Advice needed please! Overclockers has kept my money for a month...

ch0ccy

Hi everyone, I'm new to these forums so if this isn't posted in the right place please move it.

Exactly one month ago I came across this http://www.hotukdeals.com/item/139523/ultima-extreme-sli-8800-gtx-intel-c/ (now expired) on HUKD. It was a system sold by Overclockers and at such a bargain price that I placed an order straightaway. The next day (Monday 28th) I received an automated email from OCUK saying my order had been cancelled and refunded as the system was a misprice. Fair enough, that was the end of that or so I thought. They had taken payment from my account on the same day, but since my order had been cancelled I thought nothing of it and expected it to be refunded.

However after about a week, I discovered that the money still hadn't been refunded, so I gave them a ring, and was told it could take up to 10 working days to process a refund. I waited for another week, called them again and was told that the refund had been processed and should show up in my account in the next couple of days. By this time I was getting slightly concerned, so I sent a message to my bank to ask about this refund. This was my bank's response on 18th February:

Thank you for your secure message regarding the disputed Visa transaction to "Overclockers.co.uk" for the amount of £449.93 that has debited your account on 28 January 2008.

I can confirm that as of today no credit or refund has been applied to your account from the above merchant. Once a refund is processed the funds will be in your account within 30 days. However I can not confirm when the merchant will process this refund or apply the credit.

So the refund had never been issued in the first place. I phoned OCUK again last Tuesday (19th Feb), told them it's been over 3 weeks, I've not received my refund, I contacted my bank and they confirmed this. The sales advisor said he would contact the accounts manager, who'd ring me back the following day after 2pm. Almost instantly after I hang up, they sent me this email:

From:"Overclockers UK Mailer" <noreply@overclockers.co.uk> To:<my email address> Date:02/19/2008 05:14 PM Subject:Order Cancelled - 1234567
Order Number: 1234567 (Internet Reference: OC000000) Date ordered: 27/01/2008 12:53:00
Payment Method: Secure Trading
Shipping Method: City Link Parcel Next Day (Delivered Mon-Fri)

---

Dear <Customer>,
This order has been cancelled and all monies refunded to the credit/debit card used.

Since then it's been a week, and surprise surprise, no refund has shown up in my account. I didn't get a call from the accounts manager either and it's now been a month since the original order.

Any advice on how to proceed from here? Can anyone spot anything in their T&Cs that might help someone in my position? The way things are at the moment, they have my money, I do not have the goods I ordered and they took payment on the day of cancelling my order. They've kept this payment for a month.

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/terms.php
5.2 Ownership of the goods shall not pass to you until the Supplier has received in full (in cash or cleared funds) all sums due to it in respect of:
5.2.1 the goods, and
5.2.2 all other sums which are or which become due to the Supplier from you on any account.

Does the above apply to me? As they (the Supplier) have taken payment.

Any advice is very much appreciated and thank you for reading through my long post

Voyager2002

Contact the fraud department of your bank.

ch0ccy

Is that my only option? They've had my money for a month and have been getting interest from it, not to mention time I've spent waiting in the queue over the phone, and cost of phone calls etc...

Will trading standards/small claims deal with this?

Butlers1982

How did you pay? apply for a charge back if you used credit card

Is that my only option? They've had my money for a month and have been getting interest from it, not to mention time I've spent waiting in the queue over the phone, and cost of phone calls etc...

So im pressuming your looking for compensation aswel as your money back?
To be honnest, your main priority is getting your money back. I would write them a letter lising everything that has been said/done - dont email, in cases like this a had written letter is better.
Explain to them that you want the money back in your account in the 10 working days and if not you will seek to recover the money through the small claims court plus costs that you have incurred
Ensure you send it by recorded delivery

Thats your option if you dont want to contact the fraud department in your bank. I would truely forget about compensation and just concentrate on getting your money back.

weegie.geek

Overclockers are terrible. Truly useless customer service and from what I've seen, there are some very off-colour (if you'll excuse the pun) goings-on in their forums.

They're rarely cheaper than the competition, and even if they were I'd happily pay a few pounds more at Scan or Ebuyer in the knowledge that my money's not going into the pocket of a racist homophobic !!!!!!.

newfoundglory

Naughty naughty for taking money off your card before they were sure they could ship the goods. I'd take my chances down at small claims for breach of contract on this one.

They will argue that it was a mis-price and probably that their T&C's say no contract is entered into into the goods have actually been shipped. However, why not let a judge decide on that. If you win, they will not only have to give your money back but compensate you for the difference in price that it will cost you to obtain the same unit elsewhere.

Savings_Dave

weegie.geek wrote: »

Overclockers are terrible. Truly useless customer service and from what I've seen, there are some very off-colour (if you'll excuse the pun) goings-on in their forums.

They're rarely cheaper than the competition, and even if they were I'd happily pay a few pounds more at Scan or Ebuyer in the knowledge that my money's not going into the pocket of a racist homophobic !!!!!!.

I have to agree...they have gone massively downhill in the last few years and always seem more expensive. I never shop with them anymore. They wouldn't refund a motherboard I sent back due to them selling a faulty GFX card (I changed my mind within 7 days) - they made £60. Never replied to my letters and they lost the motherboard in the warehouse. When I finally got it back after 3 months, they charged me an additional £40! If things go wrong be prepared!

Small claims time I think for you!

ch0ccy

Butlers1982 wrote: »

How did you pay? apply for a charge back if you used credit card

Visa debit...does that mean my card issuer can't do anything about it?

Butlers1982 wrote: »

I would write them a letter lising everything that has been said/done - dont email, in cases like this a had written letter is better.
Explain to them that you want the money back in your account in the 10 working days and if not you will seek to recover the money through the small claims court plus costs that you have incurred

Would I only be able to take them to small claims after I've sent them a letter? Will it not be quicker to just take them to court? Apologies for the newbie questions, I'm not too sure what taking a company to small claims court involves.

newfoundglory wrote: »

They will argue that it was a mis-price and probably that their T&C's say no contract is entered into into the goods have actually been shipped. However, why not let a judge decide on that. If you win, they will not only have to give your money back but compensate you for the difference in price that it will cost you to obtain the same unit elsewhere.

1.2 No contract exists between you and the Supplier for the sale of any goods until the Supplier has received and accepted your order and the Supplier has received payment in full (in cleared funds). Once the Supplier does so, there is a binding legal contract between us.

The above clause from their T&C says that a contract only exists if they've accepted and received payment in full. However in my case, they've "cancelled" the order, but took payment (on the same day and kept it for a month :mad:). Where does that leave me?

I would happily take them to court if that's what I have to do, for as far as I'm concerned they don't really have a leg to stand on; they have my money but I don't have the goods. Should small claims only be used as a last resort?

weegie.geek wrote: »

They're rarely cheaper than the competition, and even if they were I'd happily pay a few pounds more at Scan or Ebuyer in the knowledge that my money's not going into the pocket of a racist homophobic !!!!!!.

That's true, the service I've received from Scan has been far superior. Ebuyer I'm undecided as they sent me my old laptop without any extra packaging and stuck the address label on the laptop box, which I wasn't too thrilled about as I spent about an hour removing it, but at least they delivered what I'd paid for! As for the guy who owns Overclockers...I'd only found out about him after I placed the order. Definitely not going anywhere near that sorry excuse for a company ever again.

timelord_4

ch0ccy,

I am so sorry to hear of your situation with Overclockers, like you and like Savings Dave, I too have had enormous trouble in the past with Overclockers them keeping money and the outright refusal to refund or cancel an order (they had the cheek to state that online and distance selling regulations didnt apply to them).

Sending emails will almost certainly get a standard reply - I sent 19 emails in total and 3 written letters. Written was definately the better option and needs to be specifically addressed to an individual (copies to Watchdog ad managing director etc) by recorded or special delivery. It may not be practicable, but they do have (or did) a front end shop, where you can visit.

I sent in a motherboard for RMA, they returned it no fault found but without all the necessary accessories to make the motherboard work. 13 weeks later I eventually received the items. Strangely enough, the motherboard was actually faulty and Gigabyte sent one out within 4 days. I would also be tempted to ask for the record of all your call notes (as I did). They are most certainly not shy about saying what they think of customers in their notes.

Good luck, keep us informed.

Blacksheep1979

write to them (not email) give them a deadline and state that you will go down the small claims court route if they fail to cough up - quite simple really.

biv

Hmm.. always had good service from them in the past, order pretty regular from there. I'll keep this in mind for future orders. I'll put a small dent in their profit for you