I bought an eBook on a website, and in about 3 days later I requested a refund via email to the retailer. They replied 9 days later and said once the ebook is accessed, then it can't be refunded. I then sent another email about the nature of the refund with no reply.
Is this legal? There were also no clear T&Cs regarding this anywhere on the website. I have only view a small section of the ebook and decided that it was worthless for me.
Should I contact Fair Trading NSW or the ACCC?
Thomson Reuters
What is their policy on ebook returns?
eBooks and packages including an eBook may not be returned once the software key has been supplied.
Says so on every page. Think you're SOL.
https://legal.thomsonreuters.com.au/principles-of-civil-proc…
Why are you wanting to refund?
was worthless for me
If it's just a change of mind situation, i'd imagine you have no recourse.
I then sent another email about the nature pf the refund woth no reply.
Could you further clarify what you mean by this sentence?
If this is true then that sucks. Most other stores have a short refund policy
Yeah, for tangible goods, which eBooks are not. It's like renting a movie from Google Play, then realising you don't want to continue watching the movie after ten minutes, and asking for your money back …
If this is true then that sucks. Most other stores have a short refund policy
ACCC is pretty clear for change of mind refunds, which is your case and that is the retailer has no legal obligation to give you a refund for a change of mind.
I stated the fact that there where no clear refund conditions
Then it's the default refund policy set by the ACCC, which is retailer not obligated to get refunds for change of mind.
Unless a product is defective you have no right to return it by default. A store may offer such a policy but they are not required to.
You should have asked for a sample if you weren't really sure it was for you.
hmm ill take note of this next time I buy an ebook
Should I contact Fair Trading NSW or the ACCC?
hmm head to ACA and call Tracey
That's always an option, but what about sending in bikies? Surely they'd refund then. :-)
Maybe try the ebikies?
I have only view a small section of the ebook and decided that it was worthless for me.
Is this legal?
Yes it is, have a read over this section
https://www.accc.gov.au/business/treating-customers-fairly/c…
Mostly this
For example, you may not be required to provide a remedy if a consumer:
- simply changes their mind, decides they do not like the purchase or has no use for it
I'm glad Karen was reasoned with before going full Karen and reaching her final form. Actually quite shocked.
I have successfully returned a number of books to Amazon’s kindle platform. Yes they provide a free sample prior to purchase, varies book to book, but on several occasions I’ve gotten to 20%-30% read and decided “no, not for me”. I believe Amazons policy is you may return for a full refund within 7 days. It makes a big difference to me as a consumer where I purchase my many ebooks.
Yeah, different store policies can make a pretty huge deal especially for university textbooks where they are generally expensive. I've purchased them for at Zookal who had a better return/CoM policy before, but I found it cheaper on the official retailer and I seemed to miss all the important details.
Change of mind does not let you demand refund. However, if you did not have enough information at the time of purchase and it appeared to be of use to you but when purchasing it, it became clear that was incorrect, then you might argue your case. You would have to show that the description did not match what you expected to receive.
If the ebook itself is faulty, like there are pages missing, you can ask for it to be replaced with the right copy. If no suitable version is available, then you could ask for a refund. It really comes down on what the description of the book was and whether it matched that as to whether you have any right to a refund.
Which store?