Amazon refused £150 refund for bridesmaid dresses in wrong colour

MY WIFE ordered three bridesmaid dresses from Amazon Marketplace costing £150.23 with postage.

The colour was not as described and they were the wrong sizes. They were sent out on March 14 and we returned them to China on March 25.

We sent them by Royal Mail’s international signed for service, which cost £22.65 and insured the package for £150. The company insists it has not received the parcel. We have sent emails and made calls to Amazon. We also emailed the company in China.

Royal Mail has confirmed that the parcel was delivered and we have provided evidence. We have followed Amazon’s rules, yet it is refusing to refund us. Mr and Mrs D., Essex. Yours is the second letter I have received recently concerning Amazon Marketplace, where firms have claimed they have not received returned goods. In each case, Amazon’s procedures have been followed to the letter, yet it has refused a refund.

After I intervened, Amazon coughed up the money you had paid for the dresses and the postage. But it refused to answer further questions regarding Amazon Marketplace and the frequency of problems.

Buying from Amazon Marketplace is not the same as buying from Amazon itself. You are dealing with a third-party supplier.

You lose your rights under section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act, which makes your credit card supplier jointly and severally liable if something goes wrong on a purchase.

If you pay one party (in this case Amazon) and the goods are supplied by another, then the Act does not apply.

We at Money Mail would be interested to hear from other readers who have struggled to get refunds when returning goods to Amazon Marketplace, despite following their rules. An Amazon spokesman provided the following statement: ‘The Amazon A-to-Z Guarantee provides additional protection for customers who buy from Marketplace and if a customer received the item, but the item was defective, damaged, or not the item depicted in the seller’s description, we will refund or replace that item.’

It’s all very well telling us that, but perhaps they need to reiterate it to some of their staff. MY WIFE and I are 92. We live in Warrington and two or three times a year we visit our daughter in Watford.

We travel by train with Virgin, but as we struggle with the aisles in standard we tend to go first class. There’s only one direct train which stops at Watford and this is at 9.30pm.

As the booking office closes early I book in advance and this time paid just over £100.

Unfortunately, my wife took a fall, fracturing her hip, and needed to have an artificial hip joint operation.

As it would now be impossible to travel, I asked at the station for a refund.

I was refused, as this was an advance booking, but was told I could transfer to a new date.

I do not know when or if my wife will ever be able to board a train, so could not give a date and have not received a refund. A. H., Warrington. I can fully understand why firms have rules on advance tickets. They are offering them at a discount and in return for that we have to give up some flexibility. However, there are times when the rule book needs to be thrown out of the window — and this is one of them.

I asked Virgin Trains to reconsider and I’m happy to say that as soon as they knew the full circumstances of your case they did so without equivocation.

A spokesman told me: ‘We will be in touch with Mr H to provide a refund and we wish his wife a speedy recovery.’

They have contacted you by email because you have said you are hard of hearing.

You tell me that your wife is now practising walking with her Zimmer frame. Incidentally, my wife would like to know at what age we stop ‘falling over’ and start ‘having a fall’ — as we grow older, this could be important information.

Good luck to both of you and I hope you are able to make another trip to Watford in the not too distant future.