SHOPPERS are being warned that online retailers that use trusted payment services, such as buy now, pay later schemes, put them at risk of losing money for unwanted or faulty items.
Consumer group Which? is urging customers to read retailers’ returns policies before parting with their cash.
Which? is warning shoppers to check returns policies when shopping at websites partnered with trusted payment services
More than 170 retailers that use buy now, pay later schemes listed on the Klarna, Clearpay and Laybuy websites have incorrect return or faulty goods policies on their sites, the group found.
The same retailers also offered other trusted payment methods, such as Apple Pay, Amazon Pay and Google Pay.
Which? is warning that customers could end up spending cash on unreliable websites because they allow payment through the popular payment schemes.
Many of the sites Which? looked at refused refunds on full-priced, non-faulty or sale items, and offered customers store credit or exchanges instead.
Some retailers’ policies gave shoppers fewer than 14 days to return unwanted goods, while others charged up to 20% “restocking” or “administration” fees for sending an item back.
This is against the Consumer Contracts Regulations, which gives consumers the right to cancel orders bought online within 14 days of receiving them.
Under the rules, shoppers can’t be charged to make a return either.
Up to 36 of the sites had incorrect or misleading faulty goods policies that could leave shoppers with broken items.
For example, some wanted customers to report defects within a few days, despite the Consumer Rights Act stating there is a 30 day window to report a fault.
Which? warns that customers who used the buy now, pay later schemes with these types of websites may end up having to continue to pay for broken goods because they owe the payments company cash.
Overall, the research found that 95 stores didn’t offer refunds on sale items, while 74 failed to give shoppers the correct minimum length of time to return goods.
Seventeen retailers wrongly failed to offer refunds at all and 16 even charged fees to returns.
Plus, the buy now, pay later schemes are also not protected in the same way debit and credit cards are, though Chargeback schemes and Section 75.
Consumer rights expert Adam French at Which? said: “Many consumers could be lulled into a false sense of security by the convenience and familiarity of buy now, pay later.
“Online shoppers must not assume that a retailer is reliable just because it offers buy now, pay later at the checkout.”
Which? is now writing to all 170 retailers to urge them to change their policies in line with UK consumer law.
The consumer group is calling for these types of payment schemes to be regulated to better protect shoppers.
