Filing a complaint against a business in Indiana.

March 31, 2018 4:04 PM

Purchased an item from a store. Called to check if I can refund. A week later the owner refuses to refund making excuses. What are the options for further action?

I purchased an item from a local market. Reached home and found this to not be any good for my purpose. I immediately called the store to check whether I could return this for a refund. They said yes and I was back within the week (2 hours before the 7-day timeline, but within the timeline) and the store owner made a huge fuss about it and went on to make excuses about this or that (the phone I had called to is not working, the only person answering this number is her- I am sure I spoke with a girl and not her).

I am very disappointed that this woman can turn away people in the manner that she did. The amount is trivial but I want to hold this woman accountable for refusing a refund when I am within the timeline and justified to ask for one, and also for possibly repeating the same behaviour in the future.

What is the best way to file some sort of official complaint and hold the business owner accountable? The item is trivial and the lawyers and local police probably have better things to do. However, I am within the timeline to ask for a refund and I want to do more than just write a negative Google review. What are my options?

posted by xm to Law & Government (11 answers total)

Best answer: Here is a page from the Indiana State Attorney's Office that suggests you have no legal right to a refund unless you were given a written return policy at the time of purchase. It also states that refunds agreed to by phone are not binding.

If necessary, details on how to file a consumer complaint are at the bottom of the page. Also, when clicking on the PDF version of the page there is a phone number at the bottom for the Indiana Consumer Protection Division; you should be able to phone them for advice on the matter.
posted by peanut butter milkshake at 5:31 PM on March 31, 2018

Best answer: If it's a farmer's market I would maybe write a letter of complaint to the people who run the market. Also, complaints to the Better Business Bureau, if applicable, might at least warn others about her not providing refunds. Whether you have a legal right to a refund under state law or not, it's pretty shitty business behavior to state their refund policy and then not honor their word. I personally wouldn't want to do business with such a flaky owner.
posted by Rufous-headed Towhee heehee at 7:04 PM on March 31, 2018

If this is something you can write an impartial-sounding, "gosh, I just don't understand why I was treated this way, but it was nasty" Yelp review about, it might get some traction. If you're active on social media and have a significant following, posting about it could, too. (You can also post negative reviews on the business' Facebook page, but expect those to be deleted.) Ultimately, public shaming may effect more change than following the letter of the law and filing formal complaints will, I'm sorry to say.
posted by tapir-whorf at 9:02 PM on March 31, 2018

I once worked with a guy who answered a call to the wrong number, then solemnly confirmed a date and time to deliver a truckload of concrete. Our business had nothing whatsoever to do with concrete. He thought that this was absolutely hilarious.

What are the chances that your store owner is telling you the absolute truth - that her phone wasn't working and that she is the only person who answers it when it does - and you've just been pranked by a girl you spoke to after inadvertently switching a couple of digits?

If that's even possible, I recommend not making a huge fuss over an issue that you yourself describe as "trivial".
posted by flabdablet at 11:43 PM on March 31, 2018 [6 favorites]

Best answer: If you file official complaints, please do file with the Better Business Bureau. Their ratings don't have any direct effect on a business, but they set a foundation that allows others to find problem businesses later - five years from now, there'll be a record of that complaint that anyone can see. If the business is in the habit of cheating customers, it's nice to have a record of that; if at some point in the future, they cheat customers in a non-trivial way, the BBB's record is admissible in court as evidence that they've been shady for a while.
posted by ErisLordFreedom at 12:05 AM on April 1, 2018

What makes you think the business is under any obligation to accept a return and issue a refund? What possible motivation would the business owner have to tell you a return/refund was possible after you had already brought the item home, and then not honor the stated conditions for that return/refund? Assuming you're correct that you spoke with someone other than the proprietor on the telephone, why should the owner honor some verbal promises and conditions allegedly made to you by someone not authorized to make them? Especially if all she has to go on is your word for it?

Unless you have a receipt detailing the eligibility, terms and conditions that would allow you to return the item for a refund, or the same are on public display, you are not entitled to get a refund and any refund would be discretionary by the business. You also don't mention what the item was, so it's hard for anyone to form a good idea as to whether the ability to return for a refund seven days after purchase (or at all) would be reasonable, normal and/or expected.

You have no idea what sorts of things the owner has to deal with, and you concede that the amount is trivial (to you). Write it off and let it go.
posted by slkinsey at 7:37 AM on April 1, 2018 [11 favorites]

Best answer: On the contrary, a person has a right to rely on what a store tells people about their return policy! Depending on local law, the ability to do such a return may be dependent on what is writing, but what you can legally enforce and what you can rightfully expect are two separate things (especially as sophisticated scammers will exploit the distinction between the two).

You can file a complaint with your local AG's consumer protection division. Depending on how active they are, they may have a "mediation" program whereby they get the two parties together to try to reach a resolution. That may or may not be more time and effort than it's worth to you. But filing the complaint will make a much more reliable record. The BBB is barely better than a scam itself. And certainly you can leave a complaint on Yelp or similar.
posted by praemunire at 10:04 AM on April 1, 2018

Personally… I would just let this go and not do business with that person again. Maybe let friends and family know what my experience was, if I found myself in a conversation where it seemed relevant. But otherwise I'd just write it off. You say the purchase itself was trivial, so it sounds like it's more the principle that's at stake here. In my experience, pursuing something trivial just on principle is usually a poor use of my emotional energy. You had a bad experience with this business—let the loss of your future patronage be their punishment.
posted by Anticipation Of A New Lover's Arrival, The at 11:27 AM on April 1, 2018 [1 favorite]

a person has a right to rely on what a store tells people about their return policy!

Quite so, but they have no right to rely on what might well be a pack of lies told by some rando with no connection to the store whatsoever.

So unless you can really be sure that the girl you spoke to on the phone really was authorized to speak for the store, and that the owner has now told you a pack of lies about who answers the store phone, I'd let this one go.
posted by flabdablet at 11:31 AM on April 1, 2018 [1 favorite]

It’s a trivial amount to you. Maybe it’s not to the business owner. They should have treated you better. Life is way too short to die on these hills. Let it go!
posted by pintapicasso at 4:27 PM on April 1, 2018 [1 favorite]

when I am within the timeline and justified to ask for one
hold the business owner accountable

This is exactly what small claims court is for.
posted by Pig Tail Orchestra at 11:30 AM on April 2, 2018 [1 favorite]