First Purchase from ao.com

BLS91

Not sure if I have a right to be as wound up about this I am... Here goes...

I'd ordered some products amounting to just over £350 from AO that included next day delivery via DPD as part of the order. I created a new account and paid the full amount through PayPal. I was told that I would receive a text and an email noting me of the 4 hour delivery window on the morning of the delivery (before 8:30am) however the items could arrive any time between 7am and 7pm. As such, I arranged to take an unpaid day off work to accept the items - better to be safe than sorry, eh!?

10am rolls around and I haven't had anything from AO or DPD notifying me of the delivery time, so I take a look at the DPD tracking system and see that DPD have received my packages at their depot however AO have requested the packaged to be returned to consignor! I get onto the AO customer services who (after nearly three hours of back and forth) tell me that their Security Team had reviewed the order, recalled it from DPD, and would need me to send a copy of my driver's license or a bank statement dated back three months before they released it again. All this, on the day of delivery! I asked why exactly the Security Team required this information when I had paid in full, however the customer service folks said they couldn't give that info as it was confidential...

After some frustrated emails, I requested that I just receive a refund, however AO are now telling me that to give me the refund they'll require the products to be processed back into their warehouse which could take up to two weeks. So during this time, I'm down over £350, I don't have the products that I'd paid for - not to mention I'm also down a day's wages!

The products were never in my ownership nor have they been my responsibility, yet I'm now sitting on a >£350 hole in my bank account for the foreseeable with absolutely nothing to show for it. I know deep down I'm being a bit Victor Meldrew about it all, but it's a lot of money to have sitting with AO, reliant that the products get back to them safely and are processed correctly for me to receive the refund.

Anyway, this has been cathartic at the very least...

amandacat

I’d be equally annoyed about this. I’ve only used them once and while I didn’t experience your problems, the item didn’t arrive in the time slot given and I was left thinking it wasn’t coming. It arrived at gone 8pm by a couple of grumpy delivery drivers. I know this is down to the delivery company but put me off using them again.

The rationale behind your situation is very unclear and for them to not even tell you the reason is ludicrous.

Hoof_Hearted

It sounds to me like they suspect fraud. Probably wouldn't have happened if you had paid by card.

Takmon

If it turned out to be a fraudulent transaction then they would have lost the money due to a charge back and also lost the good so that's probably why they were being cautious. But they really should have done these check before they sent out the goods.

In future it's always best to pay for things like this directly with a credit card because you then have the benefit of section 75 protection plus the fact that it takes them two weeks to refund you wouldn't have been an issue. I use a credit card for almost all online purchases.

femalemonarchfemalecanine

I've used AO several times and had brilliant service - sorry you were unlucky

forgotmyname

femalemonarchfemalecanine wrote: »

I've used AO several times and had brilliant service - sorry you were unlucky

Same here, used them twice and they were excellent both times.

candygirl

I've used AO a few times, n have luckily received top notch service