Partial order received, over 35 days and still missing items, no contact

martafdz

Hi,

I ordered for Christmas a car radio and fittings for my husband's car from a website online. This website is attached to 2-3 physical shops in the NorthWest. I spent £190 total order, including a £11.50 Next day delivery charge because I wanted to make sure I had everything ready for Christmas Day. They sent only a partial order without letting me know and now I cannot get any reply from them.

I read online on a solicitor's website that I could ask for the items to be returned for a refund because they had sent a partial delivery and I was never informed. On their site they say they give you 7 days to return but you have to do so with their courier and pay £35. This only can be done within the 7 days, which would have been Boxing Day.

I am really frustrated and upset. I spent a lot of money (at least for my household and our current financial situation) and I still have all the boxes unopened in a shiny Christmas bag. I keep trying to get a reply from them but even though they seem very nice on the phone, they do not do what they say they will do and they never call me back. I ended up sending this email on the 16th, where I explain what happened:

Dear Sales Assitant,

I placed an order on the 19th of December, Order number xxxxxxx , and asked for Next Day Delivery so I could get the order in time for Christmas. The website did not show there was any problem with stock, nor did I receive any email or phone call informing me of this. When I received the package, there was an invoice inside that showed the Facia (1 x Connects2 Ford Fiesta / Focus II / Fusion / Transit / S-Max Facia Plate ( 2006 onwards ) £23.99) was not included and was going to be sent in a following delivery.



These have been my precious attempts to get an answer and a solution to this:
1. I contacted you by email on the 27th of December in regards to this but no one contacted me back.
2. I contacted you the following day, on the 28th, but still no one contacted me back.
3. I called on the 3rd of January at 10:45 and a girl told me over the phone that you were going to receive the item within 2-3 working days (by the 7th) and it would be with me immediately afterwards. I explained I had paid extra for the delivery because it was a Christmas present and without the Facia I cannot put the radio on the car. I insisted I was not happy with the situation and I was upset because this was a Christmas present, I said I was not happy with the partial delivery. She told me she was going to refund the delivery (£11.99) and it would appear in my card within 3-5 working days. I said I would call back.
4. I called on the 6th of January at 3:15pm and spoke to a man (Dave) who told me that the refunds are made at the end of the week, so it would not appear in my account until the 11th-13th of January. I asked him to check this had been done and he told me that he was going to make sure it was in place. He also told me the Facia should have had arrived the previous week but the company was still waiting for it. I expressed my dissatisfaction, I said I was not happy and asked him to keep me updated and call me the following week in regards to the refund and the order.
5. As of today, nobody has called me yet and the refund has not been issued.



This Wednesday it will be a month since the order was placed. I have never been informed of some items being missing from the order, I have never received an email or a phone call to ask me if this was ok with me and the website never informed me of the lack of stock. Your order processing email affirms that "If we experience any problems with your order we will email or call you in due course. " but no one contacted me in regards to this. All the contact I had with your office had to be initiated by me and the promised steps to make it right (refunds, future deliveries and updates) have not been made.



At this point, I am considering returning the goods for a refund, since partial delivery is a breach of contract under the Consumer Protection (Distance Selling) Regulations 2000 if not agreed by both parties, a solicitor has informed me. I never agreed to a partial delivery, nor was I informed that this was going to be the case before placing or receiving my order.



I am very disappointed that no steps have been made to make it right and I have been left without an explanation, an update or the post refund. With this letter, I wish to raise a formal complaint on the way this order has been handled. Please send it to the right department.

Please contact me and let me know the current situation so I can make a decision on what to do in regards to this order.

Yours sincerely,

[me]

No reply as yet. I do not know what else to do. At this point, I would like to just return the lot. I ordered from them because they offered a really quick delivery, I did not save money in the total compared to going to Halford's or something like that, but it allowed me to order from home and receive the item much quickly.

I paid with a credit card, I am not sure if that means I have any rights through that. The thing is that although the total order was £190+, the facia was £23 or so, I am not sure the credit card covers me unless it is for the whole lot.

I feel very bad, that was my "big" Christmas present to my husband and now the enthusiasm for it is gone. He is surviving with his old car radio and he has stopped asking for when the delivery would take place. I am really disappointed at their customer service and I feel completely powerless in this situation. Could anyone please help? I followed advice from other threads here and sent that email hoping they would be more responsive than to my calls and previous maybe-too-nice-emails, but nothing has changed

martafdz

Sorry, is this the best place to ask this? I am truly lost

JimmyTheWig

The trouble with emails is you don't know if they are being read and being actioned. Unless I was eager for a paper-trail of what is being said I would always phone if I wanted to progress things.

Even if I wanted a paper trail I would probably phone and then ask for what I'd been told to be confirmed in an email / letter.

So, phone them up.
Ask them what they are going to do and by when.
If you are happy with that then fine. If not, tell them and tell them what you expect.
Then if it doesn't happen, chase them and find out why not.