Refund Dispute - The Good Guys

nigel deborah on 01/04/2023 - 13:09

The Good Guys owe me a significant refund (few hundred $$) after a product dropped in price immediately after I ordered. Instead of cancelling the order, they promised to refund the difference, and I accepted (a mistake…).

After a month+ of waiting for the refund, I followed up and TGG are insisting that the refund has been sent back to my original payment method. I have 100% verified that the refund was never given, even contacting my bank directly to make sure. Yet, TGG insist it has been provided and are refusing to take action or escalate the issue internally. They have not provided me with any kind of evidence of the refund, or details of the account the refund was provided to.

I contacted consumer affairs who said it isn't within their remit because it doesn't fall into any of their 'standard refund scenarios' (???). I also reached out to TGG via a couple of other channels (inc social media) but they were all brick walls directing me back to the store in question.

It also seems unlikely that this was an innocent mistake, they're almost hostile in their responses to me and as I said above have failed to provide evidence of any kind. I suspect they might have done something along the lines of cashing out the refund as a gift card and handing it themselves… but who knows.

Is there anything I can do, or am I just boned? Would VCAT hear a case like this?

p.s. apologies if this is a duplicate thread, I looked via search but couldn't see anything similar with TGG

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Comments

  • MS Paint on 01/04/2023 - 13:13
    -1

    Are you a gold service or concierge member?

    • Ughhh on 01/04/2023 - 13:33

      Why is OP ignoring this question?

      If OP is a gold service/concierge member, OP is entitled to a refund.
      BUT, if OP isn't, OP is just being a Karen. Any refund is out of goodwill.

      • Settero on 01/04/2023 - 13:58
        +4

        Not sure why this is an issue and being asked, OP has said they agreed to the partial refund , OP has said they claim its been made but he has not received it.

      • Almost Banned on 01/04/2023 - 18:01
        +1

        nope.
        The original offer of refunding the price difference was probably a goodwill gesture as there is no information that there was an entitlement to it, but once the refund was offered and accepted it is no longer 'out of goodwill'.

        • nigel deborah on 01/04/2023 - 18:51

          Thanks , and there is evidence of the refund. It shows on the invoice (although with strange coding)

    • nigel deborah on 01/04/2023 - 18:50
      +1

      Sorry for the slow replies, I had something come up. No, I'm not (should I be?). And it's a big TV, if you're suggesting I return the whole thing not sure it's worth the effort, although thanks for the suggestion.

  • Hybroid on 01/04/2023 - 13:13
    +2

    The Good Guys owe me a significant refund after a product dropped in price immediately after I ordered.

    They do not "owe you" anything for this. There's no price reduction protection provision within ACCC rules. That's why some credit card companies offer it as an added bonus.

    They appear to have agreed to a goodwill refund. Do you have this in writing? Did you formally request the refund transaction details to cross-check?

    • Amaris on 01/04/2023 - 18:15
      +4

      As per OP, TGG had agreed to provide the partial refund. Therefore, they DO 'owe' him.

  • JimmyF on 01/04/2023 - 13:16
    +3

    they promised to refund the difference

    Do you have this in writing?

    Is there anything I can do, or am I just boned?

    Did you pick the item up from a store? If so, go in to the store and talk to someone about it.

    But it is going to come down to what your time is worth. A few hundred, is it worth spending 20 hours on getting it back?

    Honestly it is a live and learn, you should have cancelled and ordered again, or just live with the fact that sometimes prices drop just after buying. There are no laws saying a company has to give it to you at the cheaper price because the price dropped a few days later.

    • nigel deborah on 01/04/2023 - 18:52

      Not in writing, but it's listed as a line item on the invoice. I've been to the store but no luck, they just repeated that the refund was provided.

      Probably is just lesson learned

      • Webber000 on 02/04/2023 - 15:27

        Go in person to the store and speak with the manager. They can audit trail the transaction and refund to see what happened and get a lot more detail, including if the refund was cash or gift card like you suspect. Ask them to give you a print out of the audit trail showing the refund went to the same card you paid with (even if it has some numbers blanked out you will be able to see if it matches your card).
        Been in this position myself as a store manager (never for TGG - however I have had issues as a customer with them!!) where our tills show a transaction did / didn't go through and customer says otherwise - so take in your card statement including for the month after so they can see it was not processed. The manager has the ability to check a settlement report with their card processing company (not their till system) but will need your full card number to do so, and at this point they can verify that the Visa/MC/bank report doesn't match the tills so they can print it out and write a memo explaining why they have issued a manual refund or fixed it by refunding something else and running a store loss or whatever they need to do to fix it for you.
        It is really rare but does happen. From their POV they have to trust their tills which show it was refunded. FYI - I also worked in card processing for a while and during that time realised you 100% can put your card on a PED with it showing $40 but that $80 can be taken from your bank as if it had always shown $80 on the screen when you tapped your card - impossible to prove as the customer but the audit trail always shows a mismatch.

  • bmerigan on 01/04/2023 - 13:32

    I tend to feel conflicted when this topic comes up. If the price had gone up how would you feel about them chasing you for more money after you buy something?

    • deme on 01/04/2023 - 13:55
      +1

      They don't have to offer a refund

      • jjjaar on 01/04/2023 - 14:43
        +5

        They don’t have to offer one, no. But if you ask and they say yes (especially if you have it in writing), they should provide what they’ve said they would.

        • LilWhat on 14/06/2023 - 22:52

          Tbh TGG does have an option for a price guarantee. If you get GSE it does come with a 30-day price guarantee but do not allow it if you do not have it which is fair.

    • nigel deborah on 01/04/2023 - 18:53

      I don't feel entitled to it, but when the price changed the product had not even been shipped. I could have cancelled then and there. I was doing them a favour, and saving myself some waiting time by accepting the partial refund.

    • JimmyF on 01/04/2023 - 22:09
      +3

      Please Note: to be eligible to make a claim you must have purchased your product with Gold Service Extras

      • Maths Debater on 02/04/2023 - 13:39

        What a scam, their parent company JB literally does this for free.

  • freefall101 on 01/04/2023 - 17:29

    It also seems unlikely that this was an innocent mistake, they're almost hostile in their responses to me and as I said above have failed to provide evidence of any kind. I suspect they might have done something along the lines of cashing out the refund as a gift card and handing it themselves… but who knows.

    That seems incredibly unlikely unless you've only been communicating with the same individual this entire time. If you have, just ring up TGG and get someone else to verify it.

    • nigel deborah on 01/04/2023 - 18:54

      You're probably right. I've spoken to a couple of people at the store. Seems like there's a 1 day per week admin appointment who manages this kinds of order variations.

  • payless69 on 01/04/2023 - 21:26

    Should have gone to HN:
    refund never an option even if no supply!

  • Bruceflix on 02/04/2023 - 12:45
    -1

    If you paid by Afterpay they'll likely pocket it as they are going broke.

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