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I bought a PS2 game from WHSmith online for a child's Christmas present. Only £3.99 with free delivery, 'great' I thought as I paid for the game and ticked another one off the list. The game duly arrived and I noticed straight away that the box wasn't sealed. In fact it looked as if it had been passed around the retail network rather too much. Even worse, there was a scratch on the playing side of the disc so this was hardly ideal Christmas present material. What if the child found that the game didn't work at a crucial point?
I followed the WHSmith 'returns' procedure precisely. This stated that returns could not be made to WHSmith high street stores, so I posted the game to their address in Jersey (costing £1.50 recorded delivery). Now WHSmith's own terms state that they will refund the postage cost of returning imperfect goods. In my covering letter with the disc I stated explicitly that I was requesting a refund of both the purchase cost of the game, and the cost of the return postage.
In spite of their customer service system being abysmal and uncommunicative, WHSmith did eventually refund £3.99 to my credit card. However, what about the £1.50 postage? I called and emailed their customer service department. They said I would have to submit proof that it had cost me £1.50 to return the item. How crass is that? Quite apart from the fact that WHSmith wouldn't have received the returned game if I hadn't paid someone to deliver it, the package had a £1.50 Royal Mail label on it!
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