Returning Duvet cover set to Dunelm

Germanshepherdsmum

This retired solicitor can tell you that it is entirely legal in England and Wales.

Pardon me but what is? Germanshepherdsmum

Germanshepherdsmum

If you look carefully at Dunelm’s returns policy on their website you will see that duvet covers and other items of bedding are excluded.

Should they make their web page more clear, though, Germanshepherdsmum?

As I posted above, the page where that duvet cover is shown states clearly underneath:

Easy Returns
We hope you love this product, but if you decide it's not right, you can return it for free

People may naturally believe that "This Product" refers to the product displayed on that page.

There may be a disclaimer underneath but it is not at all clear.

It seems that Dunelm sell on behalf of other companies too. I looked at the returns policy for Dunelm’s own brand bedding. In addition there was a warning sticker on the wrapping which OP ignored.

It was a reply to grandetante, Ohmother.

It’s good to see you posting again GSM. I missed you for a while - there was another poster with a very similar name……
If people looked carefully at consumer law websites there would be no need for a post such as this to run for pages. It seems clear to me however unfair it may seem!

Thanks so much Farzanah.

Yes, it’s so easy to tick the T&Cs box without reading them and it’s very easy to discover that these exclusions are entirely lawful. I just wish that people wouldn’t post with such authority and certainty on things when they are completely wrong.

I also noticed this disclaimer on a Dunelm set and I still returned it to store after buying online.! They were fine with it as it obviously hadn't been unwrapped and was still in pristine wrapped condition. I think disclaimer is a shot across bows of those taking the whizz as much as anything, I think staff are able to use discretion when dealing with returns and are not stupid, knowing the difference between a genuine mistake in purchase and a p*ss taker!! I'd take it back anyway and give them opportunity to accept the item.

There is also a point in law where t &cs need to be referred to clearly and any specific points like returns conditions have to be clearly brought to the attention of the purchaser as these terms are notoriously difficult to disseminate and can render the purchaser confused and ultimately ignorant of what they're agreeing to!!! It's a defence that it's unreasonable to expect a buyer to read through ALL terms in order to make a decision under these circs. And can be used in extreme cases but the likes of Dunelm are very customers friendly and do not seek to alienate customers so are accommodating where reasonable.

Germanshepherdsmum

Thanks so much Farzanah.

Yes, it’s so easy to tick the T&Cs box without reading them and it’s very easy to discover that these exclusions are entirely lawful. I just wish that people wouldn’t post with such authority and certainty on things when they are completely wrong.

Yes, I know the disclaimer makes it lawful but I just wonder if it is not fair to the customer who may have assumed that, according to the large print underneath the product description, an exchange was possible.

Dunelm should remove that from the product description of those items which cannot be exchanged.
It's misleading.

That being said, I had a pair of earrings for Christmas which are sealed and I do know if the seal is broken I cannot exchange them for hygiene reasons.

They were fine with it as it obviously hadn’t been unwrapped

But surely that’s the difference? If it hadn’t been unwrapped and unsealed, then yes, the bedding could be returned.

It’s the fact it has been removed from the packaging that triggers the right to refuse it back.

So no one on here has ever slept on anyone else’s bed never in an hotel a guest house a hostel, no one has ever bought anything second hand
Everything can be washed no wonder landfill is overloaded

If something has been looked at, then carefully refolded I cannot see any reason to not accept it back for resale obviously if is crumpled and used it’s a very different thing
How do you justify taking a blouse back that has been worn and shock horrow ….. touched someone’s skin or a pair of trousers that have been on bare legs, Seems really petty to me especially as it’s online and not something you can touch to see the quality but then you couldn’t buy that if people had actually touched it

This is where the box accepting T&Cs is so relevant - if you tick it you acknowledge that you have read and understood them, whether you have or not. Leading case on bringing terms to one’s attention before the contract is made is Shoe Lane Parking, 1976 iirc.
The point with the Dunelm bedding is that it can be returned if unopened (and of course even if opened if faulty). There was even a reminder on the wrapping. The company has acted fairly and lawfully.

It’s accepted that you need to try on an item of clothing to see if it fits, though return of an opened pack of knickers probably wouldn’t be accepted. I wouldn’t want to buy pants someone had tried on or bedding that might have been used - carefully re folding isn’t sufficient to prove to the retailer that it hasn’t been used.
Trying on a blouse isn’t the same as wearing it and it isn’t exactly an intimate item of clothing.

In the case of the bedding the colour would have been visible without unwrapping, very likely the quality too, based on my experience of shopping exclusively online these days. Very recently I returned a sweatshirt which I could see through the wrapping was neither the colour nor the quality I wanted, didn’t try it on, back it went.

The mattresses that have been returned after a 30 day trial are often collected by a separate sub contracted company who take them to a specialist deep cleaning business and then resell them as nearly new/refurbished.
Business for 3 different companies, occasionally 4.

I, too, had assumed that the 14 days online selling regulations covered duvet covers.

I feel it is disingenuous for a company to add as it to these as it wishes and yes, I understand reference is made in the small print. I would feel aggrieved in the OP's situation.

I would try to seal the package up but if this failed, visit a Dunelm store and point out that the item had not been used, merely that the packaging had been opened.

The quality and colour of the item is not what the OP was expecting, so something is wrong with the description/photography. This is not the OP's fault.

I do not understand why, Dunelm could not repackage the duvet cover if it obviously has not been opened extensively, or used? Surely this is done when we return an item of clothing which has been tried on at home (thus rubbed on our bodies!) then returned etc?

The answer (but not much use to the OP) is to snub Dunelm.

Vote with one's feet.

Pack it up carefully and return on quality basis in store. There will be a flaw somewhere. That's the basis of return. Ask for manager. They will have more discretion

Glad I know this now as it's a 100 mile round trip for me! I always wash new linen before use t get rid of that horrible manufacturing smell, don't most folk?!

but you can return items bought online, within 14 days. inc bedding.
but they must be unopened.
would you expect to go in a store and start unwrapping an item, and then not pay for it.
GSM is correct, as expected.
you can disbelieve her, and me, as much as you like, it does not change the law.
i will make no further comment on this, as i see some people are just stubborn.
it's not a case of not understanding the situation.
it is an attitude; which is not mine.

Well, I don’t wash new bedding before use as I like the crisp newness feel of it. Never worry about chemicals used in the making of it.
#slovenlygran.

Thanks welbeck

Makes you wonder if some people find a flaw in it like a pulled thread or an unsewn start or end to a seam doesn’t it? Just saying.

I suspect that those who suggest taking the item to the shop and speaking to ‘a manager’ have not been in a Dunelm shop recently. Whenever I’ve been in one of their shops there has been a queue of at least eight customers waiting to be served by the (usually) lone member of staff on the tills!!
Staff cost money.

Ohmother

Makes you wonder if some people find a flaw in it like a pulled thread or an unsewn start or end to a seam doesn’t it? Just saying.

I have a terrible admission.
When I was a student I would buy a dress, wear it for a big night out, and then carefully unpick a tiny bit of seam and return it.
Then buy another dress…
Awful woman

FannyCornforth you won’t be the first or the last. If returning an expensive item is so difficult there’s always Plam ‘B’.

I bought a duvet set from Next online. It had a small fault in the duvet fabric - bit unsightly but not a hole or anything. They just sent a replacement but refused my offer to return the original so now I have two sets. The quality isn’t brilliant for the price and I’ve learned a good lesson!

I was in Dunelm yesterday...I heard the assistant say to the lady in front, who was buying bedding,..... 'this can only be returned as long as the seal is not broken on the package'