Empire Direct have gone into administration. Updated more.

kimdegsidash

Hi Vimtodave - think you are in a similar position to us. Keep posting on this site for updates on how we are getting on. Might be best to just try and get your old tv back and repair it elsewhere.

vimtodave wrote: »

I am in a slightly unusual situation and I am concerned as to whether or not I will see any kind of compensation, so I would be interested in any thoughts or advice.

In February 08 I bought a Toshiba LCD TV from the Bradford store for £1200 using a credit card.
The TV was fine until a few weeks ago when we noticed a problem with it.
Obviously it was still under manafacturers warranty, so we spoke with Toshiba a couple of times who said that they couldn't repair it, but told us to return it to the retailer (ED) along with a reference code which they gave us, and that the retailer would either give us a full refund, or offer us a replacement. We spoke to ED who confirmed that they would accept it and they asked us to return it.
Last Saturday we packed up the TV and returned it to the store blissfully unaware of the impending doom. They happily accepted the returned TV and we chose a replacement set of roughly the same value without any cash having to change hands. The set we chose happened to be plasma and that meant that we were unable to transport the set ourselves as plasma tv's must remain upright and shouldn't be laid flat. After some further discussion with them we agreed to have the set delivered today at no extra cost. This in hindsight was a disastorous decision for us as obviously today the set did not arrive.
No doubt ED or the administrators will be claiming back the value of our returned set (our hard earned money!!!!!) from Toshiba to add to their own coffers, which makes me feel well and truly swindled by them.

I was wondering how sympathetic the credit card company is likely to be in this situation, as we bought and received the goods but then some time later had to return it on instruction from Toshiba and effectively use it as credit against a new tv which hasn't been received.

Do you think I stand any chance of seeing my £1200?

Thanks for your help.

fresh57

Does anybody know if you should pay the disputed amount on the credit card off when its due, or should you not pay it due to the dispute under section 75?
I normally pay off in full every month but perhaps this is different, do you get charged interest on a disputed amount?
Cheers
Jez

agentm_3

kimdegsidash wrote: »

We have a Samsung TV bought from Empire Direct in Bradford 2 years ago. It conked out at Christmas so we called in for it to be repaired under the exteded 5 year warranty we bought from Empire Direct at the time of purchase. They came and took our TV away on 2 January. We have not heard anything since so phoned them on Tuesday to find out where our TV is. It took until yesterday afternoon to get through on the 01274 number, but my husband eventually managed to speak to a guy who told us the sad news and that there are a few staff that have been kept on behind the closed doors. We sympathised with the guy and his position, and he very gallantly has said he will try to find our TV. According to the records he said it had been repaired and was sitting in their warehouse doing nothing. We are just waiting to see if he calls back now. The frustrating this is, it's our TV, not Empire Direct stock, and if we can't get it back now we will have to log a claim with the administrators that will probably take weeks to resolve. If only we could call round to the warehouse with our proof of ownership and repair logs in hand and simply collect the thing it would all be ok. But that's not the way things work in this world is it? Anyone else in a similar position? By the way, there's a big 40" hole in our lounge wall waiting for the missing TV - currently watching telly on a 15" portable! Every day we are reminded of the impact of this recession, and the sad reality for staff who have lost their jobs.

To my knowledge, all repairs for Empire Direct were handled by Yorkshire Multimedia Services, Unit 3, Factory Street, Bradford, BD4 9NW. Tel: 01274688877. Maybe you could give them a call to find out about the repair and where it was sent after repairs were completed.

BobBrown

fresh57 wrote: »

Does anybody know if you should pay the disputed amount on the credit card off when its due, or should you not pay it due to the dispute under section 75?
I normally pay off in full every month but perhaps this is different, do you get charged interest on a disputed amount?
Cheers
Jez

I used my First Direct Visa credit card to buy a £1900 50" plasma TV from them just over a week ago and of course I havn't received it but they debited my card straight away.
I only used the credit card for the protection given and fully intended paying it all off before any interest accrued, but now, not having received the goods I am reluctant to pay that amount of money for nothing.
I've spoken to First Direct but they will not take any action at all until 30 days after the transaction date. The next credit card payment is due the day before the 30 days are up. In answer to your question, I was told that interest would be charged and I would not be reimbursed after the business is settled. Your bank may differ of course.

mattwallisuk

Yep you'll have to pay off the credit card to avoid interest, but it should be no problem for your card provider to do the chargeback so you will see the money again.

adandem

With regards to the 5 year warrantys, it wouldn't surprise me if this was just a ploy to sell more, ED knowing full well they'd never have to honour them.

They'd got to have known for sometime that the company had serious problems.

Tomato76

Empire Direct trousered several hundred pounds of my hard-earned cash on Friday, saying they would deliver my new TV by Tuesday this week, it being no problem to deliver, them having 6 in stock.

It hasn't turned up yet (surprise surprise).

I spoke to someone after calling the helpline number on ED's "new homepage" and was advised the administrators would contact me to let me know what has happened to my order... but that this could take up to a couple of weeks.

They have not yet contacted me, but I am very confident that the TV is not going to arrive.

Barlcays Debit Card Services said on the phone (on Tuesday) that I would have to wait 30 days, or have confirmation that it wasn't going to ship before making a claim... but the situation ED are in to me is confirmation enough...

When I rang them today, they seemed all to aware of ED going into Administration (in comparison with Tuesday) and one of their call Centre Ops went off and confirmed they were not disputing.

I have requested the forms I need from Barlclays, but am not sure whether I should actually give my TV a chance of turning up (however ludicrous that seems). Would setting up the claim if I had not actually heard from KPMG reduce the likelihood of getting my cash back?

Thanks

DING_DONG_6

Just to let you know the staff did not know this was going to happen, If we were aware Im confident that me and my work collegues would of refused to take orders or give any false infomation out to the customers as it is the only decent thing to do.

I cannot speak for the Managers though as I am sure they knew.


Anyway apologies for leading off the subject I was emailed today invited :j along to an interview for a job vacancy

I would be very grateful if anyone knew were I could get my Cv done or does anyone know of a template or word document I could access to help me with the layout
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.


Many thanks in advance

Triker

DING_DONG wrote: »

Just to let you know the staff did not know this was going to happen, If we were aware Im confident that me and my work collegues would of refused to take orders or give any false infomation out to the customers as it is the only decent thing to do.

I cannot speak for the Managers though as I am sure they knew.


Anyway apologies for leading off the subject I was emailed today invited :j along to an interview for a job vacancy

I would be very grateful if anyone knew were I could get my Cv done or does anyone know of a template or word document I could access to help me with the layout
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.


Many thanks in advance

Info here http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showpost.html?p=17721975&postcount=6

and here http://www.soon.org.uk/cvpage.htm


Good luck with the interview.

al1982

Tomato76 GET YOUR FORM IN AND GET YOUR MONEY BACK ASAP.

Do not risk it, its hard earned money. DO NOT RISK IT MATE.

If it doesn't show up with in 30 days REGARDLESS of what the administrators say you should be able to claim back under goods not delivered with-in the fair time frame of 30 days.