Empire Direct have gone into administration. Updated more.

al1982

Those who paid by Visa DEBIT card should also be able to initiate a charge back, as the charge back is made against their bank and NOT the company according to the guardian and BBCs website.

Has anyone who paid by Visa Debit card tried this??

roddydogs

(posted already) if u paid by CC the 5 yrg Gtee is still valid---but you will have to chase up the CC ...Lot more hassle of course.

PaulSiws

al1982 wrote: »

Those who paid by Visa DEBIT card should also be able to initiate a charge back, as the charge back is made against their bank and NOT the company according to the guardian and BBCs website.

Has anyone who paid by Visa Debit card tried this??

I Spoke to Lloyds TSB last night. Whilst they were very sympathetic and offered some standard advice they said they could not do anything yet because they had not been informed of Empire Direct going into administration. Slightly odd, considering it had been > 24 hrs by that point.

I'm sure they'll have heard by now so I've put my Chargeback request in a letter and popped it in the post this morning. I suspect it is a long process though. I think our bank has to allow the seller time to contest. In theory, if they don't contest we get the money, if they do it could go on for ever. I'm not expecting to see any money for many weeks (if at all).

If anyone calls their bank and hits trouble (some of the advisers don't seem to know about chargeback) you should ask to speak to the Debit Card Dispute department, or similar.

Good luck.

LS20

al1982 wrote: »

Those who paid by Visa DEBIT card should also be able to initiate a charge back, as the charge back is made against their bank and NOT the company according to the guardian and BBCs website.

Has anyone who paid by Visa Debit card tried this??

Hi al1982, as mentioned in my post on page three of this thread, I claimed £260 back from Halifax bank using the Visa chargeback on their bank debit card and successfully had the money refunded. As I mentioned earlier, the bank as part of the agreement with Visa is obliged to meet this, but staff may not be aware of it (although given the array of companies entering administration recently, they'll be a lot more aware). If you use the letter template from this site, and take it into your bank with the notice of administration from the company, they will action it. Note that it does take a while to process.

Good luck.

NB The empiredirect website has been updated with the notice of administration. You can print this to include with your letter requesting Visa Chargeback. This was accepted by Halifax for Speedferries notice.

al1982

Some good news for people who paid by Visa Debit card.

I called Barclays a few time a couple of nights ago and the Indian call centers could not help me beyond saying they will post out a form.

I called in the morning and spoke to a british call centre and the woman was fully aware of ED going into administration and said anyone who paid by CC or Visa Debitcard could initiate a charge back.

adandem

roddydogs wrote: »

(posted already) if u paid by CC the 5 yrg Gtee is still valid---but you will have to chase up the CC ...Lot more hassle of course.

I'll lose out on my 5 year guarantee.

I'm still a little 'old school', I don't posess a CC, I've never bought anything which I haven't got the money for. I realise that some people pay the bill as it arrives but feel gutted that people like me will now be penalised for paying for goods with cash/debit cards.

I suspect this will apply to many of the older generation too.

My recent purchase (not received) was paid for by visa debit (great!!) BUT through paypal (no so great!!). So again, I'll lose out.

al1982

To the poster above, i read on another site how some guy paid for 2 psp's using paypal and got them through ebay.

When it didn't materialize he went to the bank and done a charge back as "good not delivered" and eventually got his money back. Worth keeping at it.

adandem

al1982 wrote: »

To the poster above, i read on another site how some guy paid for 2 psp's using paypal and got them through ebay.

When it didn't materialize he went to the bank and done a charge back as "good not delivered" and eventually got his money back. Worth keeping at it.

Thanks, but it is only ebay purchases which are 100% covered. I've checked on the paypal site,payments to other sellers are only refunded if paypal can get the funds from them, highly unlikely in this case.;)

al1982

Thank you for your help LS20.

Barclays are actually not putting up a fight, they said they know the company has gone under and anyone who paid by visa debit or cc will be getting a refund by simply signing a form and returning it.

I dont mean to pain but i can't find the letter template anywhere on this site.

I am awaiting the forms that the lady on the phone said i need to sign and send back and within 10 days i would be getting a refund.

LS20

Hi,

The chargeback template is here.