Listen: Jasmine Birtles on the unrefundables

The global pandemic, COVID-19, has disrupted almost every area of our lives in some way. In addition to obvious disruption to our daily routines like meeting friends, working from the office or popping to the shops, it’s also had a more long-lasting impact on personal finances for many. And it’s not just job losses and pay cuts that are causing issues – being unable to obtain refunds is leaving many Brits out of pocket.

New research commissioned by Visa reveals a sharp increase in the number of people unable to access returns or refunds for items bought during lockdown, with one in ten (11%) shoppers who requested a refund still waiting for, or denied access, to a refund or voucher. These items, coined “UnRefundables” have left concerned shoppers out of pocket.

The research reveals return and refund requests have increased by 16% since the start of the pandemic, as more than two fifths (41%) of shoppers tried to return and refund items, services or events. Almost half (49%) of people who experienced refund issues didn’t get to use their purchase – receiving faulty or incorrect goods, items not arriving, products not being as advertised, being charged multiple times or billed the incorrect amount, or a purchase that wasn’t authorized.

Aston spoke to Jasmine Birtles, finance expert to discuss the research and was also on hand to allay consumers’ fears of being left outof-pocket over the summer.

Photo by Colin Watts on Unsplash