Sale Goods Policy from Horsatack

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glpcboat

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My sister very kindly bought me a lovely Toggi fleece top from Horsatack Droitwich the other day. She bought herself one too, they were apparently in the sale reduced from £40 to £20. I tried mine on the next morning and decided it was just a little tight -so still with the labels attached (sale label from shop and in their bag), less than 12 hours after the purchase, I called in to the shop to just exchange it for the next size up. They refused point blank, saying it was in the sale and there was no exchange, refund or return and that was that - TOUGH!

They had plenty of 'the next size up' on the rail in the shop and it would have been no hardship at all for them to swap it. I was totally speechless but decided to pursue this and asked for the manager, who I was then told she was not in. After another 20 mins and dialling their Head office on my mobile to check this out - the Manager suddenly appeared She was more helpful thankfully and made an exception to 'THE POLICY' on this occasion and I eventually changed the top.

BUT... I would ask really is this policy legal or indeed reasonable? Where has customer satisfaction gone? I asked them this - if I'd bought a £200 rug in the sale for £100 and then tried it on my horse and it was a tiny bit too small - would they exchange it for exactly the same rug one size up (that they there in the same sale pile) - they said NO!

After all this, I am now left feeling that I will never buy anything from there again. Very disappointed. So if you go into Horsatack and buy something in their sale, don't expect them to want to know one jot or to be able to exchange it for anything.
 
I have to say that I think that store has gone way downhill lately. The previous manager that left back in October time I think was absolutely great - really nice girl, really helpful and happy to go out of her way to assist with anything she could.... she even came to my yard to see my new horse in the summer!

Since she left, the personal touch has gone. Some of the staff there are now far too full of their own importance, and it has made it a not very nice place to shop. I had an occasion a few weeks ago where I was in the shop talking to a member of staff about a long running problem I had with my horse. We were chewing the fat over what my options were that I hadn't tried already.... another member of staff walked over to her and told her off saying that there was no time for 'chatting' there were people at the till waiting to be served. errrrrr hellooo.... I am a customer too!!! The girl I had been talking to apologised to me, and scooted off to serve at the till. I walked over to girl 2 and told her how out of order she was! I left the shop without purchasing what I had gone in for.

Anyway, I was not surprised in the least to read your post, and I for one only go in there now if I'm desperate for something and need it quickly!
 
Crapola policy. I can understand no refunds on sale items, but what difference does it make to swap an item? None.

I bought some jods from there sale, luckily I asked if I could bring them back if they didn't fit. They said no obviously.

I hardly ever go there anymore, I used to be in there every week. The only reason I go there now, is to put my adverts in the book.

I have been on the other end of one particular member of staffs tongue, once when we were just browsing the books after browsing the shop, and she came over too us and basically told us to leave, as the shop was shutting, in 10 mins....
 
SnowfieLouBee said:
I hardly ever go there anymore, I used to be in there every week. The only reason I go there now, is to put my adverts in the book.
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I think they have lost a lot of their regular customers that have been going since they opened

SnowfieLouBee said:
I have been on the other end of one particular member of staffs tongue, once when we were just browsing the books after browsing the shop, and she came over too us and basically told us to leave, as the shop was shutting, in 10 mins....
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I reckon I could hazard a guess at who that was! :rolleyes:
 
From someone who works in retail, I'm shocked they wouldn't swop it for you.
I can understand if you were asking for a refund or the item was used or whatever... But with a rack of them standing a few metres away, what's the big deal! It might not be policy but you get a happy customer, who'll probably come back and may even tell people how nice it was you went against policy to help them out... Instead they're now getting a public bashing!
More fool them, I suppose.
 
I am sure that according to the sale of goods act the item has to be fit for purpose nad as the original item did not fit the shop is obliged to exchange or refund the item.
I am sure that a sign does not exclude a shop from this obligation.
 
Thank you for your comments, I am not going mad then! I didn't think I was being unreasonable asking to swap an item that was right there on the rail. In fact the size 14 I was returning I guess was far more saleable than the 16 I was asking to change it for!

I was stunned by the attitude by the staff and they are very short-sighted because horsey people have horsey friends. I've never come across any shop refusing so bluntly and rudely in front of other customers. So its back to Countrywide Farmers for me!
 
I have started to hate the place. Become all about the profit and the customers have been left behind. Top barn much better place in my opinion!
 
Very sad to hear this, our 'local' one is in Milton Keynes and I have always have really good service from them, and I have been able to exchange sale items in the past. When they didn't have a particular rug size I wanted in stock the girl at the till spent about 20 minutes on the phone chasing one down for me at another store and arranged for it to be delivered to them in 48 hours for me to collect.
 
Tbf, buying the wrong size (whether yourself or as a present) doesn't come under 'not fit for purpose'. That's the mistake of the buyer, not the retailer. In the same way, in law you're only entitled to a refund if the item is faulty/not fit for the purpose intended (ie non waterproof wellies), not just because they're a bit tight fit wise.

I spent four & a half years working for a well known lifestyle clothing company and we soon got to know consumer law, we had to as SO many people try it on these days. We'd still exchange though with receipt, and begrudgingly without as it keeps the customer happy.

The reason shop staff get so funny about it sometimes is that without receipt you have NO idea where it's been bought. It could have been an Ebay purchase for all they know...
 
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That exchange policy seems a bit harsh :-(

I use the MK branch a fair bit and all the staff in there seem very nice and helpful, there is one young man there who is probably the most helpful shop assistant I have ever encountered :-)
 
Horsatack annoyed me too the other day, they advertise a "price match" service, so when I enquired about price matching a tub of calmer they said they wouldn't do it because I didn't go in with a printout of the price to be matched.
I explained that my printer was faulty at home (luckily Santa bought me a new one :D) so couldn't print it out, but if we went on to their PC I would find the site and show them. They said no, I HAD to have a print out. I asked them what they did once they had a printout, she said "we go online to check the deal is on stock", so they had to look it up online anyway!!!
I was told that a member of staff got sacked for doing a price match without a printout!

Top Barn (Equestrian And Country Leisure) however have awesome customer service. I always go there if possible, Horsatack is for "emergency" purchases only now as it's only down the road.
 
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I bought one of those fleeces last week,luckily it fitted well.
Ive been wanting to get one of there rug rails but they havnt had any in stock for months!
The shop always seems empty latley.
 
I'm shocked! I am also a Milton Keynes horsatacker and have always had great service from them! They did a price match for me a while ago but I did have a printout but they were the ones that actually recommended it to me! Hope things improve your end. :)
 
I have just come back from there where, just to avoid replacing a 3-week old turnout rug that had become torn badly when my horse was bitten by his field-mate (and therefore IMO is not fit for purpose given that you would not expect a herd animal to only be turned out alone), a team member actually told me that ripstop fabric for horse rugs is specifically designed to tear - to keep the horse safe ??????

Do they think that horsey people are all daft?!

Shame because I have spent quite a lot in that shop over the past couple of years. Will have to find somewhere else to go horsey shopping now :o(
 
How unfair - i am near Milton Keynes, so use their store quite a lot.
I bought my pony a hood with a zip at the beginning of december. Mid february, the zip stopped working. I didnt have a reciept, but tried my luck. I went into the store and said that the zip had broken, and i was disappointed with it. They asked the manager who asked for a reciept - i told them did not have it. BUT they said as i was asking for a swap, they would happily swap it for me as the priduct was faulty. even though it had been used for well over an month.
So, in all, i was very happy with their service. I then bought a new rug :)

what a shame they didnt look after you - customer care is everything.

x
 
and to add to that, they have always exchanged footwear (they swapped a pair of size 39 for 38 HV polo boots a few days ago - a birthday pressie) and always have swapped rugs.
They have also given us money back on unwanted goods or gift cards is they item returned was a sale item.
x
 
I have used the mk one and had several problems with them regarding over pricing and their returns policy also clueless staff hence not my first port of call gone back to brilliant trusty saddlery shop.
 
Bal Birnie said:
I have just come back from there where, just to avoid replacing a 3-week old turnout rug that had become torn badly when my horse was bitten by his field-mate (and therefore IMO is not fit for purpose given that you would not expect a herd animal to only be turned out alone), a team member actually told me that ripstop fabric for horse rugs is specifically designed to tear - to keep the horse safe ??????

Do they think that horsey people are all daft?!

Shame because I have spent quite a lot in that shop over the past couple of years. Will have to find somewhere else to go horsey shopping now :o(
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ummm.... that is true!! If you horse got it's rug caught on a fence, would you prefer your rug to rip or your horse to be injured?

(I used to work in a saddlery, although not the one mentioned. I've never heard of it)

It also depends on how much you bought the rug for. The cheaper rugs will rip further than the more expensive ones. You do get what you pay for.
 
Bal Birnie said:
I have just come back from there where, just to avoid replacing a 3-week old turnout rug that had become torn badly when my horse was bitten by his field-mate (and therefore IMO is not fit for purpose given that you would not expect a herd animal to only be turned out alone), a team member actually told me that ripstop fabric for horse rugs is specifically designed to tear - to keep the horse safe ??????

Do they think that horsey people are all daft?!

(
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Not exactly correct. Ripstop is the name used to describe the weave within the fabric of turnout rugs and helps to contain rips once started. The checkerboard pattern of Ripstop is a series of reinforced strands interspersed within standard weave fibres and these thicker, stronger areas help to prevent a rip from spreading once it starts. Ripstop does not guarantee the fabric will not rip at all. Also, the stronger areas are designed to rip should your horse gets caught or stuck in any way for safety purposes.
 
teapot said:
Tbf, buying the wrong size (whether yourself or as a present) doesn't come under 'not fit for purpose'. That's the mistake of the buyer, not the retailer. In the same way, in law you're only entitled to a refund if the item is faulty/not fit for the purpose intended (ie non waterproof wellies), not just because they're a bit tight fit wise.
.
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Glad you wrote this, it saves me having to! The rest of your post is so completely correct too.:D
 
this might have been said already but the way round that sort of policy is if they were happy to offer a return/refund, then you could have returned the top, had a refund then purchased the larger size!!! Seems silly though that they couldnt just swap? would be interesting to know their reasoning?

edited to add.... whoops misread the no retuns bit!! In that case they could have definately just swapped!
 
I really feel as though I need to stand up for this store. I have been in many a time, and I always find the staff incredibly helpful. I had bought a sale jacket at Christmas and was told at the till that as it was a sale item I wouldn't be able to exchange or refund unless the product was faulty. I have since checked the receipt and it does clearly state the terms of their refund/exchange policy on there as well.
Now that's not to say I agree with the no exchange policy as it shouldn't really be a problem so I was ready to argue the case when I took my jacket back to see if I could get the next size up ( I was being hopeful thinking it fitted when it really was too small!!!!) I was told the same thing initially, but the manager overheard the conversation and came straight over and said that although this is the company policy she did have one in stock and would happily exchange it for me as it's only a change of size.
Perhaps the thing to do is to speak to the manager, she was very understanding and exchanged my jacket without any fuss or bother!
 
Horsatack in Droitwich seem to have got their act together now regarding their sale-goods returns policy. They will now exchange (but, not refund) sale items! Result!
I had lots of bargains in their sale today - £130 of clothes for £45!! :D
 
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