A woman has sought compensation — unsuccessfully — from a luxury Canadian department store after a dispute over returning a pair of jeans.
According to the BC Civil Resolution Tribunal (CRT), the woman sought damages from Holt Renfrew’s online store after she was sent the wrong size of pants.
“She says returning the jeans caused her significant inconvenience, disruption, stress, and financial loss,” the CRT wrote in its decision.
“She seeks $330 in damages for transportation costs and the time she took off work returning the jeans.”
The woman bought the jeans online on Dec. 1, 2024, for $492.90, the CRT wrote in its decision. The jeans arrived five days later, at which point she discovered they weren’t the size she ordered.
She emailed the store and asked it to either send the correct jeans or provide her with a refund.
Holt Renfrew apologized for the error and said it began the return process, the CRT says.
“It told [the applicant] to expect to receive an email from FedEx containing a return shipping label and drop-off instructions,” the decision says.
“Holt Renfrew said it would refund her once it received the returned jeans. It said she was also welcome to return the jeans to a Holt Renfrew store.”
She requested a refund. She says she received an email from FedEx that said she was required to print off a shipping label and bring it to a FedEx location.
“She said she did not own a printer or car,” the CRT wrote. “She said that Holt Renfrew should arrange for a pick-up service from FedEx.”
On Dec. 10, the store told the woman that FedEx had postponed pickup services due to increased delivery volume resulting from a Canada Post strike.
Also read:
“Holt Renfrew said she would need to bring the jeans to a FedEx location. It said she did not need to print the label, as she could show the label on her phone to the FedEx agent,” the decision says.
“Holt Renfrew reiterated that it would refund her five to 10 business days after receiving the jeans.”
However, she wasn’t satisfied with this result.
“[She] then argued that she shouldn’t be forced to wait for the refund or to waste her time and money commuting to a FedEx or Holt Renfrew store,” the CRT said.
On Dec. 13, she returned the jeans to the store and received a full refund.
While the store agrees that it sent the wrong pants, it denies that the woman should be entitled to compensation for the inconvenience of returning them.
The tribunal’s decision supports this. Not only did the store fulfill its end of the bargain in issuing a refund, it says, but the woman failed to prove her damages.
“[The woman] claims damages for lost wages and out-of-pocket commuting expenses. However, she has not provided her salary or hourly wage or receipts for her commute to Holt Renfrew, such as bus fare,” it said.
“I find the $330 she claims is unsupported by documentary evidence.”
In its argument, Holt Renfrew provided Google Maps directions that show the woman was a 25-minute walk, a five-minute drive, or a 27-minute bus ride away from a FedEx location.
“Given that the FedEx store is open seven days a week, I find it likely that [the applicant] did not need to take time off work to return the jeans,” according to the tribunal.
“So, I find [she] failed to mitigate her damages by taking a more onerous path to returning the jeans than was necessary.”
In any case, the CRT says, Holt Renfrew didn’t require her to return the jeans to a physical store anyway.
The woman’s claims have been dismissed.