WARNING Utopia Office Ltd consortium - cheap Dyson DC31 Animal - or not!

pw13

well true to utopias word my dc30 arrived today via fedex. Ihave been waiting 5 weeks ,the best advice i can give is fax them as much as you can i could not get an answer on any phone numbers i had. The fax number is 01359 253693,they do respond in the end but you may have to send 5 aday like i did hope this may help some of you .:j

Edwinabell

I first posted on 17th January and have followed the good advice on these threads. I cancelled my order and asked for a refund on 21st January, sending my request by recorded delivery. At last I got an email saying sorry and my money would be refunded on 23rd January. I've not heard or received the refund as yet and have sent a fax and email this morning to say I am going to the small claims court if I do not get a telephone call by 12 noon today. So I'll start the court proceedings this afternoon, and will also try to claim money for the worry and constant letters and calls and emails I've had to send. As for the Dyson vac I wanted, I have now bought a reconditioned one for £174.99p from ebay with the 5 year guarantee, looks as clean as a new one.
Will let you all know if I ever get my money back.

robuff

I ordered a DC25 on 9.12.10, had the usual response re CC problems, & foolishly paid by BAC - after tears of buying on-line with no problems, you get a bit complacent! Like many others I had no delivery, the standard messages, & no response to e-mails or left telephone messages.
I reported it to Suffolk Trading Standards, & also sent formal letter by recorded delivery, cancelling order & demanding refund within 30 days, receipt signed by them on 21st Jan.
Still no response, until e-mail received saying that Dyson had been despatched, didn't count chickens, but in fact it has been received this morning, exactly what I would have wished for. (Item, not service!)
Yes I know I'm a first-time poster, but thought I'd take the trouble to give this info. And obviously, don't buy anything from this company, yes perhaps they are just badly organised, under pressure & incompetent, but with this history how long before they are in liquidation? If you have ordered & are still waiting, I can only suggest you play it by the book - Trading Standards Suffolk, recorded letter, final letter re legal action, (template letters on Consume Direct website), & then finally Small Claims Court.

finbow

1. I would never deal with a company where you have to chase their accountant to have your goods delivered or to get a refund.

2. Only an idiot would transfer money to someone they don't know via bacs. As Martin would say, only use a credit card for purchases online, any reputable company will accept this.

3. I am still waiting for some people with a 100+ post count to have received items. So many new users with a low post count stinks of self promoting a scam to me.

robuff

Well Finbow, thanks for such a constructive & helpful response. I for one don't need telling that I was stupid not to pay by CC. And yes if I'd done what I should have done regardless, & that is to have googled Utopia before ordering from an unknown supplier, then I wouldn't have been dealing with a company where you have to chase their accountant. In this case I was an idiot, but i don't now need to be told that - I know it!

All the previous comments about first time posters certainly put me off getting involved in this, but at least I hope that my single post has been of some help, I hope the quality of your 105 posts has been better than your 106th.

Get to bed earlier, the late nights are making you sad & bitter

finbow

robuff wrote: »

Well Finbow, thanks for such a constructive & helpful response. I for one don't need telling that I was stupid not to pay by CC. And yes if I'd done what I should have done regardless, & that is to have googled Utopia before ordering from an unknown supplier, then I wouldn't have been dealing with a company where you have to chase their accountant. In this case I was an idiot, but i don't now need to be told that - I know it!

All the previous comments about first time posters certainly put me off getting involved in this, but at least I hope that my single post has been of some help, I hope the quality of your 105 posts has been better than your 106th.

Get to bed earlier, the late nights are making you sad & bitter

My concern was that having only 2 posts, you too were part of this scam. The reason for my post was to warn any other people thinking about purchasing from this company (who do google before hand). This thread has far too many postive comments from new users like yourself, which I fear may mask the risks of dealing with Utopia.

If you are not part of the scam then I am both surprised and pleased that you have received your money back, I'm sure you have learnt from your mistake. I do however struggle to see in what way my post was either bitter or sad? But Angry definately!(I'm sure you are too) :mad:

purpleperile

Well - after ordering way back in begining of Dec - I didn't get my Dyson - but I have got my money back. Learn't a few valuabble lessons on the way.

charliefarly

i sent a e mail to utopia stating that i was taking legal action on 05 02 11 on 06 02 11 i received a e mai from john saying he could not fulfil my order and he would send me a cheque as a refund,

madlady101

I have joined specifically to respond to this thread.

Very early in the new year we fell for this, sent a cheque which was duly cashed on 12th Jan - and no I hadn't seen this thread then! Of course no Dyson has been received, despite us receiving a couple of phone calls from Anthony saying that we would receive shortly.

At weekend I sent an email ultimatum - prove that the vacuum has been despatched by Tuesday or we would take further. No contact so today I have spokent to Consumer Direct, I have a reference number from them. They have advised that this will automatically referred to local trading standards. I also asked my finance department to run a check on them - they are apparently a legit company registered with companies house and haven't filed for bankruptcy or anything like that.

Tonight I shall be writing a stiffly worded recorded delivery letter cancelling my order and giving them 30 days to refund - although I am now not holding out much hope of seeing either the money or the Dyson!

purpleperile

madlady101 wrote: »

I have joined specifically to respond to this thread.

Very early in the new year we fell for this, sent a cheque which was duly cashed on 12th Jan - and no I hadn't seen this thread then! Of course no Dyson has been received, despite us receiving a couple of phone calls from Anthony saying that we would receive shortly.

At weekend I sent an email ultimatum - prove that the vacuum has been despatched by Tuesday or we would take further. No contact so today I have spokent to Consumer Direct, I have a reference number from them. They have advised that this will automatically referred to local trading standards. I also asked my finance department to run a check on them - they are apparently a legit company registered with companies house and haven't filed for bankruptcy or anything like that.

Tonight I shall be writing a stiffly worded recorded delivery letter cancelling my order and giving them 30 days to refund - although I am now not holding out much hope of seeing either the money or the Dyson!

I thought the same - but did get my money back - I was lucky and didn't get to the stage of needing to send letters through recorded delivery - just to sending an email every other day to all 3 email addresses I had seemed to work