QVC no quibble money back guarantee as long as you don't return over 50%

[Administrator]

<img src="/images/756px-Qvc_logo_svg.png" border="0" alt="QVC" title="QVC" hspace="4" vspace="1" align="right" />QVC's buy it and try it policy which is pushed by presenters at every opportunity is not as "no quibble" as the customer is told.<br /><br />Many forum members have received "The Letter" telling them that they are sending too many items back, yesterday however QVC phoned one of their customers on a Sunday lunchtime, he explained that QVC's accepted return rate is 50%, the customer said "If QVC advertised items properly then I would not be disappointed with my purchases and feel the need to return them". The QVC staff member said "a letter detailing what we had spoken about would be sent" The customer then made the decision to close their account. <ul><li>Why does QVC treat it's customers in such an apalling way?</li><li>How does the customer find out the % of returned items?</li><li>Do they intend to inform customers when selling items that you may only return 50% of your purchases?</li></ul>We have asked QVC to comment but have yet to receive a reply, all emails shoppingtelly.com has sent to QVC in the past few months have gone unanswered.<br /><br />So if anyone from QVC's management are reading this I have set up a unique email address just for you <a href="mailto:[email protected]">[email protected]</a>, your customers deserve answers.<br /><br />

 

[Jools]

I'm also curious, does 50% return rate relate to the quantity of the items (ie, buy 2, return 1) or the value (ie, buy £100, return £50)? I may be alone in saying this, and I have nothing to do with QVC other than as a generally satisfied customer who occasionally loses the plot and buys too much, but I think a 50% return rate is not unreasonable. It isn't wholeheartedly "no quibble", but it's not unreasonable. What say others?

 

[Graham]

I'm also curious, does 50% return rate relate to the quantity of the items (ie, buy 2, return 1) or the value (ie, buy £100, return £50)? I may be alone in saying this, and I have nothing to do with QVC other than as a generally satisfied customer who occasionally loses the plot and buys too much, but I think a 50% return rate is not unreasonable. It isn't wholeheartedly "no quibble", but it's not unreasonable. What say others?

Hoefully they will answer that.

They are a business and what they do is up to them BUT if only 50% can be returned then it needs to be on screen, either mentioned by presenters or in the graphic somewhere.

At the moment someone could buy say 3 pieces of Jewellery return 2 and keep 1 and then be over the 50% return rate.

 

[Nessarose]

To be honest, I think it costs so much for postage and returns that I can't see anyone routinely returning items without good reason. I buy mainly from the web and find descriptions often scant or misleading and no videos. Often what videos there are fail to demonstrate the item adequately, ie not showing the inside of a bag or profiles of jewellery items. Jewellery in particular is very hit and miss, often no carat weight, stone size and never a gold weight.

I loathe returning items, it's tedious and costly but preferable to keeping an item that hasn't lived up to expectations. I can't see how QVC have the nerve to complain about returns if they represented their products properly.

Good on you Graham for trying to pin them down. I hope you get a reply but I wouldn't hold your breath. :spider:

 

[Jools]

Hoefully they will answer that.

They are a business and what they do is up to them BUT if only 50% can be returned then it needs to be on screen, either mentioned by presenters or in the graphic somewhere.

At the moment someone could buy say 3 pieces of Jewellery return 2 and keep 1 and then be over the 50% return rate.

You're right of course. It has to be open and honest and fair. I wonder if, in more buoyant economic times, the policy is more flexible.

 

[donna255]

How long does it run from?

Say you are with QVC since day one, do they count all the years you have purchased from them into the 50% return. If QVC pulled their fingers with the quality control then most things would not be returned.

I know I think carefully before I even buy anything these days.

 

[Red]

I placed and order last year and the item was faulty. QVC sent a prepaid label, got returned and re-ordered it. Second one also faulty, so returned got a third. Thrid also faulty so was returned and I gave up!
The point is that those 3 items just show as "returned" on my account.
Surely they should mark them differently on our accounts ie. "returned - faulty" so then they can differentiate between a customers change of mind/unsuitable and returns beyond the customers control.

 

[run-forest-run!]

Thanks for this sticky Graham, it was me who QVC phoned at home yesterday. I have posted my letter (as detailed in the 'I have got the phone call thread'). I don't expect a reply however.

Just to reply to Jools comment, I do not routinely order things willy nilly. I only return items which I am dissatisfied with or with items which do not live up to the hype or just not work as advertised. Apparently my return rate was 57% but as I have been a customer with QVC for a number of years I do not know what period of time this 57% is over.

I don't think anyone intentionally abuses QVC's return service and the point being made is that at no time do QVC make their customers aware of this return rate rule. The 30 day no quibble money back guarantee is constantly touted during presentations, indeed several presenters posatively encourage customers to use products at home and if not FULLY satisfied then return for a full refund!

If there is indeed a 'quibble' in their returns policy then they should stop advertising it as 'no quibble'!!!!!!!

That is my opinion anyway. Luckily I did not give the bloke who rang yesterday the opportunity to enter into a discussion regarding my returns as I was no prepared to be made to feel embarrased for it.

 

[Moth]

I wrote to QVC and complained to the ASA about their advertising their returns policy as no quibble. At the time they decided to drop the "no quibble" part of their guarantee but they never made mention of the limits of their guarantee. The ASA weren't much use either, they seemed to think that QVC weren't misleading customers by never explaining just how far their guarantee went (or rather, doesn't!)

I also asked of QVC about what happens in the event of a customer returning items that are faulty etc. They make no distinction between the types of return on your account, items sent back are simply marked as returned. It would also appear that the 50% applies to the number of items sent back, not the value. When the letter was last received here, the value of items kept far exceeded the value sent back (most of which were faulty or just not satisfactory). The reply received from QVC to my letter was very much a form affair too. They only replied to questions which could have had some legal implication and completely ignored anything that would have been simply good for their customer relations.

QVC are by far the worst company I have ever dealt with in terms of service and customer service. If they said on air that you could only send back half of what you buy, you simply wouldn't buy because you know you can't trust that everything you receive would be as described or of decent enough quality. They simply don't give you enough information on air to make a truly informed buying choice. Even the presenters complain about the lack of information, especially when it comes to clothing sizes. Julia Roberts especially. She recently tore up their silly scraps of paper on air in frustration and moaned about how bad it was.

Thanks Graham, good luck in getting a reply. Perhaps there is some way we can band together and force them to open up a bit more?

 

[Jan]

I've complained on ST about items showing as Returned in my account history when they were either faulty or plainly just didn't work plus the ones that have gone missing, I find it incredulous they show as returned too.

 

[Graham]

I wrote to QVC and complained to the ASA about their advertising their returns policy as no quibble. At the time they decided to drop the "no quibble" part of their guarantee but they never made mention of the limits of their guarantee. The ASA weren't much use either, they seemed to think that QVC weren't misleading customers by never explaining just how far their guarantee went (or rather, doesn't!)

I also asked of QVC about what happens in the event of a customer returning items that are faulty etc. They make no distinction between the types of return on your account, items sent back are simply marked as returned. It would also appear that the 50% applies to the number of items sent back, not the value. When the letter was last received here, the value of items kept far exceeded the value sent back (most of which were faulty or just not satisfactory). The reply received from QVC to my letter was very much a form affair too. They only replied to questions which could have had some legal implication and completely ignored anything that would have been simply good for their customer relations.

QVC are by far the worst company I have ever dealt with in terms of service and customer service. If they said on air that you could only send back half of what you buy, you simply wouldn't buy because you know you can't trust that everything you receive would be as described or of decent enough quality. They simply don't give you enough information on air to make a truly informed buying choice. Even the presenters complain about the lack of information, especially when it comes to clothing sizes. Julia Roberts especially. She recently tore up their silly scraps of paper on air in frustration and moaned about how bad it was.

Thanks Graham, good luck in getting a reply. Perhaps there is some way we can band together and force them to open up a bit more?

I really hope they answer, in my opinion they treat the customer on ST with contempt.

The last contact I had from QVC was someone complaining that this site had a virus, totally false, I then emailed as thought ah a contact, but they told me not to contact them again. I said about the virus thing, he admited HE had got that wrong, however unless I have emailed him he wasn't going to tell me.

ShoppingTelly.com Stats – July 9th 2009 – August 8th 2009
112,602 Unique Visitors
1,240,250 Page Views
Average person spends 11.18 minutes on the website, and surfs an average of 11.01 pages
5.78% Increase from last month

Yet QVC ignore us.

 

[Jan]

I also find it very strange that they expect customers to buy items that have no picture let alone no video presentation, ridiculous in the days of digital photography, some items don't even have a written description on the website.

 

[Jools]

Thanks for this sticky Graham, it was me who QVC phoned at home yesterday. I have posted my letter (as detailed in the 'I have got the phone call thread'). I don't expect a reply however.

Just to reply to Jools comment, I do not routinely order things willy nilly. I only return items which I am dissatisfied with or with items which do not live up to the hype or just not work as advertised. Apparently my return rate was 57% but as I have been a customer with QVC for a number of years I do not know what period of time this 57% is over.

I don't think anyone intentionally abuses QVC's return service and the point being made is that at no time do QVC make their customers aware of this return rate rule. The 30 day no quibble money back guarantee is constantly touted during presentations, indeed several presenters posatively encourage customers to use products at home and if not FULLY satisfied then return for a full refund!

If there is indeed a 'quibble' in their returns policy then they should stop advertising it as 'no quibble'!!!!!!!

That is my opinion anyway. Luckily I did not give the bloke who rang yesterday the opportunity to enter into a discussion regarding my returns as I was no prepared to be made to feel embarrased for it.

I apologise, run-forest-run, I wasn't implying anything at all about you or how you order - I was saying that *I'm* not always the most restrained shopper. I agree entirely, that, especially given the postage charges, people wouldn't intentionally abuse the return facility, but I for one know that I can occasionally be caught up in the 'hype', the rush to phone and order, then regret/come to my senses later and end up returning an ill-judged purchase. I have probably come close to that 50% myself and I can appreciate how a phone call on the matter would be uncomfortable. I understand your being angry about it - as I would be too.

 

[run-forest-run!]

I apologise, run-forest-run, I wasn't implying anything at all about you or how you order - I was saying that *I'm* not always the most restrained shopper. I agree entirely, that, especially given the postage charges, people wouldn't intentionally abuse the return facility, but I for one know that I can occasionally be caught up in the 'hype', the rush to phone and order, then regret/come to my senses later and end up returning an ill-judged purchase. I have probably come close to that 50% myself and I can appreciate how a phone call on the matter would be uncomfortable. I understand your being angry about it - as I would be too.

No probs Jools, don't get me wrong, I have had some of those impulse buys which I've regreted too! However, as the presenters are always telling us to get it home and try it surely they are endorsing the whole buy and return if not happy policy?

I know there have been threads on here about the state that items have been found in the outlet shops (a pair of pj's with a 'lady stain' always sticks in my mind) and I can understand QVC getting sick of receiving returns in that state.

Like others I have returned faulty items (the George Foreman oven anyone - 2 of those) and these items are always logged on your account as 'returned' not faulty. We don't even know if these items form part of the 50% or not.

As I said in the other thread I actually feel quite liberated now because I will NEVER buy another item from QVC so will NEVER pay over the odds for postage and NEVER have to wait a ridiculously long time for delivery! Let's face it almost everything that QVC stock can be bought somewhere else, be it in a shop or on-line.

 

[Jools]

No probs Jools, don't get me wrong, I have had some of those impulse buys which I've regreted too! However, as the presenters are always telling us to get it home and try it surely they are endorsing the whole buy and return if not happy policy?

I know there have been threads on here about the state that items have been found in the outlet shops (a pair of pj's with a 'lady stain' always sticks in my mind) and I can understand QVC getting sick of receiving returns in that state.

Like others I have returned faulty items (the George Foreman oven anyone - 2 of those) and these items are always logged on your account as 'returned' not faulty. We don't even know if these items form part of the 50% or not.

As I said in the other thread I actually feel quite liberated now because I will NEVER buy another item from QVC so will NEVER pay over the odds for postage and NEVER have to wait a ridiculously long time for delivery! Let's face it almost everything that QVC stock can be bought somewhere else, be it in a shop or on-line.

On the whole, run-forest-run, I enjoy QVC, but I know I have spent... ooh,... probably *thousands* that I would not otherwise have spent over the years, on products I 'want' rather than 'need'. QVC get the benefit of the profit on that, much of which would probably not have come their way, had I not had the perceived security of the returns option. But in many ways, I envy your withdrawal from QVC and the feeling that one has - once again - bought a 'want' rather than a 'need'. I salute you!

Oh, but that 'lady stain' thing.... eeeew! I hadn't heard that one before!!!

 

[Scampdog]

I hope everyone gets a response from their letters, e-mails etc !, QVC need to start listening to us, we are the reason they are still in business !...
One thought should we all boycott QVC for one week ?, we could still look but buy nothing :thinking2::cheeky:...

 

[run-forest-run!]

I hope everyone gets a response from their letters, e-mails etc !, QVC need to start listening to us, we are the reason they are still in business !...
One thought should we all boycott QVC for one week ?, we could still look but buy nothing :thinking2::cheeky:...

No Scampdog, you can't look, you'll be tempted! It's cold turkey or nothing!!!

You can do!!

 

[Scampdog]

No Scampdog, you can't look, you'll be tempted! It's cold turkey or nothing!!!

You can do!!

You are right ! :rock:, we all need to be strong, come on everyone lets start the revolution !, POWER TO THE PEOPLE :rock::talking:

 

[Tigers Eye]

Playing Devil's Avocado and a Journalist's View:

Check and verify your sources.

If you can't get verification in the form of proof regarding the 50% limit/ratio either from the OP (with apologies to said OP) OR, more importantly, QVC... DON'T POST THIS.

Graham, your own personal dislike of QVC is showing. I know you dislike them but you've based this Sticky on unproven hearsay (again, apologies to OP - I'm sure you're telling the truth but there is no hard evidence), and are jumping on your own personal bandwagon as appears to be your right, given that you own the site.

The fact that you've not been able to confirm the 50% issue (why don't you just call them and try to speak to "someone in charge") does not make it OK to post.

I expect vilification, but there you are. Maybe you could even ban me from the Forum? Opinions of all types should be tolerated, though.

I don't work for QVC nor do I carry any sort of torch for them but have seen your previous behaviour - posting private emails between you and Rob Locke, for example and also those from the chap in charge of Ideal World on public Forums - this one, I think. You were lucky not to have legal action taken against you - and no, that wasn't OK either.

 

[AllThatGlitters]

Tiger's Eye, I have no idea about any political / personal issues re individual posters and QVC, but I do know that I've had a phone call from QVC telling me that my return rate was over 50% and they would like me to do something about it.

So I know from personal experience that this IS an issue for QVC, and that 50% is their trigger point, and that they are prepared to put the frighteners on customers in order to discourage returns. It's not pleasant to receive a phone call that takes you to task for something you've done, implying that you've behaved badly and dishonestly, when in fact you've acted in good faith and complete innocence. I think it's a bullying tactic and is deplorable.

The other thread was about a different issue entirely. The 50% trigger has been extensively discussed and confirmed on multiple threads.