How NOT to send back your item and common mistakes we see everyday
Purchasing online has its own benefits such as competitive prices and a wide range of products, you can do all the research into the product you want to buy but there is always a chance that you make an unexpected mistake with sizing, colour or the product just doesn’t meet your expectations.
As a business in the UK, we have to offer returns on items and we always try to help where we can. We have several options including our 30-day money-back guarantee and 365 day exchange periods. if you want to return your item, depending on your situation and the item that you purchased. You can find all the information for returns conveniently on each product page, or alternatively in our comprehensive guide on how to return an item.
Over the years, we have had many returns come back to our warehouse and it pains us to see so many coming back damaged. Unfortunately, when these items come back to us smashed or damaged, we are unable to issue a refund or credit. This is because it has not come back in a resalable condition.
This blog sets out to show you the major DON’TS when it comes to returning your items and how you can ensure your return will get back to our warehouse safely so that you can get your money back.
Delivery
First, let's look at delivery, and the reason we charge what we do.
We send more fragile items such as ceramic sinks, granite sinks, and shower enclosures with a specialist courier. On its journey to you, the courier checks on the item throughout to ensure nothing is damaged on route.
When thinking about returning an item, you should expect to spend the same if not more than you paid for delivery. So, if your sink costs you £30.00 to be delivered, you should expect to pay at least this for its return.
Returns DON’TS
If you wish to return your item, you can start the process off by filling in the returns page, dropping us an email or giving us a call, you will then get sent a unique returns number to include with your item so that when it comes back to us we know it is yours.
Here we come onto the first major don’t!
1) DO NOT send your item back without your returns number.
If you send back your item without letting us know or without filling in the returns form, you will not get issued with a returns number and our warehouse team won’t be able to affiliate the item with your order. This can delay the process of issuing your return or even end up with your item being placed back into stock without you getting your return issued.
We also see many customers write their returns number on the box the item arrived in. Please be advised that if there is anything written on the outside of the box it is likely that we will have to change the packaging and you may incur a surcharge for reboxing.
2) DO NOT cut corners when it comes to choosing your courier!
As mentioned above, when thinking about the cost of your return, you should expect to be paying the same if not more than the delivery cost. Alarm bells should be ringing if you are quoted a much lower price to return your item.
Of course, many couriers will agree to send back your item for a much lower price than you paid for delivery, but unfortunately a lot of the time they in this instance they arrive back to us damaged.
For most taps and smaller items, we recommend couriers such as Parcel2go who are a comparison site for couriers where you can compare services, insurance levels and get the very best deal for what you are after. For more expensive taps and fragile products such as granite or ceramic sinks, we would recommend a more specialist courier service such as Stop-Start or Furdeco.
If your item is fragile or expensive, using a specialist courier is a safer option as they are trained to handle particularly sensitive goods like this. They also check on the items regularly throughout the journey. Take a look at this video below to see how some parcels are treated before delivery and why a specialist courier would be the better option with certain products!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jF_w7uSnOj0
3) DO NOT change the packaging!
All the items that we send out are packaged in a way that keeps the item inside secure and safe. Unfortunately, we see a lot of customers returning their item in different packaging to what it was delivered in. This can lead to the item arriving to us damaged as it hasn’t been packaged correctly, and would also incur the reboxing fee.
Take a look at some of the images below showing some of the ways we have received returns and how this affects the item inside.
The first photo is a synthetic sink wrapped in bubble wrap, the second is a bin wrapped in bin bags and the third is a ceramic sink wrapped in a blanket with Sellotape wrapped round it. All of the below arrived to us damaged.
4) DO NOT forget to check the courier's insurance terms and conditions
One of the biggest problems we see for our customers is when their item comes back to us damaged, and they are then unable to claim f this with the courier they used.
A lot of customers choose certain couriers but don’t read what is covered by insurance, a lot of the time ceramics and glass are not covered.
If we do receive your item damaged, we do our best to help with the courier claim by sending over photos or anything else you may require but to avoid this, we advise reading the courier's terms over before choosing them.
TOP TIP: We advise taking a photo of your item before you send it off with your chosen courier so that you can show its condition before you send it off.
These pictures here are all examples of damage where the sink has been sent back with a courier that is not used to handling this type of item. As well as having the wrong courier - the packing was also not improved to compensate for the service so the item was severely damaged.
Wrapping up
So it's pretty simple, in summary;
Do not send your item back without a returns number
Do not cut corners when choosing your courier
Do not change the packaging (unless improving it for a specific courier)
Do not forget to check the courier's terms and conditions
