John Lewis Mistake Refund & Bailiffs

[nicksc1]

In December 2011, I bought online a £600 washer dryer with a year warranty from John Lewis. In October 2011 the machine broke down and as the engineer sent by John Lewis could repair it, we were advise to exchange it with a similar product from their online website.

 

In November 2012, we decided to pick a new washer dryer that was £60 more expensive than the original one. When ordering the machine, the outstanding payment was taken over the phone and we were advised that the payment went through and nothing else was required. The machine was then replaced and we were overall very happy with the exchange procedure.

 

In February 2013, we received an email from John Lewis requesting us to contact them back in relation to a declined payment from our bank to refund an outstanding payment £660.

 

In their response to my enquiry email, I was then advised that, in mid January a full refund of the original washer dryer had been processed back into my payment card. Then they tried to bill me the £660 for the new machine but were unable to obtain an authorisation from the bank. So, now I had to contact them back in order to settle the outstanding payment.

 

Checking my bank statement and then noticed that £660 had been transferred from John Lewis which it arrived pretty much on the same time as my salary. Unfortunately, I genuinely spent it during that period as I was on holiday for a month in Thailand and didn’t check my bank statements.

 

On my last email, I explained that I didn’t understand the reason why they had refunded the money back as everything had been sorted back in November when the washer dryer was exchanged. I also advised them that I had since spent all the money and requested them to advise me on fair solution for both parties. I offered to may the payment in instalments but I never heard anything back. No emails no calls.

 

Today, I received a new email requesting me to settle the outstanding payment. They advised me that if I don’t settle the full amount, they are going to send the debt to a Bailiff company. I realise its their money, but I find the sequence of events unusual.

 

So in summary, washer dryer was exchanged in November 2012. They called me and I settled the outstanding amount on the phone. 2 - 3 months later they refunded the full amount for the washer dryer. They then tried to get authorisation to get the same amount back from my account, which my bank refused. They then emailed me a month after that requesting the full amount. I spent the money and couldnt settle. I offered to pay in instalments, however I never heard anything back. I've offered to pay in monthly instalments again, but they are saying I need to settle in full or they will send my debt to the bailiffs..

 

What do I do?

[renegadeimp]

Bailiffs wont become involved unless its been to court and you tell the judge you wont pay.

 

If the company used the phrase as you said then you must make a formal complaint.

[BazzaS]

Agreeing with renegadeimp : did they say "send it to the bailiffs" or "send it to a debt collection agency ", as the two are far from synonymous!

[citizenB]

The advice you have received is accurate - bailiffs will not be involved until AFTER a court claim has been issued and you have refused to pay.

 

If this were me, I would write/ email JL along the lines of the following.

 

 

You are concerned at the tone of their letter.

 

This mistake has come about through an administrative error caused by them.

 

It is unfortunate that you did not realise that they had refunded monies to your account - despite your being under the impression that they were just replacing the item and you had made an extra payment for the difference between the two items.

 

You are not in a position to make the payment as demanded and your offer is to repay this by way of (so many instalments of £so much).

 

You trust this will be acceptable and that they will provide you with bank details in order to start making these payments.

 

Yours etc.

 

[renegadeimp]

To add, even if you went to court and you could show you could only pay £1 a month for the forseeable future, bailiffs wont even enter the judges mind.

[johnym]

Just noticed this one, seems odd the op didn’t query the extra £660 they found in their bank account, if it were me id like to know where it came from and I defiantly would not have spent it.

 

Given the odd amount they would have known where it had came from and that it was a mistake. John Lewis is one of the more reputable retailers around, I think this is the first JL thread I’ve seen on here.

 

Seems the OP was hoping they wouldn’t notice, they took advantage of JL’s mistake and are now panicking as they have to pay it back. I think its wrong for the OP to pay it back at £1 per month, they should either cough up the full amount or return the washing machine.

 

Just my opinion.

Edited November 11, 2013 by johnym

[renegadeimp]

Lets not deal in what if's or conjecture. We only know one side of the story so we have to give advice based on that info.