Am I an involuntary bailee? England

I ordered an item in July 2026 - a red light panel for injury rehabilitation. Worth mentioning that I chose the item very carefully, seeking a particular specification because I have highly sensitive skin. It cost about £350.

The item I received was different. While it looks somewhat similar to the advertised product, it is a different brand - this wasn’t just a packaging difference, the brand’s name is embossed in metal in the product, it’s clearly labelled, etc. I’ve since found this product available directly from that supplier for about £50 less than I paid.

I immediately contacted the supplier perhaps naively assuming it was a mix up, and requested an exchange. They just replied saying that this was an upgraded product, and so an exchange was unnecessary. I responded asking them to confirm that the specification of the product I had received matched the product I had ordered, and received no response. I’ve since tried looking at the website of the supplier, but it doesn’t have any specification information - it generally looks like a sort of off-brand product.

In the meantime I Googled around and found a number of Trustpilot reviews suggesting that this company does this regularly - i.e., sends an alternate product in place of the one ordered, generally one that can easily be found elsewhere at a substantially cheaper price, and then does not respond to exchange requests.

I resigned myself to having being scammed, and got the cost back from my card company as chargeback. However, six weeks after their last contact, the company suddenly got in touch saying that they noted the cost had been “refunded” and so the product would need to be returned.

I am very happy to do this - I still have the product, unused. However, the issue is that after a few weeks of no response (and after I’d received chargeback), I opted to get rid of the large packaging box that the product came in as it was taking up a lot of space. The product is pretty big (and I assume delicate, given it is electrical), and I now don’t have anything to safely return it in.

It doesn’t feel like this cost/inconvenience should be my responsibility. I asked Citizens Advice, and they suggested that the cost of packaging was a “consequential loss” of the original breach of contract (I.e., they didn’t send me what I’d ordered, and then didn’t rectify this in a timely manner). The company just keep saying that they’ll only pay postage, that I need to find a box and send it back, and implying they’ll take me to court if I don’t. I really don’t think it’s fair that I should have to sort this, plus I don’t trust them not to blame me if any box I source doesn’t meet their standards.

Do I just wait for them to take me to court? I read about being an “involuntarily bailee” elsewhere on this forum, and it does feel like that may apply.