Meermin STOLE from me -- photos

[HarrisonK]

I need your help. I bought a pair of loafers from Meermin several months ago. The leather is splotchy and defective. I sent several photos of the loafers to Meermin. They agreed that the loafers were defective. They told me to send them back to the NYC store and they will issue me a refund once NY receives the loafers. Accordingly, I sent the loafers back via UPS (tracking number 1Z7319EW0370690561). Meermin NYC called me upon receipt to confirm they received the loafers. I asked when they'd issue the refund and they told me that they don't know anything about a refund and to take that up with Meermin customer service (who I've been emailing). Seventeen (17) emails later, Meermin customer service will not issue the refund. The last they said was they are contacting NYC to figure out the refund. It has been 3 weeks (and 17 emails) since they agreed to the refund. They are now in possession of both my money and my defective shoes. How can I resolve this problem?

Photos:

Note, there are about 15 other emails requesting my refund be processed that I didn't post here. All of those emails have been ignored.

As you can see, they are fully aware that the loafers have been returned to, and accepted by, their NYC store, yet they refuse to refund my money. There has to be some recourse. What do you suggest I do?

 

[madhat]

I need your help. I bought a pair of loafers from Meermin several months ago. The leather is splotchy and defective. I sent several photos of the loafers to Meermin. They agreed that the loafers were defective. They told me to send them back to the NYC store and they will issue me a refund once NY receives the loafers. Accordingly, I sent the loafers back via UPS (tracking number 1Z7319EW0370690561). Meermin NYC called me upon receipt to confirm they received the loafers. I asked when they'd issue the refund and they told me that they don't know anything about a refund and to take that up with Meermin customer service (who I've been emailing). Seventeen (17) emails later, Meermin customer service will not issue the refund. The last they said was they are contacting NYC to figure out the refund. It has been 3 weeks (and 17 emails) since they agreed to the refund. They are now in possession of both my money and my defective shoes. How can I resolve this problem?

Photos:

Note, there are about 15 other emails requesting my refund be processed that I didn't post here. All of those emails have been ignored.

As you can see, they are fully aware that the loafers have been returned to, and accepted by, their NYC store, yet they refuse to refund my money. There has to be some recourse. What do you suggest I do?

I see no refusal to refund. Just an acknowledgement of receiving the shoes.
I see it has only been a week since receiving the shoes. Many companies can take 3 weeks to issue a refund. I would suggest giving them a call to see the status of the refund. Emails are easy to hide behind, but as I said it's only been a week. Definitely keep on them, though.
Basically, don't panic just yet. You have documentation of the issues should the need to apply legal pressure arise.

 

[wurger]

Mate, if you sent 17 emails in from the 29th May asking for the same thing, it’s you that has a problem.

As madhat said, business has time frames to process refunds. As for the store not knowing about the refund, that is normal as the refund approval was from the online CS team, most likely the store will need to send it to their warehouse to complete the process.

 

[HarrisonK]

Just to clarify, it's been 17 emails since May 10.

 

[jts287]

Open a dispute with your cc company. I agree with others that it takes time to process a refund, but if they're having communication issues between customer service and the NY store, that's their problem, not yours.

Think about opening a BBB complaint too. In most cases, you'll get a resolution very quickly that way.

 

[GBR]

Just to clarify, it's been 17 emails since May 10.

Your impatience - 17 emails on 28 days is way over the top, every other day if one counts days elapsed by the calendar, and worse if one counts just 20 business days for non-front facing staff who would probably authorise a refund. Given that you have already admitted that you have had them for "several months' and have doubtless worn them, there is also the question of a deduction for your use of them to be considered. Shop Assistants cannot usually give either time frames or agree any refund anyway. To judge by the frequency of your emails, human nature says get rid of the moaning b....!

You have the problem given the frequency of your emails and lack of respect for their reasonable process. I have long told my staff to doubt/treble and so on the time between someone effectively moaning to this extent before replying. You are not the only person in the world who might require something from a small number of people.

Patience is a necessary thing.

 

[HarrisonK]

Your impatience - 17 emails on 28 days is way over the top, every other day if one counts days elapsed by the calendar, and worse if one counts just 20 business days for non-front facing staff who would probably authorise a refund. Given that you have already admitted that you have had them for "several months' and have doubtless worn them, there is also the question of a deduction for your use of them to be considered. Shop Assistants cannot usually give either time frames or agree any refund anyway. To judge by the frequency of your emails, human nature says get rid of the moaning b....!

You have the problem given the frequency of your emails and lack of respect for their reasonable process. I have long told my staff to doubt/treble and so on the time between someone effectively moaning to this extent before replying. You are not the only person in the world who might require something from a small number of people.

Patience is a necessary thing.

What reasonable process? They haven't told me anything. They could've very notified me that they received the shoes I sent back and everything has been sent over to the department that handles refunds. If they wanted to get carried away, they could've told me that refunds normally takes X days/weeks to process and contact them after that time if I don't see the refund on my end. However, the lack of communication is unprofessional and concerning. My constant emails are intended to suggest a sense of urgency. That is, to indicate that I want a response. I want to be told what's going on. Ignoring customers is never a good thing despite the customer being a "moaning b...."

 

[atia2]

17 emails over an inexpensive pair of shoes suggests you should be wearing sneakers.

 

[boot_owl]

What reasonable process? They haven't told me anything. They could've very notified me that they received the shoes I sent back and everything has been sent over to the department that handles refunds. If they wanted to get carried away, they could've told me that refunds normally takes X days/weeks to process and contact them after that time if I don't see the refund on my end. However, the lack of communication is unprofessional and concerning. My constant emails are intended to suggest a sense of urgency. That is, to indicate that I want a response. I want to be told what's going on. Ignoring customers is never a good thing despite the customer being a "moaning b...."

There are times when it's better to not have that particular customer's business at all - do your best not to be that guy

 

[purpleporing]

However, the lack of communication is unprofessional and concerning. My constant emails are intended to suggest a sense of urgency. That is, to indicate that I want a response. I want to be told what's going on. Ignoring customers is never a good thing despite the customer being a "moaning b...."

Most businesses are not out there to steal from their customers. I can understand the concern, but merely being unprofessional or lacking communication doesn't mean they've stiffed you. Besides that, constantly e-mailing them might seem reasonable from your end as a customer, especially if you believe that you are entitled to responses and customer service and all that. You may well be right. But if they didn't respond to the first couple of e-mails, they're not going to respond to the next 15 unless they've got something new to say, and I'm sure sending them more won't make them want to help you any faster, either.

If you feel the need to start something immediately, you may want to look into the process of doing a chargeback on your credit card or a paypal dispute or whatever depending on your payment method. Although if you had the shoes for "several months" before you returned them (why?), the time to pursue those remedies may have passed. In which case you may want to try to be patient with Meermin because you're relying on them to process your refund.

 

[othertravel]

I’d like to try Meermin one day once my sizing is certain. But they do have weird QC issues.

 

[dieworkwear]

Loafers arrived back at their shop on May 29th. Today is June 8th. You've sent 17 emails in the last month, and 15 demanding a refund. And started a StyleForum thread accusing a company of stealing from you? On used loafers they've kindly taken back?

 

[Anubis]

Loafers arrived back at their shop on May 29th. Today is June 8th. You've sent 17 emails in the last month, and 15 demanding a refund. And started a StyleForum thread accusing a company of stealing from you? On used loafers they've kindly taken back?

May 30 & 31 were public holidays in Spain, so unlikely that anything would be done then.

The Spanish attitude to time is rather more relaxed than ours in the UK, as I’ve discovered on trips there for both work and pleasure. It’s just something that you have to accept, whether having dinner with Spaniards or doing business with them.

I will also add that my own experience of Meermin has been positive. It strikes me that the OP’s expectation is both parochial and unrealistic.

 

[Mr. Moo]

Churlish and insubordinate.

 

[sid11111]

I came in to laugh at the fool