Orthotics bought at the Ideal Home Show in London

ed_r

Hi my wife came back from the Ideal Home Show having bought some orthotics from a salesman on one of the stands. The story she told me seemed unlikely and I made more enquiries, and have become increasingly unhappy. I would like to know what you think the next best steps are.

• Plastic orthotics (insoles for shoes) for £199
• November 14th, 2012
• Step Right Stand at Ideal Home Show
• Credit Card
• My wife has been referred by her GP to a podiatrist. She told the salesman who said he was a podiatrist so she allowed him to examine her feet and prescrbe some orthotics. When I called to check his qualfications the company representative said he was a trained orthodentist! When I pointed out this meant fitting teeth for braces he corrected himself saying he was a training podiatrist. The sales rep then called me and said he was an orthotist. I checked and he is not registered as an orthotist. I have reported them to the trading standards who are investigating. The organisers of the show said they would make the stand holders give a full refund, but now they are asking to see the trading standards people's report. Trading standards have told me to expect a delay through high levels of work but are being very helpful.

• The retailer will only offer a 50% refund
• Full refund is what I will accept.

The core of this issue is that my wife was duped (as a result of being in pain) into buying something on the strength of the salesmans claim to be have specialist expertise which he would appear after reasonable investigation to be lacking. She had made it clear that she had been referred by a GP to get qualified help.

We are not in a position to assess whether the goods are faulty - the only way to discover this would be to use them and find out, or to rely on the "authority" of the seller. Since using the device may well make the condition worse if wrongly prescribed, and in light of the salesman appearing not to tell the truth about the device, it would therefore seem reasonable to assume that the goods are unlikely to make my wife better, and therefore are to all intents, faulty.

Do you agree?
What are my next steps? Should I return the goods, with a request to get a full refund?
Should I wait for the trading standards to produce their report?

When i called the retailer he refused to give his surname. I also ran a google search on his "office", and it would seem that he is selling mobile phone covers from the same number.

Herongull

It sounds like fraud (ie criminal offence). You should report them to the police. They could be duping lots of other people.

People are not allowed to call themselves podiatrists unless they have done the approved courses,exams, training etc. False claiming to be a podiatrist is similar to falsely claiming to be a medical practitioner or falsely claiming to be a physiotherapist etc

£199 is ludicrously expensive for an "off the shelf) orthotic. Custom-made orthotics (by real professionals) can cost this much or more, but that is different.

You should definitely all get your money back - your wife was sold it on the basis that was prescribed by a podiatrist and this turned out to be false. Not as advertised, misrepresentation etc. You should be able to get your credit card company to refund you. If you wait for trading standards, the company have have disappeared by then.

I hope the police prosecute them.

Glad to hear that you checked the story out!

HCPC have a complaints process - see http://www.hcpc-uk.org/aboutregistration/protectedtitles/

ed_r

Many thanks for your sensible and informed response.

I have recontacted the organisers of the event, and have pointed out that this is a criminal offence. It seems to have helped.

The very helpful trading standards people in Kensington have also gone back to the show, and a director of the organising company will be going to the stand holder to press again for the funds to be returned.

Not much to be done now until Monday, but keep your fingers crossed for me...

shaun_from_Africa

It might be worth your wife contacting her credit card issuer now and informing them of what is going on.
They may well put a hold on the payment (if it hasn't already "cleared"), or they may just send you the forms that need filling out before a chargeback or "section 75" claim can be made.

The earlier you contact them, the sooner they can start the ball rolling, and although you may not need to claim from them, giving them as much notice as possible can't hurt.


I do loads of crosswords, and I can honestly say that orthotics is not a word I've ever come across before.

ed_r

Glad to help

ed_r

Incidentally I did contact MBNA, and they said they were unable to stop the payment, although it had not yet cleared. Is that untrue?

shaun_from_Africa

Is that untrue?

I don't know, but my suggestion was just a possibility, I would have thought that if they were able to stop the payment then they would have done so when you contacted them as it would be in their interest as well as yours.

Maybe it is only fraudulent payments that can be stopped (as opposed to this case where the payment itself wasn't fraudulent, just the advice that lead to the payment).

EthanandClaudiasDad

The Stepright orthotics stand was there this year too, still trading at the Ideal Home Show 2014.

I had not read these posts, was suffering terribly with plantar fasciitis, was seen by the salesman (who didn't profess to being an expert) - I simply wanted the pain to go away and paid my £200 for a set of orthotic inserts.

After having this pain for about ten years; all sorts of off-the-peg insoles bought from £10 to £50; painful cortisone injections; physiotherapy; osteopathy - if these inserts do the trick I am not too worried about the guy's qualifications. I've already spent well in excess of £200 for kit that seems to fall apart - I was attracted to these orthotics due to the 10 year guarentee.

I got the product through the post on Tuesday, am wearing them for an hour a day for the first three days, then increasing it by half an hour each day and so far so good. I've noticed a difference already, but don't want to be premature in saying they are any good - I am an ex Royal Marine and a serving police officer so foot comfort is and always has been a big issue.

I will update the forum on progress if anyone is interested?

JJ_Egan

Must admit that i would pay £200 for something that worked in regards to feet .

Not sure what the original complaint was not qualified or paid too much money .

photome

I wear orthotics all the time. I have them custom made to my feet (from a mold of my feet) by the NHS, have never paid a penny.

Not sure why anyone would need to pay £200 unless the service I get isnt available everywhere?

hollydays

EthanandClaudiasDad wrote: »

The Stepright orthotics stand was there this year too, still trading at the Ideal Home Show 2014.

I had not read these posts, was suffering terribly with plantar fasciitis, was seen by the salesman (who didn't profess to being an expert) - I simply wanted the pain to go away and paid my £200 for a set of orthotic inserts.

After having this pain for about ten years; all sorts of off-the-peg insoles bought from £10 to £50; painful cortisone injections; physiotherapy; osteopathy - if these inserts do the trick I am not too worried about the guy's qualifications. I've already spent well in excess of £200 for kit that seems to fall apart - I was attracted to these orthotics due to the 10 year guarentee.

I got the product through the post on Tuesday, am wearing them for an hour a day for the first three days, then increasing it by half an hour each day and so far so good. I've noticed a difference already, but don't want to be premature in saying they are any good - I am an ex Royal Marine and a serving police officer so foot comfort is and always has been a big issue.

I will update the forum on progress if anyone is interested?

And what brought you to this thread?


Never order anything from a company that uses a po box as their contact address on their website-yet no mention of a guarentee