Advice Needed: Cheap Disability Aids Faulty & Missing Items & Payment Taken Twice
Options
bloss3101
Posts: 13 Forumite
Any advice given would be appreciated!
I made an order online to a company called Cheap Disability Aids (Sensory Education) totalling £115.91 on 5.11.15. My son was going into hospital 18.11.15, he has sensory & social interaction issues, hypermobility & being assessed for aspergers currently. I wanted to order some sensory things to help keep him calm during his hospital visit & for recovery at home. A friend had used this company before so didn't think anything about it.
The Monday after ordering I checked my bank statement & noticed payment had been taken twice. I phoned the customer service & was given an e-mail address for their accounts department. I emailed & received a standard response that said these circumstances take 5 days to refund. The next day the order arrived by courier & the box was soaking wet. The courier said the parcel was like that when he received it from the depot & marked the parcel as damaged when received. Upon opening the items were loose (no packing) & the box was oversized so 3 of the liquid timers had broken into pieces & leaked over everything else. I had also ordered a sensory bean bag £36.99 which was suppose to arrive 3-5 days that hadn't arrived. I emailed the company & attached photos of the damaged items & packaging & also requested confirmation that refund process had been started for overpayment. I decided to call the customer service line & explained what happened & I needed these items for my son going into hospital the following week. The lady said I would get a phone call within 2 days to arrange collection of the faulty items & to resend faulty items & missing item.
I heard nothing so Monday, 16.11.15 I phoned customer service asking to speak to a manager. I was told I could not speak to anyone & noone could do anything to help me, I had to email the duty manager. I did this but didn't hear anything so phoned the customer service that afternoon. Again I was told I couldn't speak to anyone, they couldn't help & I would have to send another email with High Priority on it to duty manager. I finally received an email from duty manager to say they had sent an email with a prepaid 2nd class stamp to return faulty items. I emailed back to say I had been told & requested someone to call me back & email must've been missed, also it didn't help with the fact I had an expensive item missing, they hadn't confirmed refund process for overpayment & I no longer needed any of these items as they would not be here in time. The duty manager responded by saying she would do a trace on the missing item (no timescale given), she would send prepaid stamp again & that they did not have the second payment in their main account & I would have to wait for the bank to step in! I contacted the bank who confirmed the money had gone out of my account twice & both had been authorised & were not on hold so the company did have the money. The bank advised I would need to wait 14 days from purchase as they like to give the company the opportunity to refund overpayment voluntarily. I emailed and advised the duty manager the bank had said they did have the money & also asked for a timescale regarding the missing bean bag. She sent same response I would have to wait for bank to intervene & no response regarding missing item. I have heard nothing since.
I got my husband to take faulty items to post office 19.11.15 as had no time before due to my son's operation & received a receipt of postage from post office. The only item I could keep was a turtle night light, £15.99, the packaging box was soaked through but the turtle itself was in bubble wrap & didn't appear to have liquid on it although it has a music box which makes an absolute racket & think is faulty. This was an item I really needed as settles my son at night so will just have to put up with. I phoned the bank today & they have said they will send a disclaimer form & I have to send it back with the emails of the company saying they will not refund. It then goes to another department which takes a further 14 days & then investigated which is going to be a long process.
I am just really worried! I do not understand how a company who are supposed to provide items for disabled people, knowing that these items were for a disabled child going into hospital & paid out of his dla money, the fact they have had double payment, all items received are faulty & I have an expensive missing item can behave in this way! They have gone out of their way to be as unhelpful as possible & give wrong information or ignore issues when they do reply! I can not order anything that my son needs as this company has £216 & in return all I have had is added stress at a time when I did not need it!
How long do I have to wait for them to received the faulty items back & how long before they have to refund (this amounts to £62.93)?
When should they refund the missing bean bag (£36.99) as I have already told them I do not need it (3-5 days delivery time given by them from purchase date)?
Why will they not refund the 2nd payment of £115.91 they obviously received in error, is there anything else I can do?
I made an order online to a company called Cheap Disability Aids (Sensory Education) totalling £115.91 on 5.11.15. My son was going into hospital 18.11.15, he has sensory & social interaction issues, hypermobility & being assessed for aspergers currently. I wanted to order some sensory things to help keep him calm during his hospital visit & for recovery at home. A friend had used this company before so didn't think anything about it.
The Monday after ordering I checked my bank statement & noticed payment had been taken twice. I phoned the customer service & was given an e-mail address for their accounts department. I emailed & received a standard response that said these circumstances take 5 days to refund. The next day the order arrived by courier & the box was soaking wet. The courier said the parcel was like that when he received it from the depot & marked the parcel as damaged when received. Upon opening the items were loose (no packing) & the box was oversized so 3 of the liquid timers had broken into pieces & leaked over everything else. I had also ordered a sensory bean bag £36.99 which was suppose to arrive 3-5 days that hadn't arrived. I emailed the company & attached photos of the damaged items & packaging & also requested confirmation that refund process had been started for overpayment. I decided to call the customer service line & explained what happened & I needed these items for my son going into hospital the following week. The lady said I would get a phone call within 2 days to arrange collection of the faulty items & to resend faulty items & missing item.
I heard nothing so Monday, 16.11.15 I phoned customer service asking to speak to a manager. I was told I could not speak to anyone & noone could do anything to help me, I had to email the duty manager. I did this but didn't hear anything so phoned the customer service that afternoon. Again I was told I couldn't speak to anyone, they couldn't help & I would have to send another email with High Priority on it to duty manager. I finally received an email from duty manager to say they had sent an email with a prepaid 2nd class stamp to return faulty items. I emailed back to say I had been told & requested someone to call me back & email must've been missed, also it didn't help with the fact I had an expensive item missing, they hadn't confirmed refund process for overpayment & I no longer needed any of these items as they would not be here in time. The duty manager responded by saying she would do a trace on the missing item (no timescale given), she would send prepaid stamp again & that they did not have the second payment in their main account & I would have to wait for the bank to step in! I contacted the bank who confirmed the money had gone out of my account twice & both had been authorised & were not on hold so the company did have the money. The bank advised I would need to wait 14 days from purchase as they like to give the company the opportunity to refund overpayment voluntarily. I emailed and advised the duty manager the bank had said they did have the money & also asked for a timescale regarding the missing bean bag. She sent same response I would have to wait for bank to intervene & no response regarding missing item. I have heard nothing since.
I got my husband to take faulty items to post office 19.11.15 as had no time before due to my son's operation & received a receipt of postage from post office. The only item I could keep was a turtle night light, £15.99, the packaging box was soaked through but the turtle itself was in bubble wrap & didn't appear to have liquid on it although it has a music box which makes an absolute racket & think is faulty. This was an item I really needed as settles my son at night so will just have to put up with. I phoned the bank today & they have said they will send a disclaimer form & I have to send it back with the emails of the company saying they will not refund. It then goes to another department which takes a further 14 days & then investigated which is going to be a long process.
I am just really worried! I do not understand how a company who are supposed to provide items for disabled people, knowing that these items were for a disabled child going into hospital & paid out of his dla money, the fact they have had double payment, all items received are faulty & I have an expensive missing item can behave in this way! They have gone out of their way to be as unhelpful as possible & give wrong information or ignore issues when they do reply! I can not order anything that my son needs as this company has £216 & in return all I have had is added stress at a time when I did not need it!
How long do I have to wait for them to received the faulty items back & how long before they have to refund (this amounts to £62.93)?
When should they refund the missing bean bag (£36.99) as I have already told them I do not need it (3-5 days delivery time given by them from purchase date)?
Why will they not refund the 2nd payment of £115.91 they obviously received in error, is there anything else I can do?
0
Comments
-
Speak to your card issuer about a refund.0
-
Sorry that I cannot answer your actual questions ... And no doubt this thread will turn into a run of moans/complaints about Cheap Disability Aids as it normally does Was this your first order from the company and, if so, did you research them beforehand? Because they are well known for having abysmal customer service, I'm afraid.:heartpuls Mrs Marleyboy :heartpuls
MSE: many of the benefits of a helpful family, without disadvantages like having to compete for the tv remote
Proud Parents to an Aut-some son0 -
Probably better sending something formal in the post, giving them a time frame on each of the problems, and then take up the issue with the bank if they fail to respond adequately.
As a side note but you may be approached by one of their employees (possibly the manager etc). They have approached me in the past and I wasn't even a customer of theirs, simply responded to a similar thread! I would encourage posting your query on other forums/review sections as generally they will respond and they may be more motivated towards helping you get this resolved.
PS they despise negative reviews. Whether they are deserved or not is none of my business, so hopefully I can't be queried about 'possible libel' this time0 -
You'd be advised to take screen shots of your posts in order to have a copy if you wish to repost them elsewhere too.
Edit April 2016
Now selling on Amazon as " Sensory education warehouse"0 -
He's featured on BBC watchdog no less than THREE times with previous companies.
There are other threads about him.
Trading on Amazon as " sensory education warehouse"0 -
How long do I have to wait for them to received the faulty items back & how long before they have to refund (this amounts to £62.93)?
I would send them an email copy of the proof of posting your husband got from the Post Office.When should they refund the missing bean bag (£36.99) as I have already told them I do not need it (3-5 days delivery time given by them from purchase date)?0 -
Thank you all for the advice. It was my first order with them & stupidly I didn't research them beforehand as my friend had given me the website address & used them, I will make sure I do research in future when using a new company! I have since seen the problems that other people have had & that they have a terrible reputation! Thank you for that wealdroam, I will upload the proof of postage & resend the photos of faulty items & will inform about the 14 days from when I requested cancellation as they haven't got back to me about the missing item still.0
-
Thank you have deleted them & have asked mse to remove. I will go on later & do that as well!0
-
Thank you have deleted them & have asked mse to remove. I will go on mumsnet later & do that as well!
You should keep one thread up somewhere....
It isn't against the law to post up a query about your consumer rights with a company and you have simply done this.
You'll also find the company potentially contacting you to get a quicker resolution should you leave one post up.0 -
Company also known as sensory education limited.
Edit April 2016
Now selling on Amazon as " sensory education warehouse"0
This discussion has been closed.
Categories
- All Categories
- 343.4K Banking & Borrowing
- 250.2K Reduce Debt & Boost Income
- 449.8K Spending & Discounts
- 235.5K Work, Benefits & Business
- 608.4K Mortgages, Homes & Bills
- 173.2K Life & Family
- 248.1K Travel & Transport
- 1.5M Hobbies & Leisure
- 15.9K Discuss & Feedback
- 15.1K Coronavirus Support Boards