Should I get my postage back?

I ordered software from JML Computers via Amazon, but it would not load. Customer service at JML was helpful, advising me to return the software.

Amazon said I will get a refund, but I paid £2.48 to return the software at JML’s request; I believe I am also entitled to this money back. But my emails to Amazon have gone unanswered.
Harry Connel

Mr Connel is not entitled to a refund of the return postage costs. He is in fact lucky that he got a refund for the software itself. Consumer protection for software under UK and European consumer law is sparse.

Downloads are not covered by the Distance Selling Regulations (DSRs). There is some cover under the DSRs for software if it has been posted, but only if the disc has not been opened.

There is also some protection under the Sale of Goods Act for software but, as with the DSRs, it is extremely limited. If software is supplied on a physical medium such as a DVD, CD or memory key and the device is faulty, such as a scratched or cracked CD, then it can be sent back as inherently faulty.

There is also redress if the software supplied is not as described; for example a person ordered a game but instead was sent some music. But that is it.

It doesn’t look as if the new Consumer Rights Directive has addressed this loophole in consumer law.

In Mr Connel’s case it was good customer service for JML to take back the software and give him a refund as legally there was nothing to require it to.

Amazon may have been the middle man in all this, ensuring that Mr Connel received his refund, but that is all. The company clearly states that its role is to process the refunds after this has been agreed with the seller, saying: “Refunds are typically processed by Amazon.co.uk Marketplace.”

It would have been courteous for Amazon to have replied to his email explaining this fact. However there is nothing to stop Mr Connel contacting JML to ask about a refund for the return postage.

But because an inherent fault with the physical medium has not been proved, nor was the wrong software sent, there are no legal grounds to require the retailer to comply with this request.