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

charliefarly

i have had my cheque bounced today ,can anyone let me know the trading standards address i should contact ,regards

charliefarly

i have just spokento trading standards and a lady said utopias bank account had been frozen,my cheque bounced .cheers

robmar0se

If the last poster's comment is true, then can one assume that Utopia is now bust?

If so what has Ensinger done with the cash he has creamed off? I hope there will be a criminal investigation. I'd like to know whether all those newbies with positive feedback were incentivised in some way, eg Seymour Beaver from Ditchling Common who wrote glowing reports chastising all the those who gave a warning, even said he bought two!

Lets see if the power of the net does indeed unravel this mess.

Also a lesson for Trading Standards who did eventually get involved, but should have done so earlier, and probably more robustly.

Bobby_Jones_2

Like most people I believed that a company with its own website was honest and true. How trusting we have all been!

Having contacted Trading Standards in Truro (SW region headquarters) They have noted the case number but surprisingly don't seem to have a central Trading Standards database to access, so that they can see that Suffolk Trading Standards are also on the case.

In the meantime, I have investigated the company details and their latest filed accounts (Dec 2009) show them to have assets of £28,887 (£20,268 of stock, £2,301 re debtors and £6,318 of cash), but creditors like you and I, totalling £26,652, thus leaving net assets of £2,235. Although 15 months ago they were solvent a lot may have happened since Dec 2009, and only a criminal investigation will determine their current position. Their Dec 2010 accounts do not legally have to be filed at Companies House until the end of Sept 2011 at the latest.

Although individual court actions have been initiated, they will result in a judgement made against the company to pay the sum due plus court and solicitors costs. However, if the company still refuses to pay the next option is to file for an Enforcement Order (cost about £100), where bailiffs are authorised to visit the premises and seize goods.

All this is expensive for individuals to conduct, so the best way forward is to get Trading Standards to do this for us and await the outcome. If they fail, at least the company will have to be liquidated and closed down, which is some comfort.

I agree with everyone else that Trading Standards should have been onto this company years ago. Let's face, it it has been trading like this since 2006 and nothing has been done. Let's hope it will now!

dorzov

Just an update to say the cheque I thought had cleared has now been returned by my bank unpaid (confusing as initially they cleared the funds into my account), so sounds like no cheques have cleared recently.

I will contact Suffolk Trading Standards again on Monday, but like many of you I am getting frustrated with their lack of progress as all that has happened is further delays in resolving this.

Edwinabell

I keep ringing Hayley at Suffolok Trading Standards on 01473260657, nobody ever answers, and although I keep leaving a message and phone number, nobody is taking any notice, so they aren't much help. I wasted an extra £25 for a court order on top of the £214 I paid to Utopia, so don't think I'll be able to afford to carry on with my fight, sadly the b....d is going to get away with a lot of people's hard earned dosh!

roman42

I sent Hayley an e mail last week and an automated response said she was on holiday until 31st March.

iwantmydyson2

I spoke to Suffolk Trading Standards yesterday and they say cheque are bouncing because there's so much activity with his account -they maintain he's not yet bust. Has anyone here actually had a cheque cleared?

robmar0se

iwantmydyson2 wrote: »

I spoke to Suffolk Trading Standards yesterday and they say cheque are bouncing because there's so much activity with his account -they maintain he's not yet bust. Has anyone here actually had a cheque cleared?

Doesn't sound to me that Suffolk Trading Standards are really managing this as their post would seem to imply - (i) there is, for example, nothing on their website about Utopia, (ii) give a date of 1st April, and then go on holiday!!!


Anyone need information from Suffolk Trading Standards then as a government dept they need to comply - their email address is

[EMAIL="foi@suffolk.gov.uk"]foi@suffolk.gov.uk[/EMAIL]

Hounds

I have been through the same fiasco as everyone else who ordered a Dyson Animal DC31. Having been through the Small Claims Court and paid the £25 fee, I first received a cheque on Utopia's Barclays account which bounced. However, a second cheque was received, after informing them I would be enforcing the claim, and this was with the Santander Bank. It was for the full amount, including the court fee. Amazingly, this one has cleared! I do hope everyone else who has been caught out gets the same result as me. It has taken ages but persistence seems to pay off here.