Help Plzzz.. World Books

macgyver

Hi friends,
I am being troubled by world books may be cause of my own mistakes.
I was taken in by their offer sometime back of orderinf 4 or 5 books and got a radio free with that.
But didn`t see anywhere clearly stating that I have to place 6 or more orders in the year......... and I didnt know abt it untill one day I got a parcel containing 4 books which I never ordered. Now they are sending me bills for those books and threatening to go to the debit collecting agencies if I do not pay the price of the books which I never orderd and also loads of fines and late fees.

Kindly help and advise me how to tackle all this.......

Thanks

one-non-blonde

I was in a similar position once-upon-a-time. They have sent you the 'editor's choice' as you never placed an order or sent the order form back to say you didn't want it. I presume the correspondence you have had from them will have been automatically generated so isn't personal! Phone them up and ask for a pre-paid return label and send the books you don't want back. It was years ago that I dealt with them but I accrued a pile of unwanted books and wasn't in a position to pay for them or mentally deal with them. Months down the line I bit the bullet and sent them back and they accepted them without question and re-credited my account. By this point however I'd got myself a bad credit rating for non-payment. You must sort it out as soon as soon as you can as a bad rating isn't worth getting for the sake of £20!

I don't think you'll be able to get out of the minimum order aspect unless the advert you responded to was misleading in some way. Apart from my inability to get round to sending things back, I always had pretty positive dealings with them as a company but this was in the days when there weren't as many options for buying books cheaply. If you really don't think you will be able to fulfil the contract, phone them up and talk to their customer services and see what they can suggest (if anything). Sitting at home worrying won't make it go away!

soolin

World Books are quite upfront about their terms and conditions so I don't think you can get out of your contract with them. As has already been suggested you might still be in time to return the unwanted books and choose something you want yourself, but I think whatever you do you will have to fulfil your minimum piurchase requirement.

Again as has already been mentioned, World Books will chase their money and chase you to buy the books you contracted to buy, and it is not worth getting a bad mark on your credit rating by ignoring them.

One other thing to remember is that after your year is up you must cancel your membership as although you will have (hopefully) bought your minimum number of books you are a member until you cancel in writing.

Soo

macgyver

Thanks all of you for the suggestions.

I think I will call them up and ask for a preprinted label from them to return the books as one of you suggested.

And then try to fulfill the commitment of buying four books in the first year.

Does anybody know that whether I can buy any book on their list or I have to buy some specified books only??

Thanks

one-non-blonde

You can buy any book from their catalogue but if you don't order anything they'll send you their 'Editor's Choice' (unless you tell them within a certain time limit that you don't want it). I'm not sure whether buying more than one from the same catalogue would count as more than one from the number you're committed to.

Good luck! :beer:

Sofa_Sogood

I'd fulfill the contract you have with them macgyver and then get rid.

They're threatening me with action over a book I never received.

The planks.

macgyver

Thanks.
Finally today I did manage to speak to someone in real on the phone after waiting good 20 min on hold (thankfully through the 020 number n not the 0870 no)
I think he was in India and I told him that I dont want those unwanted books, on which he said that OK we will send the courier to collect the books. Then I realised that I may not be home when courier man arrives, so I asked for a label to be sent to me so that I can repost the books back...
Thas it
Hope that I dont get any more bills after this.

pickle

I'd also send a letter confirming the conversation - as whenever i request anything it never gets done. Send it security post so they have to sign for it as well. Then they can't say they never received the letter.

ivavoucher

macgyver wrote:

But didn`t see anywhere clearly stating that I have to place 6 or more orders in the year

I would think that this term or condition is none enforceable

No one can force you to order an item that you do not want.
This would not stand up in court; it may be a while before they include a book in their mag that you actually are interested in.
I would contact them and tell them not to send any more un-ordered books
Also tell them you will contact them when you see a book that you require in the monthly mag they send out.

Good luck
Ivavoucher

soolin

World Books have been trading for at least 25 years without being closed down due to non legal terms and conditions so they can't be misleading or illegal. I think if you accept the cheap introduction books you are agreeing to their terms and conditions.

The T and Cs say that you agree to buy 4 books a year (sometimes it is six so you need to check) from them or accept the editors choice. It also says that if you don't want the Editors choice you must tell them each month. When book prices used to be fixed I used World Books and all their associated companies a lot and they were great. All you have to remember to do is return the form you get each month to say you don't want the editors choice and you won't be bothered. You are subscribed for a full year so even after you have bought 4 books you have to return the 'no thanks' form each month until you cancel at the year end.

Soo

Elven_Princess

I had a few problems like yours and I must say they dealt with it really well when I called them. I did have to fulfill my contract but after the first year I cancelled. They still wanted to send the magazine to me but agreed that I would only order when I wanted, so it is possible, after the first year, to be taken off the automatic Editor's choice mail send.

One idea for you though, is perhaps you could use your four books as birthday/Christmas presents for friends and family. You possible would have wanted to get them presents anyway and this way you can pick a book that others would like instead of just you, increasing your chances of finding a suitable book in the monthly mag.