achica.com

p999j

melaniejames wrote: »

Don't believe the hype, membership doesn't always translate into value, relating to both price & availability.

Achica is a great business model, take orders, don't guarantee a delivery date, bank the money! Expect to see many more membership based sellers of luxury products on a screen near you very soon; membership sites will soon start popping up everywhere and be as plentiful as comparison sites.

Achica and other membership sites will capture your details through membership and then send you email daily with alleged offers and deals, my advice is to always compare not only price but delivery.

And finally never buy from a site that hasn't a phone number or real address as it's probably a home seller that has no stock and no customer service whatsoever.

Good luck.

Sound advice! I think Llustre and Dalani are ridiculously expensive and Groupon stuff can usually be found cheaper elsewhere. I have investigated some of the stuff I have bought from Achica though first and still stick with them. It is a bit annoying if something is late but then if I wanted something within a certain time, I wouldn't buy from one of these sites.

I had no idea this practice was illegal though. Understand your comment about not buying from sites without a phone number.

To go off at a slight tangent- am trying to claim PPI through Capital One whose PPI claim department will only take written communication by snail mail. So if you want to complain about them not communicating with you, you have to write to them to complain about them not writing to you, which they don't acknowledge or respond to either . Grrrrrrrrrrr:mad:

Really appreciate your sound advice.
Thanks:money:

froglet_2

My sister & I both ordered the same item on Achica. Hers arrived & mine did not. That was my first order & i doubt I will place another

vintage1963

I have bought several things from Achica - mainly from Johnston Cashmere, have received every order and when they have been later than notified have had my account credited with compensation.
Was surprised when discovered this thread.

Polly

I've had mixed experience with them too and recently unsubscribed as it's just too unpredictable. As well as that, I'm in Northern Ireland and the carriage costs often wiped out any discount. Having said that, I'm still using the wonderful fluffy towels I got from them 2 years ago and they're still like brand new. Some bargains to be had if you can put up with the hassle.

Crabbypink

ACHICA sold us an item that went wrong after three months. An iDock alarm clock. Their price was only average, and the site was recommended by a friend, so I tried it. They arranged collection once, but failed to email me the time slot for collection, and the courier showed up during school run time (I did warn them). The claimed to have arranged a second collection, but nobody ever showed up. I doubt they even bothered to arrange it. They won't respond to my emails, asking which courier or who to contact. No telephone number, only email contact. I have now threatened them with legal action if they don't collect the item and refund me within five business days. Sometimes my law degree is necessary just to go shopping. Isn't that sad?

gregcray1

I bought a few items that were fairly slow to turn up.

I then bought what I thought was framed picture and it turned out to be a piece of rolled up card costing £50 and they refused me a refund. This is what they said...

"Hello Greg,

Thank you for your email.

Unfortunately we are unable to accept returns on Artwork as stated in our Terms & Conditions at the point of sale.

This is due to the precious nature of the item. In the majority of cases these are one-off pieces of Fine Art work so a purchase is generally a serious decision. Fine Art needs to be handled in a particular way, which is why we deliver all art direct. Also, there is the element of risk associated with customers repackaging and returning artwork. This does not affect your statutory rights.

After investigating I can confirm that the item description clearly states it is unframed at time of sale. This means the item has been supplied as advertised. As this is the case I cannot authorise a return of the print, I am very sorry about this.

I apologise for any inconvenience caused, please let me know if there is anything else I can do for you.

Kind Regards

Matthew
ACHICA Customer Care"

On this site I saw that they are not allowed to do this under the Distance Selling Regulations which clearly allow me to cancel any order within 7 working days.

Regs,
Greg.

ChinChin

I have placed several orders with this outfit & received one complete, months after estimated delivery. The other orders (not items, too many to bore you with the details), where either damaged beyond use, seconds or just did not arrive. There are no contact numbers (likely due to the sheer number of complaints they'd have to handle) & in my opinion, the sooner this company goes out of business or is stopped from trading, the better.

DanBR

My experience of Achica has been terrible and I wouldn't recommend anyone to use them.

I have had the same problem as most on here. They take your money and then never deliver the goods. I ordered a mattress topper and still two months on I have received nothing. They have now cancelled my order and refunded the money without even contacting me.

DON'T USE THEM. Go to another site that knows what they're doing!

emmaroos

I think that their service is appalling at best and fraudulent at worst. Two months ago I ordered an expensive rug. Despite the fact that they send me a confirmation email they are now saying that the order didn't process and after having had the use of my money for two months (which having paid with a credit card incurs costs for me) they announce that they do not have the rug and would I like a refund. This is the second time this has happened to me. The last time they blamed the courier, but again, my money was in their account for MONTHS. Also I have found some items they advertise as bargains for sale elsewhere at better prices. Lots of the furniture seems to come from homesdirect365.co.uk who offer far better service.

Cookies05

Achica customer service is really appalling. I have received damaged goods and asked for refunds, I am still waiting for refunds....... Bottomline, I will not use it again, nor would I recommend it to anybody.