Wednesday 9 February 2011

ASOS, The Coat Buttons & The (not yet received) Refund...

I had to return some coats recently to ASOS, as after one wear, the 50 year old string holding the buttons on had disintegrated and the buttons lost somewhere. I sent the items back on the 1st January. Now I knew there would be a bit of a delay in the refund due to the Christmas postage and the fact that my card had expired since I had purchased it. But not on this scale.

Has anyone had a worse experience than this? 40 days have passed, 16 emails have been exchanged, I've spoken to 4 different people who have collectively given me different and erroneous information, blaming the postal system, Travelex, fabricated postal delays and most intriguingly, "strict procedures" for the delay. And still I wait for the cheque...


Items Returned on the 1st January.
T+ 13 days
- Automated Email from ASOS on 13th January stating there had been a problem refunding my card, a cheque was on its way.

T+ 20 days
- I email ASOS to ask about the whereabouts of the cheque as it has not yet arrived.

T+ 21 days
- Jessica says that I will be shortly receiving a cheque to my billing address. It will take up to 14 days from T+ 13 days.

T+ 27 days
- I email ASOS saying that I've waited for 14 days, but no cheque has arrived. I ask when the cheque was actually sent so that I can count 14 days from that.

- Keill tells me the cheque was "generated and sent out" on the 25th Jan (12 days after the originally said they'd sent it). And that I should allow 14 days from then.

- 14 days from the 25th, I email ASOS and again ask where my refund is. I mention to them that no letter takes 14 days to send, and that they just tell customers that to give them a bit of wiggle room.

T+ 38 days
- Garry says they were having problems with my refund so took a little longer to resolve. He confirms that the cheque was "requested" on the 25th, and will be with me 14 working days from this date.

- I reply to Garry saying that he is now giving different information to Keill, who said that it was sent on the 25th and will take 14 days. He is now saying it was "generated" and will take 14 working days. I ask him not to fob me off with the 14 days thing and to confirm when the cheque physically left the building.

- Garry says the cheque was requested on the 25th and will be with me by the 14th Feb. And that they do not process the cheques themselves, Travelex does, and I will receive an email from them when it is sent out.

- I say that I have not got an email from Travelex yet, so I can only assume it hasn't been sent. I ask Garry to phone Travelex to find out, and hurry them along.

- Garry says "unfortunately we have a strict procedure to follow" and that he will do his best to make sure I have my refund asap.

- I ask what the hell "unfortunately we have a strict procedure to follow" actually means. And try to explain my frustration over the constant erroneous answers and crap procedure. I ask him to phone Travelex and ask about the cheque.

- Luke H now emails me and says that he has asked the finance dept. for more information and will get back to me soon.

T+ 39 days
- I send the following email - "Any update from the finance department? This is getting crazy, being referred from one department to another, things being blamed on the post, Travelex, 14 days, 14 working days whatever. Now another day has passed since you referred this to the finance department. Please can you chase them up and find out what is going on."

- Luke H emails back. The cheque was "issued" on the 25th. And that they are currently advising customers to wait for up to 17 working days for cheques to arrive. To allow for postal delays...

- I email back "This is not the case. It was clearly "generated" on the 25th and not sent out, otherwise it definitely would have been here by now. I know all these "allow 14 days" lines are to give you some wiggle room. Also I have not received an email from Travelex as Garry stated I would. So clearly your finance dept have given you the generated date again and have not phoned Travelex to find out if they have done it or sent it. Furthermore you now say I should wait up to 17 working days to allow postal delays! Absolute crap! There are no postal delays currently, or ever that will cause a letter to take 24 days to be delivered!"

So, 40 days since I sent the items back, 28 days since I was first told I would be sent a cheque and 16 days after they claim they sent it... and counting...

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