I placed an order with Amazon last month for which the item was faulty. I returned the item and requested to exchange with the same. The second item was also faulty so I returned and requested a refund.
Throughout the refund stages it said it would refund using the original method of payment.
As soon as I completed the refund request I got an email saying:
"Dear Customer,
Greetings from Amazon.co.uk.
We are writing to confirm that we are processing your refund in the amount of £XXX.XX for your Order XXX-XXXXXX-XXXXXXXX.
This amount has been credited to your payment method and will appear when your bank has processed it."
Same email further down:
"Your refund is being credited as follows:
Gift Card: £XXX.XX"
As at the time I read the email through my phone, I only read the top paragraphs and thought great.
Queue yesterday, when I ordered a phone case for the missus via her phone browser, but through my account. I went through the process and once I paid I noticed that the amount I was charged was £0.00.
I came upstairs to the PC and then I noticed I had a gift card for the same amount in my account.
I immediately contacted support via chat, who could not comprehend that I wanted the refund in my bank account, but got a gift card instead. After 20 minutes of back and forth I left the chat.
Today I called them up, and they said because I had used the gift card (part of it) there was nothing they could do. I escalated to a supervisor who said the same. I mentioned the Consumers Contracts Regulations Part 3, Regulation 34, (7) "The trader must make the reimbursement using the same means of payment as the consumer used for the initial transaction, unless the consumer has expressly agreed otherwise."
He said their policy didn't allow them to do that and just kept apologising.
What can I do here?
P.S. Also, last night I created a refund for a different item, to go through the process again, in case I selected gift card by mistake. The process did not present to me an option for the refund and just stated "method of payment". I received the exact same email template 5 minutes later, so it seems their system is somehow sending gift cards, even though I did not agree to it.
Any advice appreciated.
Throughout the refund stages it said it would refund using the original method of payment.
As soon as I completed the refund request I got an email saying:
"Dear Customer,
Greetings from Amazon.co.uk.
We are writing to confirm that we are processing your refund in the amount of £XXX.XX for your Order XXX-XXXXXX-XXXXXXXX.
This amount has been credited to your payment method and will appear when your bank has processed it."
Same email further down:
"Your refund is being credited as follows:
Gift Card: £XXX.XX"
As at the time I read the email through my phone, I only read the top paragraphs and thought great.
Queue yesterday, when I ordered a phone case for the missus via her phone browser, but through my account. I went through the process and once I paid I noticed that the amount I was charged was £0.00.
I came upstairs to the PC and then I noticed I had a gift card for the same amount in my account.
I immediately contacted support via chat, who could not comprehend that I wanted the refund in my bank account, but got a gift card instead. After 20 minutes of back and forth I left the chat.
Today I called them up, and they said because I had used the gift card (part of it) there was nothing they could do. I escalated to a supervisor who said the same. I mentioned the Consumers Contracts Regulations Part 3, Regulation 34, (7) "The trader must make the reimbursement using the same means of payment as the consumer used for the initial transaction, unless the consumer has expressly agreed otherwise."
He said their policy didn't allow them to do that and just kept apologising.
What can I do here?
P.S. Also, last night I created a refund for a different item, to go through the process again, in case I selected gift card by mistake. The process did not present to me an option for the refund and just stated "method of payment". I received the exact same email template 5 minutes later, so it seems their system is somehow sending gift cards, even though I did not agree to it.
Any advice appreciated.