Very Catatlogue reclaiming promotional codes???

topbargaingirl · 17 February 2010 at 6:53PM

Hi
Can anybody please help/advise?

I have just rec'd a phone call from Very Catalogue saying I had used promotional codes for money off but they were not valid? They have therefore added the amounts back onto my account.
Worst still...they have also added amounts back onto my other 2 catalogues account (Littlewoods & Empire) going back over 6 months!!!

It is too late to return the goods, which have been used anyway.

1. Can they do this?
2. Is it right that they rang from 'Very' yet still made adjustments to my other 2 accounts?
3. Can they go back this far?
4. My balance on all account was £nil until this happened, can they make me pay it back?

I have emailed them (individually) and asked which codes they are refering to?

Any help appreciated.

Thanks!

missymugwump · 17 February 2010 at 6:54PM

Where did you get the codes ?
Were they sent or emailed to you directly

topbargaingirl · 17 February 2010 at 6:57PM

Some sent, some on statement, one was a phone offer, few off HotDeals website (I know these are used at own risk)
I have been a customer nearly 15 years, never happened before?

missymugwump · 17 February 2010 at 7:15PM

I have accounts with all 3 also
I shall study my statements carefully

DVardysShadow · 17 February 2010 at 8:56PM

You need proper legal advice, this is my opinion only.

When you used the promotional codes, the promotional codes enabled you to strike a deal at a particular price on the day, and the contract is to supply the goods at the price struck in the deal. You have fulfilled your part of the contract by providing the money and they have fulfilled their part by supplying the goods.

If they are not happy about the deal now, they cannot force the money out of you, because they cannot assume that you would have bought the goods at the regular price on the day.

In your position, I would write back and state the above and say that the amount requested is disputed. Keep all correspondence for at least 6 years - as this may go to debt collectors and all manner of stupidity. But such is the standard of modern trading integrity these days.

You could offer to return the goods in their current state for return of your money in full, acknowledging that you can see that this may not be satisfactory to them, but it is the best you can offer.

kirkeastment · 17 February 2010 at 9:11PM

Chances are that you won't have a leg to stand on, as per their own T&C's.(Yes it says littlewoods, but Very is a sub-group of Littlewoods).

Littlewoods Terms & Conditions relating to discount vouchers

2.3 Where you have redeemed a promotional code or any other offer ("a Code") against your order, acceptance of this order is subject to our verifying that the Code has been issued to you personally, that you comply with all the terms of the offer and qualify for the Code. In the event that the Code has not been issued to you for your personal use or you do not qualify for the offer, the price of the order will be adjusted notwithstanding any email or other confirmation that you receive."

___

Also, its worth noting that when people post codes for littlewoods, the codes also work on all their other sites, which does include Very/Empire, which is also how people get chargedback, as some codes aren't meant to be used across all sites, but people will post them for those sites anyway.

I thought you might also like to see a post where someone was charged back every code they had used for the past 28 months, because they were abusing codes, and using codes that were not meant for them. It totalled over £700 in back payments.

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showpost.html?p=27325065&postcount=123

Also heres the link to the original post over at HUKD

http://www.hotukdeals.com/item/518734/many-codes-for-very-littlewoods-gre?page=7

It is worth noting that she didn't have to payback anything in the end, but that was mainly due to the fact that she was a valued customer who had spent thousands in those few years.

Equaliser123 · 17 February 2010 at 11:05PM

Terrible company in my view.

There is an obvious legal flaw in their terms....OP - will PM you.

4743hudsonj · 17 February 2010 at 11:17PM

kirkeastment wrote: »

.(Yes it says littlewoods, but Very is a sub-group of [STRIKE]Littlewoods[/STRIKE])

Shop direct group

They also own Woolworths so dont go using your vouchers on pic-n-mix

DVardysShadow · 18 February 2010 at 8:58PM

kirkeastment wrote: »

Chances are that you won't have a leg to stand on, as per their own T&C's.(Yes it says littlewoods, but Very is a sub-group of Littlewoods).

Littlewoods Terms & Conditions relating to discount vouchers

2.3 Where you have redeemed a promotional code or any other offer ("a Code") against your order, acceptance of this order is subject to our verifying that the Code has been issued to you personally, that you comply with all the terms of the offer and qualify for the Code. In the event that the Code has not been issued to you for your personal use or you do not qualify for the offer, the price of the order will be adjusted notwithstanding any email or other confirmation that you receive."

___

Well done for digging that out. I tend to think that it is an unfair condition if it is applied after delivery of the goods. They have the means to check the validity of the promo code, so they should do so prior to delivery of the goods - and notify customer of the new price beforehand with an option to accept or cancel. In my mind there has to be a positive acceptance of the new price BEFORE delivery. It isn't even good enough to send an opt out email saying 'promo code invalid, new price is £X, goods will be dispatched unless you cancel'

Equaliser123 · 19 February 2010 at 10:30AM

Yep, that's my view. Contract is not made until despatch - their term. Once contract made, they cannot unilaterally change the terms.

Ivory_Tinkler · 19 February 2010 at 11:25AM

Equaliser123 wrote: »

Yep, that's my view. Contract is not made until despatch - their term. Once contract made, they cannot unilaterally change the terms.

I was just about to post the same thing - I'd have thought that once goods were sent out then then a contract started at that point and the customer accepted those goods based on that contract (if that makes sense)?

Very Catatlogue reclaiming promotional codes???

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