Powermatic Adjustable Beds [TEXT DELETED BY FORUM TEAM] target the vulnerable elderly

mrcow

spuds wrote: »

They have also said in their letter that they will be taking legal advice regarding my comments on MSE and "the derogatory and false claims you have made. Should you wish to revoke the claims made on the above website we will defer from legal action".

:rotfl::rotfl: Yeah right!

So they try and bully a sick 87 year old man, and now they're trying to do the same to you.

I wonder how some people can sleep at night (you can bet your bottom dollar than none of them sleep on an overpriced & useless Powercraptic bed :rolleyes:).

I saw the BBC Rogue Traders snippet you were referring to earlier on a repeat last night......absolutely disgusting.

spuds_2

I missed that, what channel was it? I would like a copy of that if anyone has one.

mrcow

It was on BBC1 at 8pm last night.

I've got it on Virgin Media's Catch up TV thingie (have just rewatched the clips to see what the company names were). I'm not sure if I can tape it as my DVD player has gone for a burton, so if you know anyone with Virgin cable tv then perhaps they can tape it for you. If not, it's on catch up tv for 6 more days, let me know and I'll see if I can record it onto the laptop (not sure if I can).

It doesn't name the companies that they highlighted (I guess as it was only a clips show). One of them used a salesman called Murray Matthews (his telephone contact who he used as a sales prop was a Mr Chandler).

It was only a highlights show last night (with lots of filling clips) so only a small snippet of the scams were shown at about 40 minutes in, but the original clips were filmed in July 2005. I'm sure you could contact the BBC for more information on the companies involved and perhaps for info on how to get the original show footage.

One salesman was trying to pressure sell a bed to a 72 year old lady by telling her that if she didn't buy the bed then she'd end up in a home with someone wiping her bottom :mad::mad: ....scum.

I have no idea if it's the same company, but it is indicative of the type of pressure sales techiniques that these companies use to prey on the elderly and vunerable. It makes you wonder if any of them actually have mothers and fathers.

edited to say: Age Concern were also involved in the filming. It may be worth a call to them to see if they have anything on the company you're pursuing.

spuds_2

Thanks for that, Mr Cow - you are very kind to offer. This is why MSE is so great - what a great community. I have some friends with Virgin - I didn't realise they did a catch up tv thing. I'll get on to them. Even if it's not the same company I am still interested from a research viewpoint.

Malteser_2

:rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl:

As mentioned earlier, I wanted to update the forum on my mam's case.

In terms of progress I'm delighted to say that Powermatic eventually coughed up the cash owed. This was, however, only after several months of chasing, but we got there.

I did take legal action, using Money Claim Online, which is the internet route for raising claims in the small claims court. The claim was sent to Powermatic for initial bed costs plus legal costs incurred. Powermatic ignored the claim - there was no response given. Because they did not respond in the time given, I requested that judgement be made against them. Powermatic ignored this judgement - again no response came from them. Therefore a warrant was executed against the company. I eventually received notice that this was unfulfilled. I spoke to the bailiff in question and was told that it was not worth his while speaking to the company as they would not have the assets on the premises to cover the costs involved. Therefore, he just left the warrant in the letter box. I was told that my mam should put it down to experience !! At this point I though that we would be unable to get the money back. I was thoroughly dissatisfied with the small claims system.

However, I decided to approach Trading Standards in Leeds describing all that had occurred and sent to them all documentation regarding the case. I wanted to see if they could do anything futher as the small claims route drew a blank. Trading Standards recognised this was a stong case. They therefore approached Powermatic asking for a refund, and threatening further action if it was not forthcoming. It was only at this point that Powermatic returned the money owed.

From all this, the conclusions I drew are that it is worth persevering to reclaim cash when you know you're in the right and the company in question was most certainly in the wrong. Also, there are flaws to the small claims route - it seemed toothless to me when the bailiff just delivered a letter and nothing more - but I think it was worth going down this route so I had the official documents to back up my case for Trading Standards. They were then very effective in reclaiming the refund.

Good luck to all others pursuing refunds.

theatretony

The people who own this company also own a company called [TEXT DELETED BY ABUSE TEAM FOLLOWING COMPLAINT]. Both these companies are less than 18 months old and the powermatic company also has one CCJ against them for 3,000...

I have the home addresses of both directors, but I do not think I should pay them a visit.......

spuds_2

Thanks for that info, theatretony. Malteaser - well done in recovering your mothers money, it was a substantial amount. It seems clear that Powermatic only refund when they are at the point of being prosecuted.

Anyone with info about this company or [TEXT DELETED BY ABUSE TEAM FOLLOWING COMPLAINT] can send a personal message - you don't have to post on the thread.

I am still waiting for Powermatic to post their account on here - as they promised when they wrote threatening to sue for libel. My solicitor awaits their writ with interest, but it has yet to appear....

nealallen

I though the name Mr Chandler rang a bell. He was in the original show with Makintyre invest gates, I'm sure of that. Powermatic, at that time had ripped off many O.A.P's :mad:

I also saw a documentary a while after that show was aired and an orthopedic doctor said, those beds make no difference in getting a better nights sleep or with back pain. Just a decent bed and mattress for about £500 and it would do the same job.

ExCAB

I worked for the Citizens Advice Bureau for 13 years. I finished this year to take up another job as a debt counsellor.

Whilst at the CAB I dealt with more than a few of these firms. The most notorious and the most difficult to resolve were CRAFTMATIC. They seemed to have the highest pressure selling techniques, and always caused us a lot of work if we were trying to get cancellations/refunds

I did come across Powermatic last year on behalf of a client in Huddersfield. The client had ordered a bed and although they had no complaint about the salesman they had simply changed their mind. I have to admit that in that case the company agreed to cancel the clients order fairly easily. Compared to the other companies I have had to deal with they seemed reasonable but you (spud) have obviously had a different experience.

When the companies are unreasonable there is not much point in trying to badger them. You need to give them the opportunity to rectify the problem and set them a time limit. If they dont respond you need to sue them.

trisontana

As I have already mentioned in another post about adjustable bed companies, next week's Rogue Traders is featuring an adjustable bed company accused of ripping-off old people.