Very - WORST customer service ever

jumperooroo

Needed to share my experience with Very to warn others who may be considering using them in the future. Apologies, it's long!

I ordered a laptop from them as my husband's Christmas present on November 27. I paid in full as I didn't want to open a credit account with them. Yodel texted to advise that delivery would take place on December 3 with a slot between 7am - 9pm. Nothing arrived and no other communication was received advising of any delay or delivery reschedule.

I contacted Yodel who gave me a new delivery date of December 4 - another failed delivery. Same for December 5 and 6 until the laptop finally arrived on December 7.

After switching on the laptop and using it for 5 minutes, the screen flashed white and it switched itself off and we couldn't get it to switch back on again so we contacted Very who transferred us to the manufacturer who advised us that it sounded like a hardware fault and we would need to send back to Very for a refund. It took a couple of days for them to provide a faulty reference number to provide to Very as confirmation but as soon as this was received, I called Very who arranged a collection date for the laptop of December 9.

Yodel/Very then failed to collect the laptop an amazing 6 times(!) before this was finally picked up on December 31.

During this time, they refused to refund my money resulting in me being unable to purchase another laptop as my husband's Christmas present and spending 10 days, 7am-9pm waiting in for collections that never happened (including Christmas Eve and New Years Eve).

Throughout this time I was in contact with the CEO Office who were sympathetic but largely unhelpful and continued to insist that the issue was with Yodel and largely out of their hands and I would just have to wait to be refunded.

Now that the laptop has been collected, I've finally been refunded and offered a "goodwill gesture" of £50 from the CEO office which I have declined. I have now raised a dispute through the small claims court to request loss of earnings.

I'm absolutely disgusted that such a large company could hold my money to ransom and refuse to refund despite the issue being with them and their lack of collection. They tried to blame Yodel but I've since learned that Yodel are also part of the same group as Very (Shop Direct) so not a separate company as the CEO office have led me to believe.

I'm also extremely disappointed that I was only offered £50 as a goodwill gesture. Not to sound grabby but this doesn't compensate me for the days spent waiting in hence escalating to small claims court.

I will NEVER use this company again and would strongly advise anyone else from - they ruined my Christmas

SevenOfNine

Interesting article on here regarding 'failed delivery', put the words in the search box & have a look. Very were wrong to say the issue was ever with Yodel.

mountainofdebt

I know this isn't connected with your issue but why did you buy a laptop from a company that would charge you more for the product in the first place if you were paying for it all up front??

mountainofdebt

jumperooroo wrote: »

I will NEVER use this company again and would strongly advise anyone else from - they ruined my Christmas

we've already had this.......

Valli

Have you sent a Letter before Action outlining what you expect from Very in relation to your lost earnings?

They might respond to this and then you won't need to go to small claims!

jumperooroo

Seven - thanks, I used that article to escalate to CEO and ultimately submit via small claims.

Valli - thanks for response, I haven't sent a letter but I've been dealing with their CEO office who verbally advised that their final offer (even with threat of small claims court) would be £50. They refused to let me escalate further so £50 was their final offer to resolve.

Mountain - okay, a little dramatic perhaps...let me rephrase, it took the shine of my Christmas. I've saved to purchase laptop for husband and in the end he didn't get to open anything. Not only that but I had to wait in Christmas Eve for another failed collection and it's honestly been extremely stressful trying to fight for my money back when dealing with a company refusing to help.

Not aware that I've paid anymore for the item by paying in full? I spent a lot of time shopping around and laptop cheapest here with specifications that I needed.

bod1467

I'm not 100% sure, but I think an LBA whilst not mandatory is an expected process to follow prior to court action. If you haven't sent an LBA the judge may look less-favourably on your case.

jumperooroo

Bod - thanks for response. I fear it's too late to send this letter retrospectively but would hope that the final conversation that I had with Very would support the fact that I tried to resolve with them before taking any action.

SevenOfNine

Might be advisable to send a letter stating (or better still, an email) 'confirming conversation of insert date, the outline of which was......blah blah blah. This has resulted in an obligation to pursue the matter through the small claims court.' Put all the call dates in if you have them.

In essence, your LBA was a final telephone call to the CEO's office. They delayed your refund by not ensuring the faulty laptop was collected promptly - failing to pick it up 6 times is SO in your favour.

Looks like you've kept a good diary of failed delivery, collection and hopefully 'phone calls. Get it into good, crystal clear order for the court.

Personally, the minute problems start with anything I start noting dates, times and EXACTLY who I've spoken with (particularly call centre staff names). I even follow up 'phone conversations with emails 'clarifying what has been discussed'.

Though not really much of a 'compensation' chaser, I get awfully fed up with shoddy products, service etc and being fobbed off by big companies. It's easier to make a stand now so that's what I do. £300 from Barclays Bank, £75 from mobile provider, £175 plus vouchers worth in excess of £110 from Dulux. They are happy to take my money and if they really fail to deliver what I've paid for, I'm happy to make them give me some of theirs.

SaulGone

Reading that it does sound to be more a fault of Yodel (who are rubbish) than Very, although very could have made more of an effort to help you.

In terms of the refund, this company doesn't know you from Dot, if they where to blindly refund you the money for the laptoop that you 'claim' does not work, they potentially are giving you a free laptop.

Please do not take this as an attack, you have to realise that companies get calls every day from people claiming there item is faulty and demanding refunds before they send it back (I know as I work for a call centre of one of these companies.. NOT Very!). If it was common practice to do this and everyone was refunded for items not returned to the company yet you get a refund, you become less likely to send it back, meaning a huge loss for companies that will very quickly go out of business. Also, people are more pro-active at returning things before they receive their funds back.

So from there stand point, I can understand why you weren't refunded until the item was returned to them. However, as stated, much more should have been done to get the item back to them.

lovinituk

Did you actually not get paid at all for any work that was missed when you had to stay at home waiting for the failed deliveries/collections?