Refund From Online Purchase........or not!

[sjbrownderby]

A few days ago I made a purchase from a well known online retailer here in Thailand. Offered a number of different methods of payment I chose online bank transfer using K+ from my mobile phone. The payment was accepted and verified online and the order went into processing. The next day with no explanation I received notification that my payment was being refunded, the order had been cancelled. After a couple of days I decided to check if the money was back in my bank account and it was not. I went back to the website and sought out the original order to check progress on the refund process. The refund was being made via their proprietary 'wallet' for which I had to register. The registration process asks first of all if you are a Thai or a foreigner and on making the obvious choice I was forwarded to a screen which said that the ******** Wallet is only open to Thais. I contacted their customer service through the online chat facility and was asked the same question: Am I Thai or foreigner? I was told again that the ******* wallet was only available for Thais and if I wanted a refund then I would have to provide a copy of my passport, signed, and my full bank details. I told them that I was not prepared to disclose those details when all that was needed was a simple reversal of the payment, but apparently that can only be done if you are Thai and are signed up to the ******* wallet system. I kicked up a bit of a stink about it and was eventually told that they would be prepared to issue a store credit if I wanted. By that time things had gone far beyond a simple purchase/refund situation. Had the store credit been offered at the outset I may have chosen that but it progressed way beyond a simple online purchase and into a place I really didn't want to be. This is completely open and brazen discrimination against someone who is not Thai. Has anyone else encountered the same problem with online purchases?

Edited September 27, 2019 by sjbrownderby
addition

[Airalee]

Online bank transfer...proprietary wallet...blah.

 

For me, in Thailand COD...period.

[sjbrownderby]

1 minute ago, Airalee said:

Online bank transfer...proprietary wallet...blah.

 

For me, in Thailand COD...period.

It was the discriminatory problem that I was intending to highlight. I have also used COD in the past and had I done that this time I may never have known that they openly discriminate against foreigners.

[dddave]

One of the reasons I mostly use Lazada is I have never failed to get a refund back into the visa account that I originally used.  Sometimes it takes an annoying amount of time; it has been up to two weeks but it has never failed to ultimately be posted.  

I have been warned off Shopee and JD by friends who have had difficult experiences with them.

[wgdanson]

I got a cash-on-delivery refund last week to my Wallet. Then used the Wallet to buy something else.

And I got two discount payments of Bht 0.79 & Bht 0.49 into Wallet. What can I spend that on I wonder?

[CharlieH]

They were acting in a perfectly reasonable manner. They have no knowledge if the original purchase was made by you or that's it you requiring the refund payment.

They asked for legitimate ID which in fact, your own bank would require to do anything at the counter.

 

If you object to their methods/practices, use COD in future or shop elsewhere.

 

Personally I use a credit card, any refund is back-processed very quickly and any <deleted> and I contact the credit card company and just reverse it.

 

[lopburi3]

As above - totally normal and it works.  You clearly write over the copies what they are used for (unlike immigration) so no chance they can be used by a 3rd party. 

 

Thai have ID card number as ID - foreigners do not. 

 

Found there customer service very friendly and they provided clear examples of everything required and updated as approvals made.  Only has to be done one time - it is then listed as your account and further refunds are not delayed.  At least that was my experience with a very large online shopping platform.

[sjbrownderby]

1 hour ago, CharlieH said:

They were acting in a perfectly reasonable manner. They have no knowledge if the original purchase was made by you or that's it you requiring the refund payment.

They asked for legitimate ID which in fact, your own bank would require to do anything at the counter.

 

If you object to their methods/practices, use COD in future or shop elsewhere.

 

Personally I use a credit card, any refund is back-processed very quickly and any <deleted> and I contact the credit card company and just reverse it.

 

You are missing the point here! They discriminate OPENLY between Thais and foreigners. The question was asked twice! This has nothing to do with them not knowing who made the purchase. I use the company frequently and they have all of the details they need about me. I did not cancel the order, they did and gave no reason saying only that a refund was being made. Let me make it quite clear AGAIN ........I DID NOT request a refund. Later I found out that the refund would have been processed automatically through their wallet system had I been a THAI. Do you understand now?

 I understand the bit about the bank requirements but I live 20 km from the nearest bank in a small rural village and shopping online ought to be easy. Paying for goods certainly is but getting your money back if the company cancels the order IS NOT!

 I can shop elsewhere. Perhaps you can recommend somewhere I can shop and not be discriminated against in such a manner. 

Edited September 27, 2019 by sjbrownderby
addition

[sjbrownderby]

1 hour ago, wgdanson said:

I got a cash-on-delivery refund last week to my Wallet. Then used the Wallet to buy something else.

With this company you can not even register for a wallet if you are not a Thai.

 

[wgdanson]

33 minutes ago, sjbrownderby said:

With this company you can not even register for a wallet if you are not a Thai.

 

Which one? Beginning with L and ending in a?

[lopburi3]

31 minutes ago, sjbrownderby said:

I did not cancel the order, they did and gave no reason saying only that a refund was being made.

In my experience they do that if supplier cannot provide order for shipment within 3 days.  This may happen immediately if stock gone and a good merchant informs platform. 

 

[giddyup]

2 hours ago, Airalee said:

Online bank transfer...proprietary wallet...blah.

 

For me, in Thailand COD...period.

Only way to go.

[giddyup]

47 minutes ago, sjbrownderby said:

With this company you can not even register for a wallet if you are not a Thai.

 

If it's Lazada, I'm nor Thai, but I do have a wallet. Just got refunded for a defective item and the refund was paid into my Wallet.

[Lamkyong]

41 minutes ago, giddyup said:

Only way to go.

what if yo do not want the Mrs you have just  purchased a new mobile price 28000 k

[Airalee]

2 hours ago, Lamkyong said:

what if yo do not want the Mrs you have just  purchased a new mobile price 28000 k

Buy your mobile at the store.  Sorted.

[Samuel Smith]

3 hours ago, giddyup said:

If it's Lazada, I'm nor Thai, but I do have a wallet. Just got refunded for a defective item and the refund was paid into my Wallet.

Me too, & transferred to my bank account

[Andrew Dwyer]

Interesting [emoji848]

I get this message when I try to activate my Wallet on Lazada

[sjbrownderby]

3 hours ago, lopburi3 said:

In my experience they do that if supplier cannot provide order for shipment within 3 days.  This may happen immediately if stock gone and a good merchant informs platform. 

 

The item is still showing as available for sale on the website. I just added it to my cart with no indication that it may not be available for immediate shipping. 

[fruitman]

1 minute ago, sjbrownderby said:

The item is still showing as available for sale on the website. I just added it to my cart with no indication that it may not be available for immediate shipping. 

Well if they 'sell' more of those products only to keep the funds on their bank for some weeks they might have found a new businessmodel! Amazing Thailand!

[wgdanson]

9 hours ago, sjbrownderby said:

The item is still showing as available for sale on the website. I just added it to my cart with no indication that it may not be available for immediate shipping. 

This happens on so many websites. What is even more stupid is something showing on a site , and it says NOT AVAILABLE.

[longball53098]

13 hours ago, giddyup said:

If it's Lazada, I'm nor Thai, but I do have a wallet. Just got refunded for a defective item and the refund was paid into my Wallet.

how did you activate the wallet? As I am trying to get a refund and need access to the wallet but at this point I cannot register.

[longball53098]

10 hours ago, Samuel Smith said:

Me too, & transferred to my bank account

How did it get transferred to your bank?

[Andrew Dwyer]

how did you activate the wallet? As I am trying to get a refund and need access to the wallet but at this point I cannot register.

This is the burning question !!

I have some cash in my wallet that I cannot access as I am a foreigner, maybe they have changed the rules regarding the wallet access ?

[tpkhk]

Been through once or twice.  Although we cannot cannot sign up for the wallet, Lazada issues credits into the wallet from where it can be withdrawn to the linked bank account.  The process for withdrawal is as listed below from their page.  Takes a week or so for it to show up.

 

https://www.lazada.co.th/helpcenter/Withdrawals-from-Lazada-Wallet.html?spm=a2o4m.helpcenter-article.articles-list.1.5a0d6108NF1UHq

 

Withdrawal does not apply to rebates, just refunds.

[sjbrownderby]

6 minutes ago, tpkhk said:

Been through once or twice.  Although we cannot cannot sign up for the wallet, Lazada issues credits into the wallet from where it can be withdrawn to the linked bank account.  The process for withdrawal is as listed below from their page.  Takes a week or so for it to show up.

 

Right, but you can not NOW even register to use the wallet unless you are a Thai. The rules seem to have changed. From what I am seeing some were able in the past to register to use the wallet, and can still do so, but if you are a foreigner the door has been slammed in your face.

[robblok]

4 minutes ago, sjbrownderby said:

Right, but you can not NOW even register to use the wallet unless you are a Thai. The rules seem to have changed. From what I am seeing some were able in the past to register to use the wallet, and can still do so, but if you are a foreigner the door has been slammed in your face.

If you had been a little less paranoid this could have been settled. Yes non Thais get treated differently but even then you get your money back. I gotten my money back a few times from lazada and yes they needed more information like a copy of passport. Its not the end of the world, if you dont like it don't use lazada or move to an other country.

 

Its really a storm in a teacup.

[Henryford]

ONLY use COD in Thailand.

[lopburi3]

9 minutes ago, sjbrownderby said:

Right, but you can not NOW even register to use the wallet unless you are a Thai. The rules seem to have changed. From what I am seeing some were able in the past to register to use the wallet, and can still do so, but if you are a foreigner the door has been slammed in your face.

My information was for a different service it seems.  Lazada I believe had to close some financial service for what they said were money laundering issues.  They no longer accept online bank transfers so use credit card when paying them.  Have not had a refund case. 

[giddyup]

1 hour ago, longball53098 said:

how did you activate the wallet? As I am trying to get a refund and need access to the wallet but at this point I cannot register.

Never activated it, it was there from the time I registered and started using Lazada.

Edited September 28, 2019 by giddyup

[sjbrownderby]

43 minutes ago, lopburi3 said:

They no longer accept online bank transfers so use credit card when paying them. 

They still accept online transfers from everyone but will not refund using a reversal of the process to foreigners. They will easily accept money but then claim to have made a refund when in fact they most certainly have not.