littlewood s catalogue problem help needed!!!

maximus999

Hi all, I have became a victim of littlewoods voucher scams. I placed orders on my account which have been delivered, i used voucher codes found on many sites which gave £50 off each transaction which they have reversed which they can do as described in their terms and conditions which i have no problem with as i should have not used them to be honest but took a gamble. When i ordered each item a transaction £50 was credited to my account to the value of £700.00 (14 items) so if my credit limit was £1000.00 it went up to £1700.00 through using the codes. Simple enough to understand. all the items i ordered had weekly payments to the value of the items and i should pay them payments weeky until they have been cleared. Simple enough to understand again. Here is my PROBLEM! littlewoods have reversed the voucher codes to the value of £700.00 back onto my account which took my limit back to £1000.00, straight forward again, they have now sent me a bill stating that i owe £700.00 of arrears due to the voucher codes being applied back. This bit i cant get my head around. they say i am in arrears due to the codes being reversed but they have been reversed back on to my credit limit which is now considerably lower and cant understand why i need to pay them £700.00 in one go? can anyone shed any light on this? as the way i look at it the items i ordered using the codes have weekly payments over 52 weeks, and by the way they are doing this, it looks to me as though i am paying for £700.00 of goods in one go as appose to the weekly payments. Please can anyone see my point and were can i go from here as i dont have £700.00 plus the £325.00 minimum payment they are asking for. Thanks for any replies.

gonzo127

hi and i just want to start that the way they have done that really does seem unfair. unfortunatly i dont have any exact advice on how to deal with this however i am sure someone will be a bit more knowlegable about these things

what i would say is to probably drop them a quick call to find out if they are actually demanding the full £700 in one go or if the letter is worded badly, JUST TAKE NOTE anything said on the phone is not proof of a agreement and i would only use the phone call to confirm the details to yourself, make sure you write down the persons name of who you are speaking to and at what time they answer the call

once you have the details clear in your mind as to what they are asking then you can write a letter to them explaining the situation and informing them of what you will be willing to do to resolve it, ie payment plan, make sure you send it recorded delivery so you have proof they have received it

DarkConvict

If they have accepted the discount at the point of sale they should not be refusing it now. Can you not ask for the ordered items to be returned at their expense as they are no longer accepting the order?

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/general-consumer-issues/115872-littlewoods-voucher-codes.html

gonzo127

love that webside DC

if you dont want to read the whole lot this is a letter which has been sent buy someone else

Mark Newton-Jones
Chief Executive
Littlewoods Shop Direct Home Shopping Limited
First Floor
Skyways House
Speke Road
Liverpool
L70 1AB


1st October 2007



Littlewoods Account reference xxxxxxxx


Re: Complaint – Breach of Contract

Dear Mr Jones,

With reference to the above agreement I do not acknowledge ANY debt to your company.

It is with great regret that I find myself writing to you; however your company’s representative, xxxxxxx, has failed to address an important issue following my telephone call this evening in relation to unexpected correspondence received from the company.

On 25th July I made an offer to treat for an item I wished to purchase at a cost to myself of £1.10. The company accepted this offer to treat by sending me a confirmation of the order by email. My card was debited with the sum of £26.10, at which point a contract was formed between myself and the company to supply me with the goods as ordered and at the price confirmed in the confirmation email. Subsequently the company refunded to my card the sum of £25.00 on 25th July 2007, received to my account 27th July 2007. The contract was fulfilled by the delivery of the item a few days later.

Today I received a statement demanding the sum of £25.00. The company is now in breach of its contract under its own terms and conditions and in any event under contract law.

Your terms and conditions state:

2. Ordering Goods
2.1 All orders placed through our website will be subject to our acceptance of the order.

2.2 When you submit an order to us on our website you will receive a 'bounce back' confirmatory email of this order saying that we are processing your order. You will then receive a second email from us acknowledging your order and giving you estimated timescales for delivery. You should check both emails for accuracy and let us know immediately if there are any errors. Neither of these emails constitute acceptance of the order by us. Your order will be accepted by us (and a contract will then be formed between us) when we despatch the goods to you. Title to the goods will pass to you on delivery.

And

3. Processing your orders and payment
3.2 Whilst it is our intention to keep our website up to date and error free, product description or pricing errors may occur. If we discover such an error after you have submitted an order to us, we will contact you prior to accepting your order with the correct details. You may then either cancel your order or re-confirm it based on the correct information. If we are unable to contact you, we will treat your order as cancelled.

Also

Order Acceptance
Your order will be accepted by us, and a contract will then be formed between us, when we despatch the goods to you.

In relation to paragraph 3.2, as detailed above, no contact was made by your company to inform of any pricing error, and the company was contracted to supply the goods to the total cost to myself as detailed on the order.

Referring to my telephone conversation with xxxxx, whilst he was polite, he was refusing to listen to what I was trying explain about contract law, and how the company has no right to demand payment after the contract has been formed and fulfilled. He refused to let me speak to a manger, at first stating there were none available. When challenged about there being no managers in the contact centre, he admitted that it was his manager who was not available, but no other managers will take calls off agents who are not members of their team. Shankar then proceeded to try to tell me that he had had over twenty similar calls today about the same query, I am not interested in this fact, true or not, nor was I interested in him telling me that over half of these calls had agreed to pay; this may well be because the other parties do not understand contract law and their rights.

There are no monies due to the company from myself, and should the company persist in pursuing this matter a counterclaim for breach of contract will be made and the following charges made:

My time 1 hour @ £20 per hour £ 20.00
Telephone 18.6 mins @ 20p per minute £ 3.72
Postage Royal Mail Special Delivery £ 4.30
Court Fee £ 30.00

Total £58.02

This letter also constitutes formal notice to the company that the amount the company is demanding is in dispute. The Office Of Fair Trading debt collection Guidance- Unfair Business Practices July 2003 states that whilst this alleged debt is in dispute and being investigated you must cease all collection activity. Failure to do so will result in this matter being notified to the Office of Fair Trading and may constitute harassment contrary to section 40 (1) of the Administration of Justice Act 1970.

I expect your reply within seven days of receipt of this letter, and await your reply

Yours faithfully

gonzo127

of course the letter would have to be amended slightly to fit your situation however i think it is a very good starting letter

DarkConvict

That letter is 2 years old, do recheck the current site terms and conditions.

Nonetheless the letter is good, i did have a quick read myself.

DarkConvict

http://www.littlewoods.com/rf/static.do?page=help7&segment=06&cm_re=Homepage-_-Footer-_-Terms+and+Conditions

2.2 When you submit an order to us on our website you will receive a 'bounce back' confirmatory email of this order saying that we are processing your order. You will then receive a second email from us acknowledging your order and giving you estimated timescales for delivery. You should check both emails for accuracy and let us know immediately if there are any errors. Neither of these emails constitute acceptance of the order by us. Your order will be accepted by us (and a contract will then be formed between us) when we despatch the goods to you. Title to the goods will pass to you on delivery

The terms appear unchanged, they have therefore accepted your order including the discount, they should not be able to reverse the discount. I would speak to consumer direct about a retailer who after the order has been confirmed and items delivery changed the price and is actively seeking repayment from you - http://www.consumerdirect.gov.uk/about/how-we-help/

If they have accepted the discount at the point of sale they should not be refusing it now. Can you not ask for the ordered items to be returned at their expense as they are no longer accepting the order?
http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/general-consumer-issues/115872-littlewoods-voucher-codes.html


Fixed chrome error (edit posts not working) - was the inbuilt adblocker, posts now added together

Nevermind, there is a get out clause.

2.3 Promotional codes are codes that enable customers to obtain benefits such as discounts, free delivery and free gifts. These codes are non-transferable so may only be used by the person to whom they are issued and must only be used in accordance with their terms and conditions of use. If you use a promotional code to claim a promotional benefit, you must first check that it was issued to you and that you are eligible to use it. By using it to claim a promotional benefit you will be confirming that:-

(i) you are entitled to use the code;
(ii) you meet all the conditions that apply to its use;
(iii) you agree to the terms set out below.

If, before accepting your order, we find that you are not entitled to use the code or do not meet all the terms and conditions of its use, we may reject your order or alternatively process it without the promotional benefit being applied. If, after accepting your order, we find that you were not entitled to use the code or did not meet all the terms and conditions of its use, we may reverse the benefit that you obtained. If you transacted on a cash basis e.g. by debit or credit card, we may take a further payment, equivalent to the value of the benefit obtained, from the card used. If you transacted on a credit basis, the value of the benefit obtained may be charged to your credit account.

Unless you can provide proof the discount code you used you were entitled to, they are allowed to reverse the discount.


Anyway

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/general-consumer-issues/115872-littlewoods-voucher-codes-2.html
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7061767.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7063769.stm
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=558235

Worth a gander, some people managed to win


This littlewoods issue had happened before, martins final say on it - http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=594235

chasingsunshine_2

I used some of these online voucher codes and they were accepted. I didnt think more of it until my next statement when "Insufficient Rewards - Difference Charged" appeared on it with charge of £15.15 which I assume is the money I saved with the code. They required the money as part of the minimum payment. Is this how is has appeared on your bill?

By the way I didnt know I coulnt do it, I was told by one of their telephone advisors a couple of years ago that I could search online for discounts

Britwife

I realize that what this company is doing is very wrong however, I don't feel that you should consider yourself a victim of this since you say you knew there were risks. This company has been doing this for years and lots of people know it. I visit a forum where these codes are passed back and forth like a tennis ball and there are topics in this same forum from these posters that Littlewoods is coming to claim the money back. There are warnings after warnings about using and abusing codes. £700 is a lot of code usage.

The problem lies with their terms and conditions and fully states that if you use a code that was not given to you or not listed as an offer on their website that they will put the charges back on to your account. You have to agree to these terms and conditions BEFORE placing your order. So you are well aware of the risks in using them.

I have never placed an order with this company or any of the other catalogs like them because they charge way too much money. The codes lure people in. I still say it's wrong but bottom line is....you knew the risks and took them. This is a consequense of using codes you weren't entitled to.

You may try contacting trading standards and see if they get involved. I know that Martin stepped in over here and he has stated that he won't do it again becuase the warnings are out there.

At the same time, Littlewoods should be held just as responsible seeing that this has been going on for years. To me, it looks like all they want is the money and will get it no matter how. They are fully aware the codes are circulated yet do nothing to stop it. I use Asda and if I can't use the code, it's not accepted. So if most other companies can block codes then so can Littlewood, they just choose not to because in the end, they will reclaim the codes and get their money.

I wish you the best in fighting it.

DarkConvict

I do not like the way littlewoods do it, as put on BBC news, its pulls in the orders then they ask for money back to bump up the profits. They are obtaining sales which they would otherwise not have obtained if the discount was not available.

Problem is, barely anyone reads the T&Cs for such a well known shop, (if any shop). I do it as well i search online for codes before ordering, i got a really good discount + cashback on my laptop.

I think it should be upto the retailer to ensure the coupons are correct before dispatching the order. Many retailers use unique codes good for one use for this very reason, any codes that have unlimited uses should clearly be available for the general public as they are restricted at time of sale.

nanna58

Thank for that was thinking about the codes but will steer well clear now.Will keep catalogue for now as i do not always have the cash when i need to get somthing although i only use it now when necessary but it is a standby all the same.Thanx max999