Interior Company Refusing Refund? Your Legal Options

One of my clients recently had a case which I am explaining below and if you are stuck in such similar situation, here is what to do.

Note: Due to attorney-client privilege, I cannot disclose complete case details or identify the actual parties involved. However, I am sharing the essential facts and legal approach so that if you find yourself in a similar situation, you can understand the available solutions and legal remedies.

TL;DR: An interior company refusing refund of a booking fee is not the end of the road. If the booking was induced by promises about material, pricing or warranty that the post-payment BOQ and terms later contradicted, that is a deficiency in service and an unfair trade practice under the Consumer Protection Act, 2019. Send a formal refund demand, and if it is refused, file a complaint before the District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission asking for refund, compensation and costs.

They walked into a Godrej Interio experience centre in Pune to look. Nothing more. An hour later, ₹25,000 had left the account through UPI and the slip said booking fee.

The sales team had been specific. The carcasses would use heavy-duty core material, not ordinary MDF. The woodwork carried a lifetime warranty. The Kulkarnis said they wanted to take the quote home and think. The reply was that the Independence Day coupons would lapse the moment they walked out. So they paid.

The detailed bill of quantities arrived only after the money did. Careful reading found carcasses listed as standard MDF, the promised core material priced at a 15 to 20 per cent surcharge, handles billed at ₹800 each, five WPC sheets for a kitchen that needed a fraction of that, and ₹12,998 in charges nobody had mentioned before payment. The written warranty now voided itself on water contact, moisture and rusted hinges. In an Indian kitchen.

A technician spent ten minutes on the kitchen and the rest of the visit measuring a ground floor that was never in scope. The next day was the company's weekly off. The cancellation request came back refused. The site measurement milestone had been met.

Emails went nowhere. The family then approached the Chamber of Advocate Sudhir Rao. A formal refund demand went out, followed by a consumer complaint. The Chamber's familiarity with how modular kitchen disputes are argued before consumer commissions, and the evidentiary sequencing Advocate Sudhir Rao and his office put in place, helped secure an order in the client's favour.

Key Facts of the Case

• A booking fee of ₹25,000 was paid by UPI at the experience centre, on oral assurances about material and warranty.
• The detailed BOQ was shared only after payment, and it listed standard MDF carcasses instead "of the core material promised on the sales floor, and the core material reappeared as a paid upgrade at a 15 to 20 per cent surcharge.
• Handles were billed at ₹800 each, five WPC sheets were billed for a kitchen that needed far less, and ₹12,998 in charges appeared that had never been mentioned before payment.
• The written warranty, described orally as lifetime, excluded water contact, moisture and rusted hinges.
• The company's technician spent about ten minutes on the kitchen and the rest of the visit measuring a ground floor that was not part of the scope.
• The cancellation request was refused the next working day on the ground that the site measurement milestone had been met, which under the company's terms made the booking fee non-refundable.
• There is nothing in writing from the sales conversation. The assurances about material, pricing and warranty were oral. Any assessment of this matter has to account for that gap.

So the dispute is not really about ₹25,000. It is about what was said before the payment and what the paperwork said after it.

What the Law Sees Here: Deficiency in Service and Unfair Trade Practice

Two distinct wrongs are usually pleaded in a case like this, and they are not the same thing.

Deficiency in service is defined under Section 2(11) of the Consumer Protection Act, 2019. It means any shortfall in the quality, nature or manner of performance that a service provider is required to maintain under the law, or under a contract, or otherwise in relation to any service. If a company takes a booking fee on stated specifications and then issues a BOQ on different specifications, the shortfall is in how the service was performed from the outset.

Unfair trade practice is defined under Section 2(47) of the same Act. The definition covers, among other things, statements made orally or in writing or by visible representation that falsely represent the standard, quality, grade or composition of goods, or that make a false or misleading representation about a service. The words "orally" matter. An oral assurance is not beyond reach simply because it was not recorded. But — and this is the honest part — an oral assurance is far harder to prove than a written one, and commissions weigh unsupported oral claims cautiously.

Can an Interior Company Refusing Refund Be Taken to a Consumer Commission?

Yes, if the person who paid the fee qualifies as a consumer and the dispute falls within the pecuniary and territorial limits of the commission. Booking a residential interior service for personal use is a consumer transaction. A person who buys goods or hires a service for a commercial purpose is excluded, so a landlord fitting out flats for rent would face a different argument.

The complaint goes under Section 35 of the Act, and the reliefs the District Commission can grant are set out in Section 39 — including refund of the amount paid, compensation for loss or injury suffered, and costs.

What actually has to be proved

Four things, in sequence:

• That the complainant is a consumer and the opposite party is a service provider.
• That a specific representation was made before payment and was acted upon.
• That the representation was false, or that the service fell short of what was contracted.
• That loss followed — the money paid, and anything spent in reliance.

The strongest evidence in a matter like this is documentary and it often already exists. The payment record carries a timestamp. The WhatsApp messages from the sales person carry the assurances. The BOQ carries the contradiction. Put the three side by side and the commission can see the gap without needing to believe anyone's recollection.

The "Site Measurement Completed, Fee Forfeited" Argument

This is the defence, and it is not frivolous. Companies argue that the booking fee is consideration for reserving capacity and for the site visit, and that once the milestone is met, the fee is earned.

The counter is that a term in a standard-form contract cannot be read in isolation from how the contract was formed. Section 2(46) of the Act defines an "unfair contract" and covers terms that cause a significant change in the rights of the consumer — including terms that permit only one party to terminate, or that impose a penalty for the consumer's non-performance while leaving the trader free. Where a company's own post-payment conduct created the reason for cancellation, enforcing a forfeiture clause against the consumer is a hard argument to sustain.

Whether that succeeds depends on facts. If the customer was shown the full BOQ, given time to read it, and signed a cancellation clause in clear terms, the case weakens considerably. If the documents came after the money and contradicted what was said, it strengthens. Commissions tend to look at who controlled the information and when it was released.

Send a Written Demand First

The Act does not require a pre-complaint notice, but you should send one anyway. It fixes the date on which the company's refusal becomes documented, it puts the company in the position of having to answer in writing, and it sometimes produces a settlement without a filing.

Keep it short. State the amount paid, the date, the purpose, the grounds for refund, and a deadline of fifteen days. Send it by email to the address on the invoice and by registered post to the registered office. Keep the postal receipt. If the company replies with a denial, that denial is now evidence.

Filing the Complaint: The Practical Sequence

Where to file

The District Commission covers claims up to ₹50 lakh, the State Commission from ₹50 lakh to ₹2 crore, and the National Commission above ₹2 crore, under the 2021 jurisdiction rules. On a ₹25,000 claim, it is the District Commission. The 2019 Act also permits a complaint where the complainant resides or personally works for gain, which is a real change from the older regime and often saves travel.

What to attach

• The complaint, signed and verified, with an affidavit in support.
• Payment proof — UPI record, bank statement, receipt.
• The booking slip and the invoice, if any.
• The BOQ, in full, including the pages with the disputed line items.
• Screenshots of chats and emails, with the sender's number or address visible.
• The cancellation request and the company's refusal.
• The refund demand and proof of dispatch.
• An index and a synopsis, which most commissions expect and many complainants forget.

Limitation

Section 69 gives two years from the date the cause of action arises. Miss it and the commission may still entertain the complaint if you show sufficient cause for the delay, but that is a discretion you do not want to depend on. For a refund dispute, the clock generally starts from the refusal, not from the payment.

Fees, filing and how long it takes

Filing is done online through the e-Daakhil portal or at the commission's filing counter. The fee is nil or nominal for small claims and rises in slabs with the value of the claim. There is also a National Consumer Helpline (1915) where a grievance can be logged and often routed to the company's grievance officer — useful for the record, but it is not a substitute for a complaint.

Realistic timelines: mediation under Section 74 can close a matter in weeks if both sides engage. A contested complaint before a District Commission usually runs a year or more, sometimes considerably more. Anyone who tells you otherwise has not filed one recently.

Civil Suit and Criminal Complaint — When They Make Sense

A civil suit for recovery of the amount, with interest, is available, but it costs more, moves slower, and gives you no compensation for mental agony in the way the consumer route does.

On the criminal side, an inducement to pay money on a false representation can attract the cheating provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023. Section 318 deals with cheating, and the aggravated form in Section 318(4) covers cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property. A police complaint is possible where the inducement was deliberate and the loss is documented. In ordinary commercial disputes, however, the police are reluctant to register an FIR and courts have repeatedly cautioned against using criminal process to recover money. It is a route for cases with clear deception, not for every broken booking.

What to Do This Week

• Download and preserve the UPI or bank record before any app archive clears it.
• Export the WhatsApp chat with the sales person to a PDF or take clear screenshots showing the number and the date.
• Read the BOQ line by line and mark every item that differs from what was said. Comparison is the strongest exhibit.
• Do not delete emails or take calls without a record. If the company calls, follow it up with an email summarising what was said.
• Send the refund demand and diarise the fifteen days.

And be realistic with yourself before you file. If the documents you signed clearly disclosed the specifications and the refund terms, and the only thing missing is the oral promise, the case may be difficult to argue. Better to know that early.

Frequently Asked Questions

Getting This Moving

If you are in this situation, send the booking receipt or payment record, the full BOQ as issued, the company's refusal in writing if you have it, and a two-line note on what you were told before you paid and by whom. If a refund demand has not gone out yet, that is the first step; if the company has already refused, the limitation clock is running and the complaint needs to be drafted on the documents, not on recollection.

You can reach the chamber through /contact-us or fix a time at /book. If on the papers there is nothing worth arguing, you will be told that plainly rather than being encouraged to file.

This article is general information about Indian law and is not legal advice on your own situation. Please have your documents examined before acting on anything written here.

Advocate Sudhir Rao, Supreme Court of India