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

moorehelpplease

Hi, I've a missing Dyson DC31 ordered from Utopia too :-( Just found this forum by chance and I can't believe that I've been scammed - my Dyson order is from December 2010 and I can't believe that I'll probably never see it or my money again... aaaaarrrrrgggghhh! What do I do now - having had no joy via phone/email/letter from Utopia. I am utterly gobsmacked that I've been had; I mean, don't get me wrong, I guessed things were looking suspect in January and a business phone on continuous answerphone was truly dodgy. But, after all these years of great internet trading to find it's come to this. What should I do now? Why did that saying not stick in my head 'If it's looks too good to be true...' Any advice appreciated. Thanks

Tyke4885

I think the options are:

1. If you live near enough, go knock on the door of this scammer and refuse to leave until you get your money back.

2. Go through the small claims procedure and throw more good money after bad.

3. Report the matter to the police and to Suffolk Trading Standards who will then not do anything about it.

4. Write to you MP and ask him/her to look into this matter and take it up on your behalf with the authorities.

It's up to you, but number 1 and number 4 look best bets to me.

roman42

I have a pile of numbers for them

Tel no 020 7493 7302

Fax: 020 7493 4120

Accountants 020 7493 7302

Mobile number 07554 291950

Good luck

Iwantitnow_2

Some additional numbers are:

07521 096610 - Mobile

0844 3358340

01359 253693 - Fax

Address is believed to be:

Hillside (or number 6 but now changed to 'Utopia House')
Knox Lane
Bardwell
Bury St Edmunds
IP31 1WE

Warehouse address - does not exist as far as we know! although answering machine states 'We are all at the warehouse, please leave a message and we'll get back to you' - they don't.

moorehelpplease

Thanks for all the numbers guys. I'm not giving up hope so I'll definitely give these a try. Fingers crossed.
I'm sure I read on previous responses to this thread about people contacting Watchdog, is this true? and, if so, any joy from that quarter?

Iwantitnow_2

I contacted Watchdog via the Internet and detailed what had happened.

They say they cannot reply to all emails as there are too many, but I think the more of us who tell them, the more likely they are to take action.

They looked into unscrupulous companies who repair Dysons this week.

stevens01

I contacted Watchdog twice but had no reply, not even confirmation of my messages. They probably do not want to get involved as Utopia is not a large corporate company and Trading Standards are meant to be dealing with the situation - or not. Watchdog only seem to want to go for the big guns as this makes good television. I even sent details of this scam to my MP Crispin Blunt but have had no reply from him also.
What do we have to do to make someone take notice of this criminal act that has left so many people in a bad situation.

vikingaero

stevens01 wrote: »

They probably do not want to get involved as Utopia is not a large corporate company and Trading Standards are meant to be dealing with the situation - or not. Watchdog only seem to want to go for the big guns as this makes good television.

Actually Watcdog last week targeted two small dodgy Dyson repair companies.

What do we have to do to make someone take notice of this criminal act that has left so many people in a bad situation.

Badger badger badger.

Tyke4885

This company description is still posted on https://www.freeindex.co.uk:

"Formed in 2008, Utopia consortium Ltd has over 28 years experience in the office supplies, and office furniture design business, and serves clients throughout Bury St. Edmundsand, UK. The company is located in Bardwell (Bury St. Edmunds).

With state of the art facilities and fully qualified staff, the company is able to offer a professional office design and supply to businesses. The service is intended to be cost effective, helping clients to reduce costs.

Featuring Bespoke design or standard ranges, the office furniture manufactured and supplied by the business is handy for the work place or the home. Available on the website or from the catalogues, the products are built to a very high standard and provide a quality stylish look for the client's business or household."

What a lot of absolute rubbish! The same website contains yet more negative reviews from Utopia customers who have ben scammed when ordering Dyson handheld vacuum cleaners.

"State of the art facilities and fully qualified staff". Ha! This is just more evidence of the fact that this whole affair was a criminal scam. We must hold Suffolk TS and the police to account. Why has there not been a criminal investigation into this matter. The company assets should have been seized/frozen but it's probably too late by now. The weak response to these complaints by the authorities is as much of a scandal as the actual fraud.

Do any of you veteran MSE forum members know if this site is moderated? How can we make Martin Lewis aware of this matter? Is there any mileage in seeking him taking up our concerns and trying to get some proper action taken? Does anyone know how we can do this?

Has anyone else reported to their MP?

alanrp123

I saw a reference to this company in an issue of computeractive magazine, where other customers had the same problem.
They even published a picture of the road where this company is supposed to be.
It is just an empty country lane near Bury St Edmunds!!.