Amazon item from Littlewoods-very odd (very.co.uk)

bagginslover

Jakg wrote: »

Partners is the word the COMPANY used but it's got no real definition in this sense.

I wouldn't expect Littlewoods, or any other company, to give a random person off the street details of the customers or suppliers that they use.

I don't want to know about their suppliers or customers, I've not mentioned asking about them. Why wouldn't they want to tell me if a company is, or isn't their partner? I'm sure its listed somewhere, if I knew where to look.

timbstoke

bagginslover wrote: »

As far as I can tell, they've made 4 sales on Amazon, and are a small one man shop. The company name has been registered 3 times, and dissolved twice, the most recent registration being in June this year. I find it hard to beleive they'd be a multi-national with that history, though I could be wrong.

In which case, they may be a fly by night who make a business of setting up, selling as much as they can at a loss, building up a nice debt with their creditors, then going bust with the money and starting up again under a new name. The first order could be a company that ran a check against them and refused to do any further business with them.

If that's the case, that's still not your problem since they actually fulfilled your order. What debts they build up with their suppliers is not your concern.

I certainly wouldn't be returning the laptop, since right now, you're in the right place - you have paid money and you have a laptop. What happened behind the scenes to make that happen is all speculation and not really your concern.

timbstoke

bagginslover wrote: »

I did, credit card. I will admit, I know very little about credit card chargebacks, but someone on here (one of the more rational voices) has expresed doubt that section 75 will apply as its fraud/potential theft. Any idea where I might find out more about that? What I haven't yet mentioned, is that the money is actually my pensioner mum's money. I realise this makes no difference to the bones of the issue, but this is why I am so desperate to get it sorted out, without her losing anything.

S75 will most certainly apply. You didn't commit fraud, and other people defrauding you is very much within the remit of what S75 is meant for.

Jakg

Jakg wrote: »

Partners is the word the COMPANY used but it's got no real definition in this sense.

I wouldn't expect Littlewoods, or any other company, to give a random person off the street details of the customers or suppliers that they use.

To add - My employer works in partnership (two way relationship developing products) with major public sector organisations.

We certainly wouldn't want an organisation to name us a partner, nor would they want us to do the same, to some random individual. It's not unusual.

The whole transaction sounds dodgy to me, but it's too late now - you have a laptop and they've got your cash so you might as well use the sodding thing.

bagginslover

wealdroam wrote: »

OP, correct me if I am wrong, but I don't recall that you have told us how you paid for this item.

If you paid by credit card, then keep in the back of your mind that you have the protection of Section 75 of The Consumer Credit Act 1974 if you find yourself without the laptop and without the money.

MSE have written an article on that:

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/shopping/section75-protect-your-purchases

Even if you paid by debit card, it is possible that you have the same protection in that situation:

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/shopping/visa-mastercard-chargeback

Quoting this again, as the first link suggests section 75 doesn't cover it anyway, as it was paid through a third party. Wonderful.

tinkerbell28

bagginslover wrote: »

Quoting this again, as the first link suggests section 75 doesn't cover it anyway, as it was paid through a third party. Wonderful.

Oh there is that as well....

timbstoke

bagginslover wrote: »

Quoting this again, as the first link suggests section 75 doesn't cover it anyway, as it was paid through a third party. Wonderful.

I sincerely doubt the FOS would agree that ordering an item through Amazon, and making payment through Amazon's payment service, counts as a third party. It isn't like Paypal, where you have a seperate account which could feasibly have its own balance.

You purchase an item through a website, pay with your card on that same website, and that amount is applied entirely and solely to your purchase. What middlemen the seller chooses to employ to make that happen should not be, and indeed isn't, the consumers concern.

tinkerbell28

That'll be why, the fos say this then

In some cases we see, the consumer has bought online, using a credit card on a website that uses a secure third-party payment system to process credit card payments.

Section 75 may not always apply to transactions made this way, because this payment mechanism can break the chain of arrangements that must be in place between the consumer, the lender and the supplier.

But there are many different types of payment mechanisms used on suppliers’ websites and not all of them prevent section 75 from applying. Where there is a dispute on this point, we look at the specific payment mechanism used and decide whether section 75 applies in the particular case.

Which also say amazon marketplace purchases are not covered. Which would suggest some people have tried and lost a s75 claim possibly due to the above.

So op, do all you can, it's easy for people to say, xyz, it's not their cash.

bagginslover

timbstoke wrote: »

I sincerely doubt the FOS would agree that ordering an item through Amazon, and making payment through Amazon's payment service, counts as a third party. It isn't like Paypal, where you have a seperate account which could feasibly have its own balance.

You purchase an item through a website, pay with your card on that same website, and that amount is applied entirely and solely to your purchase. What middlemen the seller chooses to employ to make that happen should not be, and indeed isn't, the consumers concern.

That link says its a fight to get them to apply it to Amazon purchases, its in the exclusions section.

earthstorm

Brooker_Dave wrote: »

Dropshipped.

HTH.

No. If it was droppshipping, their would be no invoice included although their maybe a packing note but without any company details on unless you have paid the dropshipper to include paperwork in your name either way you would not know where it was actually delivered from