Recently just exchanged my Sony 1000MX3s to Addicted to Audio as the mic was faulty in it. Shipped it back to them so they could check the fault was valid, which it was, but was then not reimbursed for the shipping.
Is this the normal course of action? Seeing as the product they sold was faulty should you not be reimbursed the cost of shipping for sending it back, especially on an item that costs ~$400.
Want to know if I should push harder for this, any help is appreciated!
Yes.
https://www.accc.gov.au/consumers/consumer-rights-guarantees…
You are entitled to return a product if you believe that there is a problem. You are generally responsible for returning the product if it can be posted or easily returned. You are entitled to recover reasonable postage or transportation costs from the business if the product is confirmed to have a problem, so keep your receipts.
Wouldn't it be nice if businesses actually had laws applied to them instead of this "reasonable" stupidity?
The ACCC is a joke.
No. In all law-making there must necessarily be a trade-off between certainty/despotism and uncertainty/nuance. This applies to everything from consumer protection to criminal prosecutions.
Even using this case as an example, which I myself feel is fairly black-and-white: If OP had shipped the product back to the seller for repairs in circumstances where the seller was able to remotely fix the product (via a firmware update, for example), then even if the product was actually faulty and OP entitled to repairs, I personally wouldn't feel they should be entitled to be reimbursed the return shipping costs.
They have no obligation under consumer law they have no obligation to pay for return postage unless the transportation fee is significant. Typically a lot of sellers are fair and will pay with a bit of nudging.
So from what that other guy linked, they're not obligated to but you are entitled to reimbursement?
You're not entitled for reimbursement unless the cost is significant and by significant something very large and expensive, e.g. $100
always use paypal if you can. they offer free returns. so its not a big deal.
Otherwise, yes keep pushing the store; they will eventually provide a return label for you. Just put the threat of consumer laws. most stores dont no the law anyway so usually cave pretty quick.
I bought it using PayPal, but what difference would that make with the shipping? It's only free returns if you want to return the product rather than exchange it though right?
Yeh i'll just keep pushing them and see what happens
i dont think that matters. paypal will never know if its being exchanged. its only the return postage they care about.
Take your case to Consumer Affairs (the body is named differently in some states because making it easy to have your consumer rights enforced isn't what it's about) who are supposed to enforce the ACL.
You just have to hope that the person you speak to thinks it's unreasonable rather than reasonable because that's how the ACL is er "enforced".
I'll talk to them first and see if they'll reimburse me, otherwise I might do that.
Was it new and faulty or used(i.e.new but had a few days) and developed a fault?
New and faulty, from the first day the mic made me nearly inaudible when taking a call.
If you go to Big W and buy a TV and its faulty do they refund your petrol to and from the store ?
Does Big W offer you free petrol to take you from your house to their store if you make the purchase, like an online retailer does with shipping? If they did you could potentially have a decent argument, otherwise you're just asking for something that was never offered in the first place.
Online retailers offer free shipping because there's generally no physical way to pick the product up from them, so I am forced to deal with the only return method possible. If I could walk down there and return it for free then I would, but that option isn't even available to me. So why is the onus on me to front the cost when the supplier has given me no other option, PLUS offered this service for free in the original transaction?
I can see how it's a crappy situation to be in, I can only imagine buying $300-400 headphones, being all excited to get them and then they don't work properly and you have to pay more to get a working pair. I suppose that's just the cons of buying online, and that's where retail still prevails, as you can always just walk into a store and get an exchange/refund straight away. Nowadays I just stick to paying with PayPal for free return shipping.
I paid through PayPal, am I able to still request return shipping refund?
Double check that you've activated free return shipping for your paypal account first.
I believe that in this situation they should pay for shipping as they've basically admitted fault. I'd push it.