Money Claim over a Refund

[oakview]

Hi All

Customer requested a refund and through some internal issues with another member of staff it seems this may have been over looked. The customer did receive the most of the products apart from some which where pre order.

The customer started a money claim over the weekend (was filed today) for the partial refund + court fee + interest.

Id already caught wind of this and issued a refund in full to the customer as well as telling them they can keep the products they have had up until this point as a gesture of good will. The amount they are claiming is £50. However the original order was £49.20 so the customer has had a full £49.20 refund and has been told to keep the product as well and given an apology for things getting this far.

We have provided proof of the refund to the customer as well as the digital tracking number from our merchant account however as the refund has not landed in the customers bank account and this can take up to 10 working days the customer is un willing to use the tracking number for the refund to confirm with their bank that the refund has continued. In either case despite the refund being made and they can keep the goods they still want now the additional 80p.

So will keep court action going over 80p..

I'm not sure where we stand on this and the customer is refusing to accept the refund and has now admitted to having two parcels delivered from us and accepted an alternative for the item they are already claiming a part for..

Will this get thrown out or continue down this road? As far as I'm concerned the customer has had a refund in full rather than a partial refund (which is what the case started over) and can keep the goods it just seems idiotic and will not report the refund to the court either and will continue with the claim filed at £50..

I know we have messed up someplace and I've reprimanded the member of staff over it. I understand the customers point but at this point I don't see why we should pay the extra fee if you have had a refund and the goods.

[R0b]

Hello

Just to be clear, it won't be just 80p that's being argued here, the customer would also be claiming the issue fee which would be £25 plus interest at a daily rate until paid. As you have only part paid the amount being sought, the claim will continue and so you will need to acknowledge the claim to file a defence or admit the claim in full for the remaining amount.

However, you may have some options available to you but that depends on the below.

1. Before a claim can be issued, you have to follow the pre-action protocol process. This means that the customer should have sent your business a letter before action and allowed you a reasonable period of time to respond before filing a claim. If the customer didn't do this, then you will have an argument to say that she shouldn't be entitled to their costs back because they failed to comply with the pre-action protocols - had they done so, then you would have immediately paid up as you have done here which would have avoided the need to issue a claim and incur additional costs. If the customer did send a letter before action, then you are unlikely to be able to make this argument.

2. Can you expand on the additional parcels and accepting an alternative. Was this done before or after the customer issued a claim? If the customer has accepted an alternative, that could be a legitimate defence in saying that because an alternative has been accepted, the customer cannot now claim a monetary remedy because that would amount to a double recovery.

The same argument could be made for other parcels having been accepted by the customer. Alternatively, you could counterclaim for the value of those parcels on the basis of restitution in that the claimant has been unjustly enriched having accepted multiple parcels above for the same issue and with no intention of returning them.

I know we have messed up someplace and I've reprimanded the member of staff over it. I understand the customers point but at this point I don't see why we should pay the extra fee if you have had a refund and the goods.

Well the problem is that if the customer has followed the correct legal process and your business has failed to properly reimburse them what they are owed, and they are forced to issue a claim which attracts additional costs, why should the customer have to lose out because of your own wrongdoing or failure to act? Actions have consequences and unfortunately if you have messed up resulting in a claim being issued, I'm afraid its a case of tough luck and a lesson to be learnt to ensure it doesn't happen again.

[oakview]

Hello

Just to be clear, it won't be just 80p that's being argued here, the customer would also be claiming the issue fee which would be £25 plus interest at a daily rate until paid. As you have only part paid the amount being sought, the claim will continue and so you will need to acknowledge the claim to file a defence or admit the claim in full for the remaining amount.

However, you may have some options available to you but that depends on the below.

1. Before a claim can be issued, you have to follow the pre-action protocol process. This means that the customer should have sent your business a letter before action and allowed you a reasonable period of time to respond before filing a claim. If the customer didn't do this, then you will have an argument to say that she shouldn't be entitled to their costs back because they failed to comply with the pre-action protocols - had they done so, then you would have immediately paid up as you have done here which would have avoided the need to issue a claim and incur additional costs. If the customer did send a letter before action, then you are unlikely to be able to make this argument.

2. Can you expand on the additional parcels and accepting an alternative. Was this done before or after the customer issued a claim? If the customer has accepted an alternative, that could be a legitimate defence in saying that because an alternative has been accepted, the customer cannot now claim a monetary remedy because that would amount to a double recovery.

The same argument could be made for other parcels having been accepted by the customer. Alternatively, you could counterclaim for the value of those parcels on the basis of restitution in that the claimant has been unjustly enriched having accepted multiple parcels above for the same issue and with no intention of returning them.


Well the problem is that if the customer has followed the correct legal process and your business has failed to properly reimburse them what they are owed, and they are forced to issue a claim which attracts additional costs, why should the customer have to lose out because of your own wrongdoing or failure to act? Actions have consequences and unfortunately if you have messed up resulting in a claim being issued, I'm afraid its a case of tough luck and a lesson to be learnt to ensure it doesn't happen again.

Thanks for that.

No 100% did not get a letter of action or anything, did ask the customer for the tracking number for the letter they sent informing us of action.

Whole thing just seems daft.

So the fact the customer has had the goods + refund. We still need to pay the interest on top of that?

Get the argument from customers side of things.

Just as a retailer I don't understand why the person in question didn't do a charge back or has a leg to stand on now money as been returned and been told they can keep the goods. I mean moving forward rather than ask for refunds as a consumer I might as well start money claims and request interest on all items I want to return or have purchased?!


Customer had ordered items which where not in stock at the time.

So they have one lot of items arrived and then a second delivery was made with the remaining goods as one item we could not provide - we informed the customer of that and they where happy to accept an alternative. NOW on the money claim they are also filing for the item they had a replacement for.

[R0b]

The onus will be on the customer to prove a letter before action was sent, though bear in mind proof does not necessarily mean having to provide a tracking number as it could have been sent first class post and the customer might have a proof of postage receipt.

Appreciate you might think its daft but this is exactly why we have a legal system for everyone. Consumers have a range of available remedies and routes to pursuing a dispute but they are not legally obliged to take one over the other because it might benefit the retailer or third party. Whilst a charge back might be beneficial for you, from the customer's perspective, you might have raised an objection which meant that there would have been further delays and consideration before a decision was made. Whereas a claim might be more attractive because usually when one receives a court claim, they tend to actually start taking things seriously and have to act in accordance with court timelines.

Just as a retailer I don't understand why the person in question didn't do a charge back or has a leg to stand on now money as been returned and been told they can keep the goods.

I've already explained in my last post the reason why the customer has a leg to stand on. Customer is claiming X and you have paid Y which is less than the amount claimed. You don't get to part pay what you think you owe and expect the claim to be discontinued, you either pay in full what's being asked or you part pay and/or dispute the amount and a judge will decide.

I mean moving forward rather than ask for refunds as a consumer I might as well start money claims and request interest on all items I want to return or have purchased?!

A bit over the top don't you think? There's a process to follow when issuing legal proceedings and courts expect litigation to be a last resort. You have by admission not refunded the customer so she has every right to issue a claim and ask a court to give judgment against you. As for interest, you can claim it but it is at the court's discretion and its purpose is not intended to punish the party liable, but to compensate the injured party for not having received their money when they should have. As you've already paid the amount promptly, I should think a judge is not going to award interest based on a day or two as it's going to be so trivial - basically the interest is 2p (£50.00 x 8% annually / 365 = 1p daily rate).

I think it's going to be the court fee that's likely to be in issue here and I would refer to my previous post as to your options on how to address that in your defence.