Getting messed around on order with small business.

Eddie_1878

Hi, 

Was looking for some advice on where I stand in relation to an order I placed with ‘Gravelmaster’. 

I placed an order for a bulk bag of gravel on 2/5/20, which came to £115 including delivery. I selected a delivery date of 12/5/20. 

I received an ‘do not reply’ email from the manager, late on 10/5/20, informing me the order was POTENTIALLY subject to a 48hr delay but that it could still be fast-tracked for delivery on the agreed date. I was informed that either way I’d be contacted when my delivery was 24hrs away.

When I’d heard nothing by midday on 13/5/20 (within 24hrs of the delayed delivery estimate), I e-mailed to cancel the order and asked for a refund in full. I explained as I hadn’t heard from them I assume the item had not yet been dispatched, so I wouldn’t be subject to any charges. 

The automatic reply said they’re struggling with volume of queries at the moment so would aim to reply within 48hrs. Phones are off due to COVID. 

Still heard nothing come midday today so sent another email outlining my frustrations and re-iterating my request for cancellation and refund. This time with the threat of reporting them to Trading Standards. 

I received a swift reply, confirming they are indeed open and delivering (I questioned this in my last e-mail), apologising for delay and explaining the order had been dispatched to the ‘central hub’ and once it’s there my ‘local hub’ will goto collect...I should receive it after 5 business days from today!!! 

They’d completely ignored my cancellation and refund request and went on to insult me by informing me of further delays, as though they are doing me a favour! 

I’ve replied informing them I want it cancelled with a refund processed with urgency. Alas they haven’t been as swift in replying to that one. 

So where do I stand here guys?

•I’m concerned they will consider the goods as being dispatched (as its on the way to the ‘central hub’) and charge me for it, despite me telling them to cancel on Wednesday. I’m confident nothing had been dispatched until after that email...if so would I be covered?

•I’m also concerned they’re going to go back to ‘ghosting’ me, ignoring any refund request until the item is ultimately delivered! If they continue to ignore my last email, what action can I take? 

•Is there any point reporting this to trading standards? Do they deal with individual cases? 

Your input/advice will be appreciated, I feel like tearing my hair out here! There’s nothing worse than being treated with utter contempt by a business, with very little power to do anything! 

Cheers, Eddie. 

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

They state they accept your order upon dispatch so it depends when they actually sent it as to how you can cancel. 

My understanding is if you cancel before the order is accepted they should refund as a contract hasn't been formed yet which their site says they will do, if you cancel after the point at which a company deem the contract in place the usual regs apply to return where required as part of the cancellation rights. 

If they ignore you there isn't much you can do.

Theoretically you may be able to take small claims action to recover the cost of returning the bag of gravel if you could demonstrate you cancelled before they accepted the order but by this point you'd have the gravel and IMHO might as well keep it as you won't have suffered a loss, just perhaps poor service. 

You can make a complaint to Citizens Advice who take reports on behalf of trading standards about their behaviour if you feel inclined to do so, little is likely to happen unless the company gets loads of complaints made about them. 

Manxman_in_exile

So it was due for delivery on 12 May, they warned you that there might be a 48 hr delay, and when it hadn't arrived on 13 May you tried to cancel?

Just my opinion, but you seem to have decided very quickly that you don't want the gravel.  There's a lot of disruption to all sorts of businesses at the moment and today was only three days after the original estimated delivery date.  Has your need for a bulk load of gravel suddenly vanished?

Eddie_1878

Manxman_in_exile said:

So it was due for delivery on 12 May, they warned you that there might be a 48 hr delay, and when it hadn't arrived on 13 May you tried to cancel?

Just my opinion, but you seem to have decided very quickly that you don't want the gravel.  There's a lot of disruption to all sorts of businesses at the moment and today was only three days after the original estimated delivery date.  Has your need for a bulk load of gravel suddenly vanished?

No, when they hadn’t been in touch on the 13th to tell me it’s on it’s way (they told me they’d give me 24hrs notice), I asked to cancel. It was clear at that point the 48 hour delay notification was complete fantasy. A suspicion confirmed by their reply telling me it’s not likely to arrive until late next week!  

They’re back to ignoring my request to cancel. But I suppose I should accept that because it’s a small business hey? For clarity I’ve decided to purchase the gravel elsewhere...more expensive but the other company was up front on its longer than usual lead times and were swift in replying to my query. 

Shellrazz

Eddie_1878 said:

Hi, 

Was looking for some advice on where I stand in relation to an order I placed with ‘Gravelmaster’. 

I placed an order for a bulk bag of gravel on 2/5/20, which came to £115 including delivery. I selected a delivery date of 12/5/20. 

I received an ‘do not reply’ email from the manager, late on 10/5/20, informing me the order was POTENTIALLY subject to a 48hr delay but that it could still be fast-tracked for delivery on the agreed date. I was informed that either way I’d be contacted when my delivery was 24hrs away.

When I’d heard nothing by midday on 13/5/20 (within 24hrs of the delayed delivery estimate), I e-mailed to cancel the order and asked for a refund in full. I explained as I hadn’t heard from them I assume the item had not yet been dispatched, so I wouldn’t be subject to any charges. 

The automatic reply said they’re struggling with volume of queries at the moment so would aim to reply within 48hrs. Phones are off due to COVID. 

Still heard nothing come midday today so sent another email outlining my frustrations and re-iterating my request for cancellation and refund. This time with the threat of reporting them to Trading Standards. 

I received a swift reply, confirming they are indeed open and delivering (I questioned this in my last e-mail), apologising for delay and explaining the order had been dispatched to the ‘central hub’ and once it’s there my ‘local hub’ will goto collect...I should receive it after 5 business days from today!!! 

They’d completely ignored my cancellation and refund request and went on to insult me by informing me of further delays, as though they are doing me a favour! 

I’ve replied informing them I want it cancelled with a refund processed with urgency. Alas they haven’t been as swift in replying to that one. 

So where do I stand here guys?

•I’m concerned they will consider the goods as being dispatched (as its on the way to the ‘central hub’) and charge me for it, despite me telling them to cancel on Wednesday. I’m confident nothing had been dispatched until after that email...if so would I be covered?

•I’m also concerned they’re going to go back to ‘ghosting’ me, ignoring any refund request until the item is ultimately delivered! If they continue to ignore my last email, what action can I take? 

•Is there any point reporting this to trading standards? Do they deal with individual cases? 

Your input/advice will be appreciated, I feel like tearing my hair out here! There’s nothing worse than being treated with utter contempt by a business, with very little power to do anything! 

Cheers, Eddie. 

Hi Eddie
Did you ever get anywhere with gravel master? I've made a stupid mistake of placing an order with them it didn't arrive on delivery day I've received no communication from them even after me trying for 3 days to contact them when I did finally get to speak to someone (I had to pretend I wanted to place an order) they wanted a £50.00 cancellation fee.

Aylesbury_Duck

Shellrazz said:

Eddie_1878 said:

Hi, 

Was looking for some advice on where I stand in relation to an order I placed with ‘Gravelmaster’. 

I placed an order for a bulk bag of gravel on 2/5/20, which came to £115 including delivery. I selected a delivery date of 12/5/20. 

I received an ‘do not reply’ email from the manager, late on 10/5/20, informing me the order was POTENTIALLY subject to a 48hr delay but that it could still be fast-tracked for delivery on the agreed date. I was informed that either way I’d be contacted when my delivery was 24hrs away.

When I’d heard nothing by midday on 13/5/20 (within 24hrs of the delayed delivery estimate), I e-mailed to cancel the order and asked for a refund in full. I explained as I hadn’t heard from them I assume the item had not yet been dispatched, so I wouldn’t be subject to any charges. 

The automatic reply said they’re struggling with volume of queries at the moment so would aim to reply within 48hrs. Phones are off due to COVID. 

Still heard nothing come midday today so sent another email outlining my frustrations and re-iterating my request for cancellation and refund. This time with the threat of reporting them to Trading Standards. 

I received a swift reply, confirming they are indeed open and delivering (I questioned this in my last e-mail), apologising for delay and explaining the order had been dispatched to the ‘central hub’ and once it’s there my ‘local hub’ will goto collect...I should receive it after 5 business days from today!!! 

They’d completely ignored my cancellation and refund request and went on to insult me by informing me of further delays, as though they are doing me a favour! 

I’ve replied informing them I want it cancelled with a refund processed with urgency. Alas they haven’t been as swift in replying to that one. 

So where do I stand here guys?

•I’m concerned they will consider the goods as being dispatched (as its on the way to the ‘central hub’) and charge me for it, despite me telling them to cancel on Wednesday. I’m confident nothing had been dispatched until after that email...if so would I be covered?

•I’m also concerned they’re going to go back to ‘ghosting’ me, ignoring any refund request until the item is ultimately delivered! If they continue to ignore my last email, what action can I take? 

•Is there any point reporting this to trading standards? Do they deal with individual cases? 

Your input/advice will be appreciated, I feel like tearing my hair out here! There’s nothing worse than being treated with utter contempt by a business, with very little power to do anything! 

Cheers, Eddie. 

Hi Eddie
Did you ever get anywhere with gravel master? I've made a stupid mistake of placing an order with them it didn't arrive on delivery day I've received no communication from them even after me trying for 3 days to contact them when I did finally get to speak to someone (I had to pretend I wanted to place an order) they wanted a £50.00 cancellation fee.

Eddie last logged in a year ago, so I suspect your plea will be met with, ahem, stony silence.

Shellrazz

Abit like my requests from gravel master then lol