Very mis-delivery, and mis-representation

Eborexile

RogerBareford said:

Eborexile said:

Very is one of the hardest companies to contact and in my experience least concerned about meeting contractual obligations.
It is not my usual practice to publicly call out a company but I think that people should be aware that, from my example, you cannot rely on the Very website.
I have spent over 2 hours on the 'phone to Very, sent 6 e-mails, and a formal letter without resolution.

I ordered an Echo (4th Gen) + Philips Hue package after seeing a good price on their website.
Order confirmation e-mail, and despatch note from Very clearly confirmed this.

The delivery was prompt, however the box contained an Echo Dot which is a lower specification smart speaker with reduced functionality.

Without wishing to catalogue the tortuous communications, 2 months down the line I have today been told that they will not honour their contract with me.
Despite showing them the above documentation and also the screen that I clicked to add to my basket and then check out - which also clearly states Echo not Echo Dot.

The response from Very is that I received the item they intended and that they will internally stress the need to make the website clear.
Their website today now shows the Dot/Hue. 

For me this feels like buying something from a market stall, handing over your money and the dodgy stall holder offering to wrap it for you.
When you get home you find the item you ordered has been swapped under the table for a cheaper alternative. 

It also tells me that I cannot trust what I see on the Very website and certainly cannot have faith that they will deliver what I have ordered.

I'm not sure next steps but feel frustrated and disappointed that I don't have the expected products.  

So the wesbite also showed the wrong photo aswell?

Not sure how this is relevant and why you would ask this question.
I wouldn't know how to answer this. 

The product name was the basis for the order.

RogerBareford

Eborexile said:

RogerBareford said:

Eborexile said:

Very is one of the hardest companies to contact and in my experience least concerned about meeting contractual obligations.
It is not my usual practice to publicly call out a company but I think that people should be aware that, from my example, you cannot rely on the Very website.
I have spent over 2 hours on the 'phone to Very, sent 6 e-mails, and a formal letter without resolution.

I ordered an Echo (4th Gen) + Philips Hue package after seeing a good price on their website.
Order confirmation e-mail, and despatch note from Very clearly confirmed this.

The delivery was prompt, however the box contained an Echo Dot which is a lower specification smart speaker with reduced functionality.

Without wishing to catalogue the tortuous communications, 2 months down the line I have today been told that they will not honour their contract with me.
Despite showing them the above documentation and also the screen that I clicked to add to my basket and then check out - which also clearly states Echo not Echo Dot.

The response from Very is that I received the item they intended and that they will internally stress the need to make the website clear.
Their website today now shows the Dot/Hue. 

For me this feels like buying something from a market stall, handing over your money and the dodgy stall holder offering to wrap it for you.
When you get home you find the item you ordered has been swapped under the table for a cheaper alternative. 

It also tells me that I cannot trust what I see on the Very website and certainly cannot have faith that they will deliver what I have ordered.

I'm not sure next steps but feel frustrated and disappointed that I don't have the expected products.  

So the wesbite also showed the wrong photo aswell?

Not sure how this is relevant and why you would ask this question.
I wouldn't know how to answer this. 

The product name was the basis for the order.

I'm not sure why you don't know how to answer that.

When i currently look at the listing on very for a "Echo Dot (4th gen) + Philips hue B22" one of the photos shows a picture of the box which clearly states it's an Echo Dot in there.

I only asked because it's always best to check the photo against the product name and description. Especially in this case where they have just missed out one work in the name "dot" and you might have been able to spot this if you checked the photos beforehand.

You might be thinking "well it's not my job to check and should be correct" but when buying online it's all best to make sure everything is right as it would have saved you a lot of hassle in having to send it back and wait for a refund.

Eborexile

RogerBareford said:

Eborexile said:

RogerBareford said:

Eborexile said:

Very is one of the hardest companies to contact and in my experience least concerned about meeting contractual obligations.
It is not my usual practice to publicly call out a company but I think that people should be aware that, from my example, you cannot rely on the Very website.
I have spent over 2 hours on the 'phone to Very, sent 6 e-mails, and a formal letter without resolution.

I ordered an Echo (4th Gen) + Philips Hue package after seeing a good price on their website.
Order confirmation e-mail, and despatch note from Very clearly confirmed this.

The delivery was prompt, however the box contained an Echo Dot which is a lower specification smart speaker with reduced functionality.

Without wishing to catalogue the tortuous communications, 2 months down the line I have today been told that they will not honour their contract with me.
Despite showing them the above documentation and also the screen that I clicked to add to my basket and then check out - which also clearly states Echo not Echo Dot.

The response from Very is that I received the item they intended and that they will internally stress the need to make the website clear.
Their website today now shows the Dot/Hue. 

For me this feels like buying something from a market stall, handing over your money and the dodgy stall holder offering to wrap it for you.
When you get home you find the item you ordered has been swapped under the table for a cheaper alternative. 

It also tells me that I cannot trust what I see on the Very website and certainly cannot have faith that they will deliver what I have ordered.

I'm not sure next steps but feel frustrated and disappointed that I don't have the expected products.  

So the wesbite also showed the wrong photo aswell?

Not sure how this is relevant and why you would ask this question.
I wouldn't know how to answer this. 

The product name was the basis for the order.

I'm not sure why you don't know how to answer that.

When i currently look at the listing on very for a "Echo Dot (4th gen) + Philips hue B22" one of the photos shows a picture of the box which clearly states it's an Echo Dot in there.

I only asked because it's always best to check the photo against the product name and description. Especially in this case where they have just missed out one work in the name "dot" and you might have been able to spot this if you checked the photos beforehand.

You might be thinking "well it's not my job to check and should be correct" but when buying online it's all best to make sure everything is right as it would have saved you a lot of hassle in having to send it back and wait for a refund.

Thank you for your clarification.
The photo against my order is different to the one now showing (I now understand the background to your question).
I sent the screen shot from my account, and the order and delivery written confirmations to Very.
The screen shot does not have any box just a picture of a smart speaker and a bulb.
I'm couldn't say whether the smart speaker matches the written description. 

The fact that the website has been amended would mean in my eyes that the current condition is not a relevant consideration but I appreciate your suggestion that it might have been helpful.  
Thank you for taking the trouble to offer advice.

alidai

Eborexile said:

RogerBareford said:

Eborexile said:

RogerBareford said:

Eborexile said:

Very is one of the hardest companies to contact and in my experience least concerned about meeting contractual obligations.
It is not my usual practice to publicly call out a company but I think that people should be aware that, from my example, you cannot rely on the Very website.
I have spent over 2 hours on the 'phone to Very, sent 6 e-mails, and a formal letter without resolution.

I ordered an Echo (4th Gen) + Philips Hue package after seeing a good price on their website.
Order confirmation e-mail, and despatch note from Very clearly confirmed this.

The delivery was prompt, however the box contained an Echo Dot which is a lower specification smart speaker with reduced functionality.

Without wishing to catalogue the tortuous communications, 2 months down the line I have today been told that they will not honour their contract with me.
Despite showing them the above documentation and also the screen that I clicked to add to my basket and then check out - which also clearly states Echo not Echo Dot.

The response from Very is that I received the item they intended and that they will internally stress the need to make the website clear.
Their website today now shows the Dot/Hue. 

For me this feels like buying something from a market stall, handing over your money and the dodgy stall holder offering to wrap it for you.
When you get home you find the item you ordered has been swapped under the table for a cheaper alternative. 

It also tells me that I cannot trust what I see on the Very website and certainly cannot have faith that they will deliver what I have ordered.

I'm not sure next steps but feel frustrated and disappointed that I don't have the expected products.  

So the wesbite also showed the wrong photo aswell?

Not sure how this is relevant and why you would ask this question.
I wouldn't know how to answer this. 

The product name was the basis for the order.

I'm not sure why you don't know how to answer that.

When i currently look at the listing on very for a "Echo Dot (4th gen) + Philips hue B22" one of the photos shows a picture of the box which clearly states it's an Echo Dot in there.

I only asked because it's always best to check the photo against the product name and description. Especially in this case where they have just missed out one work in the name "dot" and you might have been able to spot this if you checked the photos beforehand.

You might be thinking "well it's not my job to check and should be correct" but when buying online it's all best to make sure everything is right as it would have saved you a lot of hassle in having to send it back and wait for a refund.

Thank you for your clarification.
The photo against my order is different to the one now showing (I now understand the background to your question).
I sent the screen shot from my account, and the order and delivery written confirmations to Very.
The screen shot does not have any box just a picture of a smart speaker and a bulb.
I'm couldn't say whether the smart speaker matches the written description. 

The fact that the website has been amended would mean in my eyes that the current condition is not a relevant consideration but I appreciate your suggestion that it might have been helpful.  
Thank you for taking the trouble to offer advice.

So the screenshot has a picture of a smart speaker, which you can’t identify between an Echo and an Echo Dot??
Yet you can identify the difference in the physical product sent to you?

porkisnotmeat

alidai said:

Eborexile said:

RogerBareford said:

Eborexile said:

RogerBareford said:

Eborexile said:

Very is one of the hardest companies to contact and in my experience least concerned about meeting contractual obligations.
It is not my usual practice to publicly call out a company but I think that people should be aware that, from my example, you cannot rely on the Very website.
I have spent over 2 hours on the 'phone to Very, sent 6 e-mails, and a formal letter without resolution.

I ordered an Echo (4th Gen) + Philips Hue package after seeing a good price on their website.
Order confirmation e-mail, and despatch note from Very clearly confirmed this.

The delivery was prompt, however the box contained an Echo Dot which is a lower specification smart speaker with reduced functionality.

Without wishing to catalogue the tortuous communications, 2 months down the line I have today been told that they will not honour their contract with me.
Despite showing them the above documentation and also the screen that I clicked to add to my basket and then check out - which also clearly states Echo not Echo Dot.

The response from Very is that I received the item they intended and that they will internally stress the need to make the website clear.
Their website today now shows the Dot/Hue. 

For me this feels like buying something from a market stall, handing over your money and the dodgy stall holder offering to wrap it for you.
When you get home you find the item you ordered has been swapped under the table for a cheaper alternative. 

It also tells me that I cannot trust what I see on the Very website and certainly cannot have faith that they will deliver what I have ordered.

I'm not sure next steps but feel frustrated and disappointed that I don't have the expected products.  

So the wesbite also showed the wrong photo aswell?

Not sure how this is relevant and why you would ask this question.
I wouldn't know how to answer this. 

The product name was the basis for the order.

I'm not sure why you don't know how to answer that.

When i currently look at the listing on very for a "Echo Dot (4th gen) + Philips hue B22" one of the photos shows a picture of the box which clearly states it's an Echo Dot in there.

I only asked because it's always best to check the photo against the product name and description. Especially in this case where they have just missed out one work in the name "dot" and you might have been able to spot this if you checked the photos beforehand.

You might be thinking "well it's not my job to check and should be correct" but when buying online it's all best to make sure everything is right as it would have saved you a lot of hassle in having to send it back and wait for a refund.

Thank you for your clarification.
The photo against my order is different to the one now showing (I now understand the background to your question).
I sent the screen shot from my account, and the order and delivery written confirmations to Very.
The screen shot does not have any box just a picture of a smart speaker and a bulb.
I'm couldn't say whether the smart speaker matches the written description. 

The fact that the website has been amended would mean in my eyes that the current condition is not a relevant consideration but I appreciate your suggestion that it might have been helpful.  
Thank you for taking the trouble to offer advice.

So the screenshot has a picture of a smart speaker, which you can’t identify between an Echo and an Echo Dot??
Yet you can identify the difference in the physical product sent to you?

Seems a bit unfair.

The old Echo Dots were basically hockey pucks, and the Echo was a tall cylinder.

The 4th gen Echo Dot and Echo, however, are both semi golfballs and would look indistinguishable on a website (and possibly in -person.)

https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/61z1-+l47YS._AC_SL1000_.jpg

https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/61lcSzk1dgS._AC_SL1000_.jpg

Eborexile

alidai said:

Eborexile said:

RogerBareford said:

Eborexile said:

RogerBareford said:

Eborexile said:

Very is one of the hardest companies to contact and in my experience least concerned about meeting contractual obligations.
It is not my usual practice to publicly call out a company but I think that people should be aware that, from my example, you cannot rely on the Very website.
I have spent over 2 hours on the 'phone to Very, sent 6 e-mails, and a formal letter without resolution.

I ordered an Echo (4th Gen) + Philips Hue package after seeing a good price on their website.
Order confirmation e-mail, and despatch note from Very clearly confirmed this.

The delivery was prompt, however the box contained an Echo Dot which is a lower specification smart speaker with reduced functionality.

Without wishing to catalogue the tortuous communications, 2 months down the line I have today been told that they will not honour their contract with me.
Despite showing them the above documentation and also the screen that I clicked to add to my basket and then check out - which also clearly states Echo not Echo Dot.

The response from Very is that I received the item they intended and that they will internally stress the need to make the website clear.
Their website today now shows the Dot/Hue. 

For me this feels like buying something from a market stall, handing over your money and the dodgy stall holder offering to wrap it for you.
When you get home you find the item you ordered has been swapped under the table for a cheaper alternative. 

It also tells me that I cannot trust what I see on the Very website and certainly cannot have faith that they will deliver what I have ordered.

I'm not sure next steps but feel frustrated and disappointed that I don't have the expected products.  

So the wesbite also showed the wrong photo aswell?

Not sure how this is relevant and why you would ask this question.
I wouldn't know how to answer this. 

The product name was the basis for the order.

I'm not sure why you don't know how to answer that.

When i currently look at the listing on very for a "Echo Dot (4th gen) + Philips hue B22" one of the photos shows a picture of the box which clearly states it's an Echo Dot in there.

I only asked because it's always best to check the photo against the product name and description. Especially in this case where they have just missed out one work in the name "dot" and you might have been able to spot this if you checked the photos beforehand.

You might be thinking "well it's not my job to check and should be correct" but when buying online it's all best to make sure everything is right as it would have saved you a lot of hassle in having to send it back and wait for a refund.

Thank you for your clarification.
The photo against my order is different to the one now showing (I now understand the background to your question).
I sent the screen shot from my account, and the order and delivery written confirmations to Very.
The screen shot does not have any box just a picture of a smart speaker and a bulb.
I'm couldn't say whether the smart speaker matches the written description. 

The fact that the website has been amended would mean in my eyes that the current condition is not a relevant consideration but I appreciate your suggestion that it might have been helpful.  
Thank you for taking the trouble to offer advice.

So the screenshot has a picture of a smart speaker, which you can’t identify between an Echo and an Echo Dot??
Yet you can identify the difference in the physical product sent to you?

A strangely aggressive response.
Of course I can identify a physical product because it comes in a box with the product name on the outside.

 

Eborexile

porkisnotmeat said:

alidai said:

Eborexile said:

RogerBareford said:

Eborexile said:

RogerBareford said:

Eborexile said:

Very is one of the hardest companies to contact and in my experience least concerned about meeting contractual obligations.
It is not my usual practice to publicly call out a company but I think that people should be aware that, from my example, you cannot rely on the Very website.
I have spent over 2 hours on the 'phone to Very, sent 6 e-mails, and a formal letter without resolution.

I ordered an Echo (4th Gen) + Philips Hue package after seeing a good price on their website.
Order confirmation e-mail, and despatch note from Very clearly confirmed this.

The delivery was prompt, however the box contained an Echo Dot which is a lower specification smart speaker with reduced functionality.

Without wishing to catalogue the tortuous communications, 2 months down the line I have today been told that they will not honour their contract with me.
Despite showing them the above documentation and also the screen that I clicked to add to my basket and then check out - which also clearly states Echo not Echo Dot.

The response from Very is that I received the item they intended and that they will internally stress the need to make the website clear.
Their website today now shows the Dot/Hue. 

For me this feels like buying something from a market stall, handing over your money and the dodgy stall holder offering to wrap it for you.
When you get home you find the item you ordered has been swapped under the table for a cheaper alternative. 

It also tells me that I cannot trust what I see on the Very website and certainly cannot have faith that they will deliver what I have ordered.

I'm not sure next steps but feel frustrated and disappointed that I don't have the expected products.  

So the wesbite also showed the wrong photo aswell?

Not sure how this is relevant and why you would ask this question.
I wouldn't know how to answer this. 

The product name was the basis for the order.

I'm not sure why you don't know how to answer that.

When i currently look at the listing on very for a "Echo Dot (4th gen) + Philips hue B22" one of the photos shows a picture of the box which clearly states it's an Echo Dot in there.

I only asked because it's always best to check the photo against the product name and description. Especially in this case where they have just missed out one work in the name "dot" and you might have been able to spot this if you checked the photos beforehand.

You might be thinking "well it's not my job to check and should be correct" but when buying online it's all best to make sure everything is right as it would have saved you a lot of hassle in having to send it back and wait for a refund.

Thank you for your clarification.
The photo against my order is different to the one now showing (I now understand the background to your question).
I sent the screen shot from my account, and the order and delivery written confirmations to Very.
The screen shot does not have any box just a picture of a smart speaker and a bulb.
I'm couldn't say whether the smart speaker matches the written description. 

The fact that the website has been amended would mean in my eyes that the current condition is not a relevant consideration but I appreciate your suggestion that it might have been helpful.  
Thank you for taking the trouble to offer advice.

So the screenshot has a picture of a smart speaker, which you can’t identify between an Echo and an Echo Dot??
Yet you can identify the difference in the physical product sent to you?

Seems a bit unfair.

The old Echo Dots were basically hockey pucks, and the Echo was a tall cylinder.

The 4th gen Echo Dot and Echo, however, are both semi golfballs and would look indistinguishable on a website (and possibly in -person.)

https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/61z1-+l47YS._AC_SL1000_.jpg

https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/61lcSzk1dgS._AC_SL1000_.jpg

Thank you for this - explains the issue very clearly.
As a newbie to Smart speakers/bulbs (not previously needing to take an interest) I took the Which best buy for a recommendation and matched the product name on the order.

I appreciate the constructive comments in this thread.
Once bitten twice shy as far as Very are concerned - certainly been on a learning curve.

Thanks again to all contributors.