Joules - anyone else had problems getting refund payments out of them?

metron

My wife bought some items recently from the Joules official eBay site and returned them to a Joules shop, in accordance with the terms of the invoice.

No refund followed, and after more than a fortnight she contacted them to find out why.

First, they said it had been refunded via PayPal. Then, on a second call after we'd double-checked, their line was that there must have been a problem at PayPal's end.

They then made the refund, and it hit the PayPal account instantly.

Difficult to escape the conclusion that either Joules, or perhaps one of their staff, had been sitting on this refund in the hope that it might not be claimed. Their continued use of an illegal 0845 premium rate phone line for customer service enquiries doesn't exactly fill you with confidence either!

Anyone else had problems with Joules?

maninthestreet

An 0845 number is not a premium rate phone number.

metron

maninthestreet wrote: »

An 0845 number is not a premium rate phone number.

In reality it now is - you should read this:


http://www.ukcalling.info/

And it's illegal to use 0845 numbers for customer service calls.

tomtontom

For future reference, this is their local rate number - 01536 454252.

I've generally found their refunds to be very prompt, even when I've been outside the official returns period. Maybe they were just having an off day?

metron

tomtontom wrote: »

For future reference, this is their local rate number - 01536 454252.

I've generally found their refunds to be very prompt, even when I've been outside the official returns period. Maybe they were just having an off day?

That's the number I picked up from saynoto0870 too - but it isn't the number they advertise on their website or on their paperwork. It's a hidden number - because, of course, they prefer you to ring on their illegal 0845 number so that they can profit from the calls.

I'm afraid our experiences with Joules have not been good. They suggest a company avoiding paying refunds and extracting money from customers calling them, despite the change in the law preventing the use of 0845 numbers more than a year ago.

Ian011

The recent reforms of 084, 087, 09 and 118 numbers that took effect on 1 July 2015 confirm that all of these prefixes are premium numbers. The new Ofcom regulations also impose a requirement on all users of these numbers to declare this premium as the Service Charge.

A subset of these numbers, along with a list of specific types of service, are further defined as Controlled Premium Rate Services and subject to additional regulation imposed by PhonepayPlus.

Where a retailer, trader or passenger transport company continues usage of these numbers for post sales helplines in breach of Regulation 41 of the Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013, they can be reported to Trading Standards via the Citizen's Advice national Consumer Helpline on 0345 404 0506.

robatwork

Does the refund come back in Calories?

Doc_N

Ian011 wrote: »

The recent reforms of 084, 087, 09 and 118 numbers that took effect on 1 July 2015 confirm that all of these prefixes are premium numbers. The new Ofcom regulations also impose a requirement on all users of these numbers to declare this premium as the Service Charge.

A subset of these numbers, along with a list of specific types of service, are further defined as Controlled Premium Rate Services and subject to additional regulation imposed by PhonepayPlus.

Where a retailer, trader or passenger transport company continues usage of these numbers for post sales helplines in breach of Regulation 41 of the Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013, they can be reported to Trading Standards via the Citizen's Advice national Consumer Helpline on 0345 404 0506.

Helpful advice - but I've just tried that route, and they're absolutely clueless. It's a call centre, staffed by people who have no knowledge of the subject, and even their managers are pushing out incorrect advice that continuing to use 0845 numbers is entirely within the law.

Even though you and I both know that it isn't!

janiebquick

robatwork wrote: »

Does the refund come back in Calories?

Ha ha - probably above the heads of most folk on here.......:D:D:D:D:D

Doc_N

janiebquick wrote: »

Ha ha - probably above the heads of most folk on here.......:D:D:D:D:D

Watts that?

robatwork

janiebquick wrote: »

Ha ha - probably above the heads of most folk on here.......:D:D:D:D:D

Nah - everyone reading this is intelligent, sharp witted and frankly very attractive.