case (6 bottles) Tattinger £65 + p+p

jeppy

champducoq wrote: »

That's very reassuring. The fact that they gave you your money back at such a late stage would imply that there's no real intent to defraud here.

I bought a laptop a couple of years ago of the internet. When it came I didnt like it and so we took it back to the shop. The refund took forever, so, fortunatley I called and the refund was put through. 2 days later the company stopped trading. I was very lucky!!

This maybe the case here. These companies keep trading and then sit on refunds as long as possible.

I had a similar problem with a mobile phone contract, a company that was in Bradford, many people went to the office, stood their ground and got their money, I didn't and lost £1,000 in total inc court costs!

So if they are still trading and if you spent a lot of money (especially if on a debit card) it maybe worth your while going to collect your purchase yourself or requesting a full refund in cash in person!!

DP266

I just called my credit card company. It needed no explanaition as they were aware of the problem from several other customers. This will not do the company any good as credit card facilities may be withdrawn.

130charlotte

Edited post

irishdids

Just to let anyone know, one of the guys on Wine Pages actually managed to get through to the restaurant on Friday. He asked for a refund and his card was debited.

Obviously the chances of leaving a message are very slim now but I would suggest to everyone who is still out of pocket to send a recorded delivery letter requesting a refund. Ask for the cost of the letter to be put on the transaction aswell.

I have come to the conclusion that this is not a scam, just a logistical !!!! up on the part of Mr Lefrancq. He obviously saw an opportunity, but did not get everything in place to exploit the opportunity.

skylove

Have read what everyone else has to say about this company and reassuring in some ways to realize we are not the only ones who have been stitched up!

I spoke to the Weekend Telegraph advertising department (where we originally saw the advert) this morning and they said that this company were well known to them and had advertised on many occasions with them. Surplus wines had booked a series of adverts, but after one weekend (the also advertised in the Times and Daily Mail apparently) they cancelled future ads as they had had such an overwhelming response. The compnay was fully credit checked before they accepted the advertising and they had an excellent credit rating. The man from the Telegraph can also not get hold of them on any of the numbers that they have and his assumption is that the business has gone into meltdown after taking on more than they can handle. So I guess it is just a case of contacting our credit cards....

130charlotte

Or holding on until the meltdown clears up?

andygb

skylove wrote: »

I spoke to the Weekend Telegraph advertising department (where we originally saw the advert) this morning and they said that this company were well known to them and had advertised on many occasions with them.

I find this very hard to believe, because many people in the trade, and indeed with an expert knowledge in wine, had never seen any previous offers/promotions/scams by Surplus Wine.
It would be interesting to see the offers from the "many previous occasions".

skylove

Apparently surplus wine had only advertised in the Northern edition of the Telegraph until this advert on the 6th March.

Steve_Boorman

skylove wrote: »

Have read what everyone else has to say about this company and reassuring in some ways to realize we are not the only ones who have been stitched up!

I spoke to the Weekend Telegraph advertising department (where we originally saw the advert) this morning and they said that this company were well known to them and had advertised on many occasions with them. Surplus wines had booked a series of adverts, but after one weekend (the also advertised in the Times and Daily Mail apparently) they cancelled future ads as they had had such an overwhelming response. The compnay was fully credit checked before they accepted the advertising and they had an excellent credit rating. The man from the Telegraph can also not get hold of them on any of the numbers that they have and his assumption is that the business has gone into meltdown after taking on more than they can handle. So I guess it is just a case of contacting our credit cards....

Hi..I too contacted The Telegraph and received the same response.They seem to feel that this a small company who have overstretched themselves....I can't get through to the restaurant either...but as others have said "at least we are not the only ones"..but I wish others would do us all a favour and stop posting "I told you so !!!" comments. I would rather believe that "Arfur Daley" has just been overwhelmed trying to buy the stock from receivers ...rather than a very elaborate scam.

champducoq

Arthur Des Lys, n'est ce pas ?