I would not recommend this webshop to a friend, because it took a PayPal dispute to finally get things done
I had ordered hiking boots at Outnorth, which were quite cheap compared to other webshops. Delivery of the boots was reasonably in time, but the boots squeezed my toes so I had to return them.
This is when the problems started. Since there was no return form included in the delivery, I looked for it on their website. Just a FAQ with a return address, so I returned the product in its original packing to Sweden just 1 day after delivery (2 May) and stated on the invoice why I sent it back and that I wanted a refund.
I returned the order with track&trace, so I got a message by 8 May that Outnorth signed for delivery.
I know it can take some time to process, especially with a bigger organisation, so I waited till 14 May before contacting Outnorth.
I asked when they would be transferring the repurchase to my PayPal account, because I was informed by my transport company that they had received the returned order.
Within two hours I got a reply from Ournorth, telling me I need to use a return form that I could download at a supplied link.
At first I thought I must have missed something, but it turned out the link did not (and as of writing still doesn't) contain a return form. This meant sending another email, requesting where I could download the return form.
The following day I got a reply apologising for this "bug on our website" and actually telling me I don't really need this form "as you can use just a piece of paper and fill on the products you are returning, and if you want to make an exchange or you want to have your money back".
Because this is exactly what I had done when I returned the goods, I started having doubts about their competence. To be sure they got the message I did spell it out for them in my reply email, stating in chronological order what I had done and what I expected of them.
On 16 May I got a reply telling me they hadn't yet registered my return order and that I would be notified when it was processed.
On 21 May I got an email in which they wrote that they had received my return order. It also stated that my order would be sent within 7-10 days.
Now this is confusing. I did not want to be a bother, so I waited a few more days to see what would happen.
On 27 May I asked Outnorth once again when they would be refunding my purchase on PayPal, since they sent me a return order message on 21 May.
I didn't get any response to that.
Because you need to open a dispute on PayPal within 45 days of purchase, I did not want to wait anymore by 2 June. So I finally opened the dispute. In short I once again stated what happend and what I wanted.
The same day I got a refund, not just of my order, but also of my initial shipping costs. And I finally got a reply to my last email in which they wrote they were really sorry for the delay "which was due to a confusion which led us to handle your return as a complaint/reclaim". Because of this they gave me a discount of 10% on my next purchase, which is valid for one month and one purchase.
In the end I got my money back, but it took me a lot of effort and wasted time. I would not recommend this company to a friend, because it took a PayPal dispute to finally get things done.
2 June 2014
Unprompted review