Bought item with cash, cheque refund

Drake5

Drake5

Drake5

Soldato
Joined
12 Dec 2005
Posts
14,451
Has anyone heard of this before? If you buy an item with cash and then get a refund for it, do they HAVE to refund you with your original payment method (cash)? As I have been told I can only get a cheque refund. This is a big retailer
 
Cash and cheque are technically the same payment method. Cheque is inconvenient though. If it's a large amount then it's possible they don't have enough to cover it.

Money laundering and fraud issues kick in when card purchases are refunded back onto another method. Buying say a £2000 laptop on a fraudulent card, then returning it unused and refunding it via another method effectively launders the £2000.
 
Malevolence said:
Perhaps they want to use the refund right away to purchase the same item from a different place. They can't do that with a cheque made out to them.
Click to expand...

Unless there is some sub section in The Sale of Goods Act, which says that if you make a cash purchase, and for a perfectly reasonable and lawful reason you return that item, then you are legally entitled to demand your money back in cash, then I find it difficult to see where you can decline the cheque, and insist on cash.
 
Depending on the retailer, they may not have cash on site/no one has access to it.
For example, a major car dealer will deposit their cash at the bank daily and only the branch accountant (and assistant) will have access to the safe meaning if you put a £400 deposit down on Thursday and cancelled on Saturday they wouldn’t have cash at hand to cover it nor would a member of staff have access to the safe that day meaning a refund on your card is the only option or a cheque could Be issued on Monday.
So no, they don’t need to give you it back via the payment method.
 
MagicBoy said:
Cash and cheque are technically the same payment method. Cheque is inconvenient though. If it's a large amount then it's possible they don't have enough to cover it.

Money laundering and fraud issues kick in when card purchases are refunded back onto another method. Buying say a £2000 laptop on a fraudulent card, then returning it unused and refunding it via another method effectively launders the £2000.
Click to expand...


Yep money laundering regs.
 
Personally I wouldn't be happy with that but I guess it depends on the circumstances, is it something you purchased recently?
You might as well name and shame, if they are big I'm sure they wont care about being on OCUK.
 
The reason they use cheque is that the money resides in their account much longer and they can benefit from the interest on it. Ages old trick.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom