Online purchase gone Pete Tong!

Biggus_Dickus

I purchased an item online from a company based in Northern Ireland (Belfast) on August 18th. I paid by credit card (£150) and the ‘made to measure’ item arrived two weeks later.

However, the item was severely sub-standard;...the company agreed (eventually!) to replace the defective item but only if I paid the carriage charges for the replacement. I agreed to pay the £20 carriage charge;...I again paid by credit card.

It’s now patently obvious that the company have no intention of fulfilling the new order;....my emails are met with one excuse after another,...its failed quality control,...courier didn’t turn up,...item was misplaced etc etc etc. The excuses have been re-cycled several times now.

Ideally I’d still like them to fulfil the order;...can I bring any pressure to bear?....but failing that, any advice how best to recover me’ dosh?

As ever, all advice gratefully received.

JJ_Egan

Take this Pete Tong to the Small Claims Court or NI version .

Biggus_Dickus

JJ_Egan wrote: »

Take this Pete Tong to the Small Claims Court or NI version .

Thanks for the reply JJ;...sorry,... I didn’t phrase my thread starter very well;...I’ve just amended it.

I’m rather hoping I can perhaps cajole them (not sure how!) into fulfilling the order before moving on to any legal proceedings.

theonlywayisup

Assuming you are in the UK....

Where is the 'sub standard' item. Have you been asked to return it?

Have you spoken with your credit card company?

Ectophile

Since it's over £100, have a word with your credit card provider. They should refund your money. Quote Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act.

hollydays

Biggus_Dickus wrote: »

I purchased an item online from a company based in Northern Ireland (Belfast) on August 18th. I paid by credit card (£150) and the ‘made to measure’ item arrived two weeks later.

However, the item was severely sub-standard;...the company agreed (eventually!) to replace the defective item but only if I paid the carriage charges for the replacement. I agreed to pay the £20 carriage charge;...I again paid by credit card.

It’s now patently obvious that the company have no intention of fulfilling the new order;....my emails are met with one excuse after another,...its failed quality control,...courier didn’t turn up,...item was misplaced etc etc etc. The excuses have been re-cycled several times now.

Ideally I’d still like them to fulfil the order;...can I bring any pressure to bear?....but failing that, any advice how best to recover me’ dosh?

As ever, all advice gratefully received.

Any reason you're being so vague?

DoaM

hollydays wrote: »

Any reason you're being so vague?

Vague about what? The key facts that matter are there as far as I can see.

OP - if the seller won't act reasonably then raise a S75 claim as mentioned above ...you may even be able to pull in the additional £20 as it was a consequential loss caused by the seller's breach of contract.

Do you still have the "sub-standard" item that was first sent, or has that gone back to the seller?

Biggus_Dickus

theonlywayisup wrote: »

Assuming you are in the UK....

Where is the 'sub standard' item. Have you been asked to return it?

Have you spoken with your credit card company?

hollydays wrote: »

Any reason you're being so vague?

I live in Cheshire.

The item (custom made sprayed/painted glass panel) is ‘made to measure’ as I mentioned;...it is of no value to anyone else and they did not want the defective item returned. It’s basically scrap,... sat in my garage awaiting a trip to the ‘dump’.

No, I haven’t spoken to Capital One yet.

Sorry, I wasn’t aware I was being ‘vague’;...do I need to provide any more info?

To be honest this situation is a new one on me;...I’ve been buying stuff online since the internet was born and apart from encountering a couple of dodgy eBay sellers (very low value items) in the early days I’ve never had an issue like this.

I was just looking for advice from anyone who knows the best way to proceed;...e.g. a softly-softly approach in my emails to the company, then increasingly litigious if they aren’t forthcoming?....perhaps???

Ideally, I’d like them to fulfil the order but that appears unlikely;...I’ll ask them for a full refund today and see what happens. They may surprise me,...but I not holding my breath.

DoaM

If they remain intransigent then take the S75 approach.

Biggus_Dickus

Update for anyone remotely interested:-

I’ve had a reply to my request for a ‘full’ refund;...they’ll only refund the additional £20 carriage charge that I paid for the ‘replacement’ item;...and yet another excuse “the item had a few issues and will now be ready for shipment next week”

They only ship items that are 100% satisfactory is their proud boast!,....it’s a pity they didn’t apply their ‘100% standard’ to my original order.

The first I item I received was defective unusable junk;...they now say their agreement to replace it was merely, quote “a gesture of goodwill”, and as such they won’t refund my original £150 payment.

If I don’t accept the £20 they’ll carry on with the order for the replacement!;...and it’s now patently obvious they’ve never had any intention of replacing the original defective item.

Slippery or what?....not much ‘goodwill’ as far as I’m concerned.

I’ll speak to Capital One today and see what they reckon.

Biggus_Dickus

Update for anyone remotely interested;

I logged a preliminary section 75 claim with Capital One last week and received a reference number from them;...the very next day I received a communication from the seller saying my item was being prepared and would be delivered forthwith.

After almost 3 months total intransigence they were suddenly falling over themselves to be helpful.

I received my item this morning;...all is well.

Thanks to all above who responded to my thread starter.:T