Trading Standards vs incarexpress.co.uk

amdavies · 14 February 2008 at 7:54PM

Remember, the company has your money and are very pleased with it. In fact, they will do as much as they legally can to keep it, they like it that much.
Some companies may even resort to borderline illegal methods to try and make sure that the money stays with them.

Read these threads about ITC Sales if you don't believe me:-

http://forums.hexus.net/shopping-retail-therapy/60449-itc-sales-reputable.html

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/other-stores/9905-obvious-itcsales-co-i.html

As I said, the reason why they try this on is because they know they can get away with it enough of the time to may it cost-effective. If more people got knowledgeable about the situation and/or got legal advice, how many do you think would try it on then ?
It's too easy for most folks to simply chalk it off as a bad debt and just not bother shopping there again, most don't even tell anyone - apathy rules !

Get back on to Trading Standards, get them to tell you exactly what you need to quote to the company involved and then do so. Small Claims Court is a fairly easy process, have a read up on it if you have some spare time.

fonzy8 · 15 February 2008 at 12:37AM

I've been stung before with this and Microdirect however the unit broke about 6 months in (even though there was a 12 month warranty with the goods) they offered a partial refund on the price it was when it broke and didnt offer the postage back even though the unit was faulty. I didn't think 6 months was a reasonable service life for a freeview recorder, but I didnt have time/inclination to do the court thing but I'm sure I probably would have won in the end. What I did do - big mistake - after talking to one of the directors was get offered a replacement box which I received and that was dead on arrival and rather than lose another £15 or so to send it back again I just gave up! NEVER SHOP AT MICRODIRECT (if you want support)! I also left a review on the Microdirect website saying that I've had 2 units and they both broke within 6 months but it never made it to the product review on the website which I thought was bad!

I'm with "Optimist" here. They have breached their contract in that they didnt supply the goods/services in working condition. I think 10 mins of working is definitely not a reasonable life for a car radio so they couldnt really argue that in court. If you reported within two weeks (I think), I'm sure you are under the Distance Selling regulations which say you should not be out of pocket so they should refund your postage if you say you dont want it, but you should send the unit back so they can confirm it is faulty and go from there.

I'm not a lawyer but from what you posted, you would win in a small claims court so don't worry too much about the bullying tactics - if they receive a writ I'm sure they'll settle out of court but they bank on the fact that not many people would go that far!

Main point learnt is that cheapest place to buy isn't always the best! If you want to take the risk buy cheap but expect to pay more in the long run if things go wrong. If you want the extra insurance that the item is going to last a while, pay a bit more at a retailer with better support policies.

Personally I buy cheapest in most cases. Microdirect is the only bad deal I've had so far and the money I lost there is nothing to what I've saved overall - but I won't be buying from there again though as I feel the quality of the goods they supply isn't up to much after having two dead units.

Are there any websites out there that are targetted at saying whether suppliers are good/bad rather than just general? It sounds like the UK needs something that just says supplier x sells y units and has z complaints - at least you can make a decent judgement on the risk of buying from them!

mdbarber · 15 February 2008 at 10:28PM

As a quick side note last week i made some purchases off ebuyer, one item was faulty, the power switch collapsed after 2 uses, this was a £28.00 computer drive box.
Waited and heard nothing, then looked on their enotes system and the rma and collection had been approved, a couple of xtra clicks later and there is a courier appointment booked for next week on my mrs's day off.
Ummmm some seem to get it so right, why cant others?

hunsbury0 · 15 February 2008 at 10:56PM

If you have paid for it by Credit card, then I think you can do a charge back for it, Contacting the credit card company.

simes · 16 February 2008 at 10:09AM

Its not unreasonable to expect you to pay to return the goods. If after testing it is confirmed faulty , then they should refund your postage costs.
This policy seems to be pretty much standard with most retailers sending goods out that require installation. Car stereos are an item that can easily not work due to incorrect fitting as you are surely aware. Its not like a kettle or a toaster that simply either works or is definately faulty.
Why not give them a chance to test and refund.

What you should be getting confirmed is that if it is found to be faulty they refund your return postage costs.

As for threatening letters, it is clearly yourself that has gone over the top threatening court action before you have even given them a chance.
What did you expect them to do ?

I had a faulty monitor from amazon at christmas ( the company with one of the best customer service records). They did collect the goods ( but then a monitor is not an item that requires complicated fitting).
They still had to recieve the item back, and test it is faulty before they refunded the money 30 days later.

computersaysdoh · 16 February 2008 at 10:57AM

Check Sale of Goods Act. Are they in breach of contract when the goods are fawlty?

Even if you still have got the goods, and some would say that takes you past the DSR time limit, I would have thought you as the consumer should be protected by SOGA - you cant be expected to pay cost of returning item.

You might want to check with credit card company - even tho less than £100 . .

mdbarber · 16 February 2008 at 11:08AM

simes wrote: »

Its not unreasonable to expect you to pay to return the goods. If after testing it is confirmed faulty , then they should refund your postage costs.
This policy seems to be pretty much standard with most retailers sending goods out that require installation. Car stereos are an item that can easily not work due to incorrect fitting as you are surely aware. Its not like a kettle or a toaster that simply either works or is definately faulty.
Why not give them a chance to test and refund.

What you should be getting confirmed is that if it is found to be faulty they refund your return postage costs.

As for threatening letters, it is clearly yourself that has gone over the top threatening court action before you have even given them a chance.
What did you expect them to do ?

I had a faulty monitor from amazon at christmas ( the company with one of the best customer service records). They did collect the goods ( but then a monitor is not an item that requires complicated fitting).
They still had to recieve the item back, and test it is faulty before they refunded the money 30 days later.

Why exactly is it not unreasonable (double neg sorry)to expect someone who has had the misfortune of paying good money to receive faulty goods to then have to pay out more money?

As for car stereos being misfitted,, a well trained chimp can do them and its not like i didn't request any support before complaining, it was their idea to send it back!
And in the last month i have been to two calls where monitors were fitted incorectly

I tried to get them to offer a guarantee of paying return postage if unit was found faulty the declined and i have copies of emails to prove that

Where does it say in my posts i had threatened court action??.
You seem to be assuming an awful lot instead of reading the posts here friend because Trading Standards themselves agree with me

jdh488 · 16 February 2008 at 3:41PM

I Know in the past even when I have made purchases on Ebay if goods are defective most companies accept the fact that an item is defective it is their responibility to rectify the fault or replace the item at their expense, if this company were to send out a replacement unit, with a company agreement it would cost them a minimal amount with a collection on delivery, like Dabs and Ebuyer operate, problem solved, it just goes to show how big companies get big with excellent customer service and others end up loosing business, i certainly would not buy from this company!!

mdbarber · 17 February 2008 at 1:01PM

LMAO,,, ebay trader beats these guys on customer service

mdbarber · 8 March 2008 at 1:59AM

Last week i got so mad about this i actaully issued a claim within the small courts system, today i got notice they had entered a defence with a copy of the form
will keep people posted on this as many many net traders try this on
Trying to start a new catchphrase here TSTL , Too stupid too live (thats me lol)

Trading Standards vs incarexpress.co.uk

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