How can I claim a full refund from online retailer Dress4UK?

Q My wife recently bought a dress online from a retailer called Dress4UK. However, the dress was the wrong size and very badly made. I emailed the retailer but have been told I can have only a 15 per cent refund and I will have to pay up to £50 to send the dress back.
Patrick Hinton

A This is a clear breach of the Sale of Goods Act because the dress size ordered was not what was sent. Sadly there is nothing we can do to help Mr Hinton because the ‘retailer’ is not based in this country and as such is outside UK jurisdiction.

The address it used in correspondence with Mr Hinton shows that the dress was shipped from Shanghai. The retailer has to a degree tried to sort out the mess it has created. It will give Mr Hinton a refund if he returns the dress but refuses to refund any shipping costs.

It has also said the Hintons can keep the dress and have a 15 per cent refund. It has also suggested “taking it to a tailor to get it altered”. Of course, under UK law, none of these remedies is satisfactory. We wanted to give the retailer the right of reply but, when we visited the website, we were automatically directed to a different site.

We contacted this company to see if it is affiliated with the site Mrs Hinton bought her dress from. The site owners confirmed that they run Dress4UK. However, despite us pointing out that they had sent the wrong size, they still refuse to give a full refund. We advised Mr Hinton to ask his bank to consider a chargeback as he paid by Visa debit card.