My mum bought some paint yesterday from an indpendant trader/shop(ie, not B&Q) as she felt she was going to run out of paint on the house she is currently decorating...
However, as it turns out she did not need the extra tin so today she took it back, totally unused and unopened and the shop refused to give her either a refund or a credit note. She had the receipt.
Is this common practice for tins of paint? I could understand if it had been opened but it clearly hadn't.
My mum bought some paint yesterday from an indpendant trader/shop(ie, not B&Q) as she felt she was going to run out of paint on the house she is currently decorating...
However, as it turns out she did not need the extra tin so today she took it back, totally unused and unopened and the shop refused to give her either a refund or a credit note. She had the receipt.
Is this common practice for tins of paint? I could understand if it had been opened but it clearly hadn't.
If the goods are OK the shop is under no obligation to give a refund. Most of the sheds do, (i) to encourage you to buy now rather than go home and re-measure (and change your mind); or (ii) because in ? 50% of cases the person concerned never gets round to returning the surplus within the time limit.
Yes its quite common for the smaller retailer to do this, after all its not his fault your mother bought to much is it.
I know someone who works in one of the larger stores B&Q and you would not believe some of the things that customers bring back for a refund.
Supposedly un-opened boxes and tins that actually contain bricks, Blown bulbs that are printed with the Tesco logo, goods that B&Q have never ever sold. The large companies have multi million pound turnovers to cover these type of losses what hope has the little man got.
One of the reasons I buy most of my materials from Wickes. They have a clear policy of refunding anything unused without question.
They don't have to do this, it's just their policy, but it works well for me and for them.
Paint the karzi with it. As others have said it's not usual for small retailers to offer refunds unless the product is faulty. This is one of the reasons behind the demise of High Street shops in many towns and can either be seen as a good thing, because the buggers have been ripping us off for years, or a bad thing, depending on whether you use the shops frequently or not.
Next time your Mum will go to B&Q, thereby driving another nail into the other chap's shop's coffin. Bugger him, I say; he should sell up and move to France or Spain. :)
Si
The fair way for a small trader would be a handling charge - perhaps equal to half the mark up?
You could always take it back to B&Q for vouchers if they sell the same tin.
Christian.
Wonder if the barcode would be the same?
When I worked for Crown we'd take back unopened tins, in fact sometimes I'd say to people, if they were uncertain about a colour, to try a couple of brushfulls to see if it was ok and if they weren't happy with it then to bring it back, only with ready mixed, not mixed to order, sometimes they did, sometimes they didn't.
Years ago I took surpluss to the job un-opened cans of paint back to Homebase and they weighed them before refunding. I asked why ? The reason was the locals from the nearby estate would buy cans of paint remove sufficient from each can for their job and put a brick into to bring the level back to the top and return for a refund.....
As long as its a 13 digit one, it will be. The smaller ones are "company" specific - ie. B&Q, Wickes etc
If it is exactly the same product it will be. The EAN-13 codes used in retail are created by the manufacturers, using their manufacturer number and a product number to create a globally unique identifier.
Colin Bignell
Why is refusing to give a refund on a non-faulty product 'ripping off'. It is the buyer's fault not the retailers
Right. I did wonder if a firm the size of B&Q would get the makers to give them an unique one. Which would save arguing as to whether it was bought there.
The manual on using EAN numbers is doorstop size. However, I think that would be against the rules under which the licence is granted, unless the packaging were noticeably different, for example with something like 'made for B&Q' on the tin. In any case, it would make stock control at the manufacturer's interesting if you couldn't tell the difference at a glance. Personal experience suggests that even quite obviously different products frequently find their way into the wrong bays and that portable bar code readers are a bit high tech for most store keepers to operate reliably.
Colin Bignell
The ripping off bit was meant to be taken seperately from the refund bit.
Si
The problem with paint tins is that they can easily be opened and shut without anyone knowing. They need to start putting seals on the tins. Dodgy builders and DIYers will do all sorts to save a few quid by using some of the tin and then sealing it up or adding water to it before returning it. Then I'll come in and end up buying it!
There was a spell when paint tins were having paint removed and replaced by an explosive device, and then returned to the supplier when I worked in Belfast. It didn't last long!
I suppose these makeover progs pinched the idea?
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