Ongoing Complaint with Debenhams - advice needed.

alba37

I sympathise with op's situation, and don't see any harm in trying for better compensation. Although my feeling is Debenhams won't take responsibility for her missing the ball. In reality I don't see how we can hold shops responsible for our own personal circumtances. (although they cause the difficulty)

Very good point taxiphil.

uktim29

taxiphil wrote: »

Well, there is a point in them sending £70 if they want to avoid getting a CCJ and eventually having to pay court fees on top of the original £70.

A CCJ for what? They've refunded the op.

shaymenRup

Madmalteaser,
As someone who is still waiting for delivery of items that were supposedly dispatched (via snail mail) some 18 days ago, coincidently they included dresses for a summer ball, I fully sypathise with your anger.

Fortunately my wife had an alternative outfit.

I would send a letter of complaint to Debenhams requesting not only compensation for your unused tickets, but also for your time (eg £10 per hour spent) and cost of the phone calls. They have already accepted they are at fault with their earlier measily offer.

I'm still waiting for a responce from my latest email. Their performance is monitored on the number of complaints they receive so complain, complain, complain.

Roll on the next sale in two weeks.

smcaul

Why don't half you lot actually read the OP opening post, rather then trying to belittle them and impose your values on them.

They state that they tried to cancel at least 3 weeks before the ball, Debenhams told them they could not. This is against the law, as the law states they can cancel up to 7 days after receipt of the goods, as pointed out by trading standards.

So Debenhams are at fault, had the OP been able to cancel (as they were entitled to) they would have probably been able to buy an alternative dress.

I would point out to Debenhams that they were acting illegally and ask them how they intend to rectify the situation (loss of money for tickets etc).

The rest of you, "don't judge a person until you have walked a mile in their shoes" is a phrase many of you could do with remembering!!

geri1965_2

Yes they were at fault, and they have refunded her.

In my view they are not responsible for paying the costs of the tickets for the ball.

OP should have had a back up plan.

uktim29

geri1965 wrote: »

Yes they were at fault, and they have refunded her.

In my view they are not responsible for paying the costs of the tickets for the ball.

OP should have had a back up plan.

My thoughts exactly.

smcaul

geri1965 wrote: »

Yes they were at fault, and they have refunded her.

In my view they are not responsible for paying the costs of the tickets for the ball.

OP should have had a back up plan.

Wish we all had the money to have a "Back up plan", some of us put our trust in the fact that companies do as they are supposed to/contracted to do.

HC_2

I think this is twice in one week that I've agreed with Tim (albeit not in the charming way he phrases things). I may have to go and lie down in a darkened room with a damp flannel on my forehead until I recover.

But also, the OP is clearly a woman. How can a woman order a dress over the Internet for a very special occasion and expect a) it to fit, and b) to like it when she tried it on?

She was clearly placing huge faith in a dress she chose just from a photo. Madness, imo.

madmalteaser

Clearly I need to answer some of the above posts...

Oooooooohhhh: I did try to minimise my losses several times with this situation. The dress was originally ordered 2 months before the event and I was sent an email which confirmed my item would be delivered within 3-5 working days. When it was becoming clear that the dress was never going to show up I tried to cancel the whole order 3 weeks before which would have given me enough time to go out and find another dress (just) but Debenhams wouldn't allow it. Can you suggest anything else I could have done given the fact that I had no further budget with which to purchase a dress and less than a week to find a replacement when I was working 4 12 hour night shifts right before the ball?

uktim29: fair point. If I had thought about it more instead of reacting emotionally I would have worded things better. I suppose that will be a learning curve for me. Thanks for your input.

pinkshoes: Yes, this is the first ever formal event I have been to in all my 28 years. What can I say, I've lived a sheltered life! I did not (and still do not thanks to Debenhams) own any kind of formal dress - I am a tomboy who lives in jeans and combats and the idea of wearing a skirt of any description brings me out in a cold sweat. Your suggestions are gratefully received however given my time constraints and remaining budget (ie nil), buying a second dress without first receiving a refund was impossible. Not that it's anyone's business but I'm also a... larger lady... who is surrounded by skinny friends, borrowing was never an option. Yes, I agree you never know if a mail order item will fit which is why I ordered it 2 months in advance so that I could deal with that situation as and when it should arise.

HC: I state again, the dress was ordered 2 months in advance so that if I didn't like it when it arrived or it didn't fit i would have time to send it back and find another dress. I had no choice but to order it online, the only place I could find ballgowns at this time of year were on the internet since the shops within my budget were only stocking short dresses and other items I didn't consider appropriate for the occasion. Besides, a lot of women like myself purchase a lot of their clothing online and have never had a problem previously! In fact, this is the main way I buy my clothing and til now the only time I've had a problem was buying this dress from Debenhams!

nellytheelephant, shaymenRup and smcaul - thank you all for your unbiased opinions. I'm amazed at how difficult it is to ask for advice on this forum without people making personal, and frankly, inappropriate comments anymore so it was a breath of fresh air to actually see some comments from people who haven't tried to presume anything about my personal life or circumstances and simply answered the questions I was asking.

HC_2

madmalteaser wrote: »

HC: I state again, the dress was ordered 2 months in advance so that if I didn't like it when it arrived or it didn't fit i would have time to send it back and find another dress. I had no choice but to order it online, the only place I could find ballgowns at this time of year were on the internet since the shops within my budget were only stocking short dresses and other items I didn't consider appropriate for the occasion. Besides, a lot of women like myself purchase a lot of their clothing online and have never had a problem previously! In fact, this is the main way I buy my clothing and til now the only time I've had a problem was buying this dress from Debenhams!

Clearly I'm a strange shape (it's been said before...), as I couldn't possibly bank on a dress fitting me or looking half-decent if I only looked at a photo online.

I had no intention of making a personal or inappropriate comment, and I apologise if I came across that way.