Retailers with the best and worst refund policies for Christmas gifts – & how to avoid getting stung with surprise fees

SHOPPERS could be handing their loved ones an unwelcome bill along with their Christmas gift.

Get your choice of present wrong and your friends and relatives might have to pay to send it back, as a growing number of retailers are charging for returns.

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Customers are now having to pay for returns on 43 per cent of their unwanted online purchases, up from 36 per cent a year ago.

That’s according to new figures shared with Sun Money from ZigZag, a firm that manages returns on behalf of major retailers.

The average amount charged has also risen over that period from £2 per parcel to £2.30, it revealed.

Anyone looking to buy big ticket items such as TVs or furniture in the festive sales should be especially wary with some stores charging up to £50 for bulky returns and up to £25 for smaller gadgets such as iPads.

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Here Rosie Murray-West looks at which shops charge the most and how to dodge the fees. 

RISING COSTS

MANY chains have quietly brought in fees for posting back unwanted online purchases, and more are expected to follow.

Experts say it’s because the huge costs of processing returns have been hitting shops’ profits hard.

Nicla Di Palma, retail analyst at investment firm Brewin Dolphin, says free returns are “completely unsustainable in the long run” and that fees are only likely to rise further.

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“Many shops are now pushing the costs back onto their customers,” she says.

Trends such as “staging” are partly to blame, according to ZigZag — where wannabe social media stars order huge hauls of clothing and interior decor, take photos for Instagram, then send them back.

But ordinary shoppers are paying the price if they can’t get to a store to drop off their returns for free.

H&M brought in a £1.99 per parcel charge in September, unless you sign up as a member, while Zara introduced a £1.95 charge last year.

Next charges £2.50 for each package you return by Royal Mail or courier, but until last year subscribers paying £22.50 a year got free deliveries and returns.

Now, Next Unlimited members have to pay the same fee as everyone else for returns although deliveries are still free.

HEFTY FEES ON BIG BUYS

IT’S on large items where you can really get stung on fees.

It costs £49.99 to return a TV or bigger appliance to AO.com, and £24.99 for gadgets the size of an airfryer or take them to a drop-off point for free.

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John Lewis charges £29.95 to collect furniture or bulky appliances, while M&S charges £25.

And retailers are making other changes to their policies to make it harder to return goods.

Budget fashion and homeware site Studio recently cut the window which shoppers are able to send back purchases from 30 to 28 days and added that returns are “at your own risk”.

It means that as well as covering the cost of postage, shoppers lose their money if their returns go missing or get damaged on the way back to Studio’s warehouse.

RIGHT TO RETURN

WHEN you shop on the high street there’s no automatic right to a refund just because something doesn’t fit or you’ve changed your mind.

Only if it’s faulty can you demand a replacement or your money back.

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That said, most retailers go further than they are required by law and do give refunds or credit if you return items within the window they set out — typically 28 days.

And if they’ve set out the policy at tills, on their website or anywhere else, they must honour it.

But when you shop online there’s a “cooling off period”, which means you have two weeks in which you can cancel an order if you change your mind.

Consumer expert Martyn James says: “If it’s already been sent out, you’ll normally have to pay to send it back.

“Make sure you keep proof of postage in case the shop claims it hasn’t received your package back.

“This right to a refund doesn’t apply to personalised items, food, or computer games, CDs or DVDs where the seal has been broken.

“If something you buy online doesn’t work properly or is damaged, or you’re sent the wrong item, then you’ve got the right to return it free of charge.”

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Some shops offer a longer period to return items after Christmas so keep this in mind when buying presents for the pickiest people on your list.

For example, Argos, Primark, Tesco and Boots will allow you to return purchases up to January 31 2024 — apart from food, toiletries and other items they can’t resell.