Empire Direct have gone into administration. Updated more.

PaulSiws

Another great big mess! We ordered a fridge/Freezer 2 weeks ago and of course its not arrived. I'm sorry for those who have lost their jobs... many of us are working under a cloud of uncertainty.

I think I'm coming to accept the loss of money but I am very annoyed about EDs conduct - I think I've been scammed. I placed the order online and 'paid' with credit card (~£400), but 2 days later I had a phonecall from them saying there was a problem with my payment and they needed a different card. Unfortunately I was on my mobile phone and away from home so without thinking straight and just gave them my debit card details. Crazy, I know.

My fiancee said we should cancel it last week when I rang to ask where our order was and they said it would be delayed a few days, but I insisted it would be ok ("Its Empire Direct, it'll be fine..."). I'm kicking myself. hard.

Triker

PaulSiws wrote: »

Another great big mess! We ordered a fridge/Freezer 2 weeks ago and of course its not arrived. I'm sorry for those who have lost their jobs... many of us are working under a cloud of uncertainty.

I think I'm coming to accept the loss of money but I am very annoyed about EDs conduct - I think I've been scammed. I placed the order online and 'paid' with credit card (~£400), but 2 days later I had a phonecall from them saying there was a problem with my payment and they needed a different card. Unfortunately I was on my mobile phone and away from home so without thinking straight and just gave them my debit card details. Crazy, I know.

My fiancee said we should cancel it last week when I rang to ask where our order was and they said it would be delayed a few days, but I insisted it would be ok ("Its Empire Direct, it'll be fine..."). I'm kicking myself. hard.

Funnily enough I ordered nearly 2 weeks ago and also received a phone call saying that the order had been delayed a few days. I wonder if anyone was aware and were making sure people didn't cancel orders.

PaulSiws

Triker, I don't want to be cynical... but loosing £400 has hurt me, so I'm tempted to agree... and whilst I'm feeling like this....I'm also thinking the whole EDXTRA card 'warranty' was a big scam to get people to order.

And i thought I was a reasonably savvy cnsumer...

Triker

PaulSiws wrote: »

Triker, I don't want to be cynical... but loosing £400 has hurt me, so I'm tempted to agree... and whilst I'm feeling like this....I'm also thinking the whole EDXTRA card 'warranty' was a big scam to get people to order.

And i thought I was a reasonably savvy cnsumer...

Me too and the money we've lost (potentially but likely) has hurt us too. When I told my OH I burst into tears because I ordered it and, stupid I know, felt responsible for us losing the money.:o

philarmonic

Ive got around £400 worth of a £800 outstanding with them that i placed before xmas, spoke to them 2 weeks ago and said i want to cancel my order, they said fine and theyd arrange a refund which never arrived. Chased it again last week and they said it was still being processed..

I ordered using my visa debit so am going to try the visa chargeback scheme as i called the phone number listed on the empire site, got through to someone who said all the systems had been frozen and they knew nothing!

Its a shame for all concerned, those that have lost their jobs and those that have lost money on goods they may never see!

shaftd

adminstrator said that if you paid by credit card you WOULD be able to claim payment back from credit card comps, they would then join creditors list, so don't panic too much.
G'tees- manufacturer g'tees are valid as long as you have your proof of purchase. 1 yr for most companies. 2-5 yrs for others depending what offer was on.
ED g'tees are i'm afraid no longer valid as they were not under-written.

If you have any questions i'll try and answer as best I can

fresh57

I ordered a washer and a dryer and the empire 3 year cover total £729 instore on 11th Jan and they said it would be here in 2 weeks but obviously they have never arrived. I was handing my debit card across the counter and at the last minute swapped it for my credit card thank goodness. When I think back now everything I looked at said "selling fast" which basically meant they had no stock, I thought it was because it was just after the xmas rush but obviously not. I have tried phoning today and getting the same message as everybody else so I have requested a claim form from the credit card company. Can't decide whether or not to order same items from somewhere else, as we are without a washer, is there any chance that empire (or the administrators) will deliver the goods. Don't want to end up with 2!

Jez

Triker

shaftd wrote: »

adminstrator said that if you paid by credit card you WOULD be able to claim payment back from credit card comps, they would then join creditors list, so don't panic too much.
G'tees- manufacturer g'tees are valid as long as you have your proof of purchase. 1 yr for most companies. 2-5 yrs for others depending what offer was on.
ED g'tees are i'm afraid no longer valid as they were not under-written.

If you have any questions i'll try and answer as best I can

Thank you, its appreciated.

Do you think that goods bought and paid for 2 weeks ago stand a chance of being delivered?

Did you have stock being delivered still or had that dried up?

I just thought if the suppliers were'nt being paid then I suppose they won't supply eh?
I just wonder how far back time wise it went, that orders were not going to be honoured.

Lostinfinance

hello there, i wonder if anyone can help, i placed an order with empire direct just over 2 weeks ago. i used the buy now pay in 9 months option. i have received part of the order, but am not sure whether to expect the rest of it? my main worry is where does this leave me with the credit agreemen?

shaftd

I asked the question yesterday about fully paid orders where the stock IS in the company. He basically said if you paid by credit card see your CC comp. If you paid by cash you would have to join the list of creditors directly and wait and see.

No stock is to be released AT ALL. so no deliveries will be honored.
Company is up for sale and IF sold the new buyer MIGHT honour fully paid items.
Contact the finance company. I think if you havn't received all items you might be able to claim back for those. It may be the same as a CC.