Beware penalties if you forget to collect your Christmas parcel

SHOPS are charging rip-off fees if customers fail to pick up their click-and-collect o rders w ithin a s little as ten days.

The service allows shoppers to order goods online then pick them up in store.

But retailers have been accused of m aking ‘ stealth’ c harges a fter i t e merged some w ere b illing s hoppers u p t o h alf t he cost of an order if they did not show up before a short deadline.

Others are not issuing automatic refunds if parcels are left uncollected, pocketing the cash unless shoppers c ontact them directly to ask for it back.

Details of these fees and catches are sometimes buried in small print or only mentioned after a purchase is made.

High street names, including stationer Paperchase and furniture shop Heal’s, are among those charging for a no-show.

Activewear retailer Sports Direct does not refund customers for uncollected purchases unless they request it, small print reveals. This is despite the goods being returned to their warehouse or re-sold in store.

This raises fears that thousands could be caught out this Christmas if they forget to collect a parcel or change their minds and assume there is no charge.

Martyn J ames, f ormerly o f t he F inancial Ombudsman Service and now at c ustomer complaints website Resolver, says: ‘Introducing a charge for failing to c ollect goods promptly is, at worst, a c ynical money-making scheme.

‘Uncollected purchases should be returned to the store and refunded a utomatically. Shoppers should not face an additional charge.’

Paperchase o nly r efunds h alf t he c ost o f goods if customers have not picked up them up within ten days.

But customers are not told this when they buy. They would only realise if they read the detailed click-and-collect terms and conditions on the website.

The Paperchase small print states: ‘If you do not collect your order within the ten days and do not make contact with us, your order will be returned to our online f ulfilment w arehouse w here you will receive a refund equal to 50 p c of your order value.’

Upmarket homeware chain Heal’s, which has stores in L ondon, B righton, W est Y orkshire and B irmingham, c harges c ustomers almost £7 if they fail to collect their goods within ten days.

Its website reads: ‘All click-and- c ollect orders will be held at your selected Heal’s store for up to ten days. Orders not collected within thistimewillbecancelledwiththe item price refunded, minus a £6.95 handling charge.’

Sports Direct’s terms and c onditions say: ‘You have up to 28 days to collect your parcel from your selected store.

‘You will be reminded three times w ithin t his p eriod t o p ick u p your parcel. If you fail to pick up your parcel within this period, it will be returned to the warehouse and you will lose any d elivery charges you have paid.

‘You will then need to speak to customer services for a refund.’

Clothing giant Next alsoa dvertised a £1.75 charge for c ustomers who failed to show up for click-and-collect orders — but removed i t, s aying i t w as a n ‘ error’, after Money Mail pointed it out.

The n o-show c harge i s t he l atest in a l ist o f f ees w hich online s hoppers c an be hit with.

Many retailers such as John Lewis, Tesco and TK Maxx charge to use click and collect if an order is under a certain value —evenifyoudopickupyourgoods.Buttheydonotcharge if you fail to collect them.

Other businesses charge for home deliveries, collections from other r etailers a nd l ockers, a s w ell as for returning goods if they do not fit or are unsuitable.

Steve Nowottny, at money savingexpert.com, says: ‘If shops decide to charge a fee for sorting the r eturn a nd r efund, i t s hould b e proportionate, and crucially must be communicated clearly to customers.’ Martyn James, at Resolver, adds: ‘Firms will nodoubt argue that it reflects storagecosts. But if the items weren’t sold they’d be in storage anyway so the a rgument doesn’t hold up. ‘It appears some are banking on us n ot n oticing t he c harges, w hich is totally unfair.’ A Paperchase spokeswoman says: ‘Customers are notified and reminded their order is ready to collect f rom s tore a nd a t t his p oint they are also reminded again of our click-and-collect policy. ‘We a re y et t o h ear o f c oncerns o r customer n egativity r egarding o ur click-and-collect policy, but it is something we monitor regularly.’

A s pokesman f or H eal’s s ays: ‘ We reserve the right to charge c ustomers a £6.95 handling fee should t hey n ot c ollect t heir o rder. This is to cover costs of returning goods to our warehouse.

‘Todatewehavenotchargedany of our customers the £6.95 handling fee.’

Next stated on its mobile phone app and online terms and conditions that it charged a flat £1.75 ‘administration fee’ if a purchase was not picked up within 14 days.

A spokesman said although the charge was stated on its website, it had never been charged. It was an error that had been ‘rectified’. money.mail@dailymail.co.uk