Studio Catolgue Users Beware!!!!!!

ofarrell179

Id like to warn everyone about Studio! Especially as lots of people order from them at christmas.

I ordered a patio set in Feb 05. It turned up Two months later. I thought well thats fine because summers not here yet, although for a £25 delivery charge you'd think the service would be a little faster.

Obviously it didnt get much use as the weather was poor for some time. In may my husband went to sit on a chair from the set and noticed the material on the seat had come away from the frame (not sure it was ever attached actually).

So, I thought well shouldnt be a problem getting it replaced as the problem does come under consumer statutory rights.

I emailed Studio and requested a new chair. No answer! So I emailed again. I had a reply which said we do not have any trace of your first email. I emailed again and again and again, no reply!

I waited a few weeks and tried again and guess what? yes thats right, no reply. By then it was june.

I contacted tradding standards who told me to send a recorded letter. I had already sent one unrecorded and guess what? no reply! So, I sent a recorded letter to which i finally got a reply. It was from the manager saying he was very sorry and basically would put everything right and then issue me with a full refund as they could not replace the chair! He said their couriers would be collcting the old set soon and then he would aurthorise the refund.

Finally, I thought. I saw a much nicer and much cheaper set which i purchased and put on my credit card thinking its ok because i wont get a statement untill next month and it will be sorted by then which meant I could pay the card off with my refund from Studio.

Its now August and after sending further recorded letters and making phone calls to Studio and their couriers (who said they knew nothing of any collection request) & after Studio had given me a collection number that didnt even exist! I finally came to my senses and took them to the small claims court. I am awaiting the outcome now, but I know i'll win because of the amount of inconvienience they have caused me which is against consumer statutory rights.

So dont buy anything from Studio unless your willing to go to court for a refund. Thats the moral of the story.

By the way if youve been ripped off but dont know where to start, as long as your stautory rights have been breeched, the website adress to take someone to the small claims court is https://www.moneyclaim.gov.uk The fee is £30 but if you win the defendent pays the cost. You can do the whole thing on line.

Thenotsowyzewun

The defendant can also be made to pay (correct me if I'm wrong) upto 16x the value of the item to account for inconvenience, having to buy other products in the meantime because theres wasn't suitable, etcetera.

mallory_knox

Cant remember all the details now, but several of us ordered goods from Studio as you rightly say around Xmas last year.
Without exception, the orders were wrong, overcharged, late, damaged, or generally crap. The customer service centre is overseas, and the staff are poorly trained, so getting your money back is a skill in itself.
As far as I, and all my colleagues are concerned, Studio is definately off our Xmas list!

ofarrell179

Thenotsowyzewun wrote:

The defendant can also be made to pay (correct me if I'm wrong) upto 16x the value of the item to account for inconvenience, having to buy other products in the meantime because theres wasn't suitable, etcetera.

I did'nt know that. Its something Iwill try to find some info on though. Thanks for the tip.

ofarrell179

mallory_knox wrote:

Cant remember all the details now, but several of us ordered goods from Studio as you rightly say around Xmas last year.
Without exception, the orders were wrong, overcharged, late, damaged, or generally crap. The customer service centre is overseas, and the staff are poorly trained, so getting your money back is a skill in itself.
As far as I, and all my colleagues are concerned, Studio is definately off our Xmas list!

Yes Studio like to stick their heads in the sand. Unfortunately though for them, I am one of those people that likes to beat the system. They seem to have breeched consumer rights over & over again without a second thought.

ofarrell179

:j Just to let every one know that I have won my case against studio today and they were ordered to give me a full refund including delivery charges and court costs! They couldnt resist acting like bad loosers though and sent me a letter with the payment saying it was all my fault! yeh right course it was. Thats why the the court made them pay up ey? :j

miacat

well done ofarrell179. :T

System

Just a warning for those of you who don't know,

ACE is the same company and I have had similar problems with them in the past.

Poppycat

Glad you won, sounds like you been more than reasonable with Studio. You can in some cases not have to pay court costs provided you on certian benefits like WFTC etc.

Davidboy

I hate Studio, well done for your win. Studio have been complained about on many threads. My wife ordered loads of stuff many years ago now, we waited and waited, nothing arrived, so she phoned and said where is our order? The reply was you have a bad credit rating, so your order has been cancelled and slammed the phone down.

We were panic stricken, always had a good credit rating. Got a print out from Equifax and everything was perfect, even phoned Equifax and they agreed you have a perfect credit score. Phoned back Studio.....their comment, oh must have been a mistake and again slammed down the phone!

Beware, have nothing at all to do with Studio. You have been warned!!


D

Ellie2758

Congrats to Ofarrell and thanks to others for the warning.


Ellie