xxxxxx Thank you for your email. I do sincerely apologise for any upset caused by us being unable to process your refund. As previously advised order 8001456150 has not been returned to our Warehouse and that is the reason we cannot process your refund. The return being sent to a different retailor is not something we are able to investigate. Unfortunately the onus would be on the consumer to ensure items are being returned to the correct company. If there are issues scanning returns at the drop off point this is something you would be responsible for. We can see you registered a return on our return portal but the return is showing as never being sent. You are unable to provide any proof of return showing the return has been sent to our Warehouse and you have shown no indication that you will attempt to recover the Monsoon items which have been sent to the wrong company. Unfortunately the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013 does specify you are required to return the order back to us for a refund which has not been done. We do apologise for any upset or inconvenience this may cause. If there is anything else we can assist you with, please do not hesitate to get back in touch. Kind regards,

[echat11]

Paid using a debit card, so I could start a charge back

Do that, but I would also make a complaint to Evri, it doesn't have to be to the CEO.
But you can show that you've complained to Evri as suggested by Monsoon.

Who is the other retailer they (Monsoon) refer to?

Your card provider will try to get the money back from Monsoon, but I see this 'bouncing' around for some time.