Hi All just need assistance with something.
My parents are downgrading thier house and in the process of moving. The found a couch they thought they wanted and paid the deposit in full $649 for a couch 1 month ago, They ended up changing thier mind last week and the manager told them they couldn't get the money back and it can only be used as store credit which doesn't sound right.
Is there anything wrong with wanting the cash back? What are the legal rights with this?
Thanks in advance
Well it was the last couch in floor stock (in Tasmania) so it wasn't going to be reordered from the mainland.
I just would have assumed they would have charged a small fee and released the deposit back.. oh well was worth asking
For change of mind the store is not obliged to refund.
The purpose of a deposit is to:
If the first scenario, then the shop has lost the opportunity to get find a buyer for it over the last month, so the deposit will cover that. If the second scenario, they spent money having an item made to order which is now no longer going to be immediately sold, so they now need to store it and advertise it until sold.
Either way, the shop doesn't need to give money back and offering it as store credit is probably not even required.
Yeah it sounds like they were doing you a pretty fair deal by giving the store credit
If you could just get your deposit back for any reason then what would even be the point of paying a deposit in the first place? Stores do not have to refund for change of mind. Only for a faulty or "not fit for purpose" item.
yes there is something wrong with wanting the cash back , store is not breaking the contract your parents are.
When it comes to retail, whether you're buying funiture or clothing or phone, you pretty much have no right for refunds when it's due to change of mind.
Ok we can close the thread now.
Thanks for confirming :)
I would try negotiating with the manager for $325 cash rather than full store credit, if it suits. Be polite as it's their choice, but it might be tempting. Store credit reduces your future negotiating power anyway.
Harvey Norman refund deposit. Unless the couch was made to order, different story. Your parents should have asked if the deposit was refundable but most likely they were pressured into the purchase by a pushy salesman
Sounds fair enough to me. The shop probably orders the couches from the factory when customers place an order, so if they change their mind the shop is stuck with a couch they got produced for nothing…..