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Clothes Returns in Shops
Hi,
I would very much appreciate it if someone could inform me as to what costumer rights are here in Belgium with regards to returning clothes items.
My wife bought a pair of jeans last Friday which had the measurements Waist 33 Leg 34 inches on them. Unfortunately the jeans when measured at home were over 3 inches (approx 7 cms) longer than what they said they were and so did not fit.
When my wife returned to the store this evening she requested her money back due which I thought she had every right to do as the product clearly did not match the product description.
What she then encountered was her worse ever experience of customer service. Having asked politely for her money back, the manager said under no circumstances would this happen. He refused to acknowledge that the goods were not as the measurements said they were. As my wife stood her ground and refused to take another pair as they all had faulty measurements, he then said he would call the police. My wife said that was fine and he then proceeded to leave the jeans outside the shop on the pavement.
Further comments from him included, I get this from many people like you many times a day and I'm not returning the money, we speak only French and Flemish in Belgium so if you're not going to speak one of the two languages to me then go back to your home country, get a job implying that she is uneducated (she has a PhD) and finally don't ever return to this store. This is only a few of the comments and it left my wife in a very distraught state. My wife was ultimately bullied into taking another pair for herself so as to get away from the situation.
So to cut a long story short, what are the returns policy on faulty goods in Belgium? and is this level of customer care standard in Belgium?
P.S. The jeans were a present hence why I was not there to try them on.
Unfortunately, the common return policy in most stores is that you can exchange the goods or get a gift card but almost nowhere do you get your money back. Not even at chain stores like H&M.
Indeed, you don't get your money back. ANd shops are not even required to exchange. If the product is faulty, however, you can file a complaint with FOD economie: http://economie.fgov.be/en/disputes/complaints/where_how_submit_complain...
And my advice to anyone who buys clothes (or any other gift that risks needing to be exchanged) to ask the shop about their exchange policy before buying... Don't assume!
No, you cannot exchange stuff systematically. You have to ask if you can take it home to try on and if they will exchange. Aslways
> go back to your home country
Report it:
http://mrax.be/
There is no excuse for rudeness and incivility, particularly tainted with racism. The guy deserves to lose his job over such remarks.
You do not have a right to your money back. The circumstances in which you do are clearly laid down and are, basically, applied throughout the EU though not all shops apply the rules rigidly.
However, you do have a right to a replacement when the goods are not fit for purpose - in this case they are not fit for someone with a 33 inch Waist and a 34 inch Leg. If a replacement cannot be supplied then you have a right to a refund though, clearly, if they said that they could get a replacement within 48 hours you would probably have to be happy with that.
Your problem is that the goods were not legally FAULTY - the fact that they had a wrong size label is unlikely to be the shopkeeper fault.
What is totally unacceptable is the attitude of the shopkeeper and it is up to you as to what you want to do and how far you want to take things - unfortunately always remembering that you are in a 'he said/she said' situation and he will deny having said anything out of order. And how do you prove otherwise?
You can report it as J suggests and, if it is not the first complaint they have had, something might be done - but don't hold your breath.
Reminds me of the comment made in the maison communale to me a few weeks back "too many foreigners in this country" asking how long a friend was planning on living here, to an EU national as well who had a job. Friend told me to drop it, but I can think of 2 similar comments in the last year said to me. The racism here is terrible, the fact that anyone feels confident enough to be able to talk openly in this way.
