Consumer Purchasing Power

[Win2Win]

The problem with the UK is people give in to much, especially when it comes to a problem when a product you purchase has a problem, this can be a computer, a part, furniture, carpet, a meal out, etc. Most people just say, "ah well", and put up with it.

::swear to them. Fight back you have the law on your side. No matter how big the company, none have got the better of me yet. I've successfully claimed off Ebuyer (3 times), Dabs (1), Dixons (2), Suzuki (1), Comet (1), Adsa (2), and many more. This not only includes correction of the problem, but reimbursement of all postage, telephone calls, and in most cases, compensation and a written apology.

Take Dixons, ordered speakers off their web site, got them in good nick, and discovered later they had charged my credit card twice. Emails ignored, phone calls where useless, so a summons to their head office soon got their attention. Within 24 hrs I had a check sent by courier, an apology, and the check was actually for double the amount, so the speakers were free. :)

A summons from the Small Claims Court is cheap, and gets plenty of action. It never gets as far as court, it's cheaper for them to give in. In fact in 95% of time the threat of the summons is usually good enough.

It's always useful in any WRITTEN complaint to quote the following;

The Consumer Protection (Distance Selling) Regulations 2000
http://www.legislation.hmso.gov.uk/si/si2000/20002334.htm

The Sale and Supply of Goods to Consumers Regulations 2002
http://www.legislation.hmso.gov.uk/cgi-bin/htm_hl.pl?DB=hmso-new&STEMMER=en&WORDS=consum+&COLOUR=Red&STYLE=s&URL=http://www.hmso.gov.uk/si/si2002/20023045.htm#muscat_highlighter_first_match

Also ALWAYS ask for the name and address of the MD so you can serve the summons in 14 days if this matter is not concluded.

One last thing most people don't know, and this usually applies to computers. If you purchase a product that does not work, and you are charged a PREMIUM rate for calling the company. You are ENTITLED by law to claim it back as they are liable for anything to do with the fault, including call charges. Send a copy of your phone bill and quote the above acts and summons info.




You will also find these useful;

http://www.compactlaw.co.uk/freeinfo/consumer/consum.html

http://www.pcreview.co.uk/showthread.php?t=5875


Don't let anyone walk all over you, now go and kick ass.

[MarcusMel]

Thanks Keith - Very useful.

[jollyjayne]

Keith, I bet you are one of those moaning gits who are professional complainers who think it is OK to treat retail staff like
:dunce ::swear :vader :ass2 :ass1 :uoyurs :dunce
Maybe you could get a job in the Tesco adverts instead of Maureen ....

But good info anyway. :)

[Win2Win]

I never deal with ground level staff, I always go as high up the chain as I can. Always ask for the manager, and I do everything in writing/emails. When I do that I always start with ;
"Before I continue, please realise that anything said within this letter is not a personnal attack at your good self, but against the way your company is operated by those above you."

You always get a better response.:)

Always avoid head on confrontation as it does you know good unless you know off hand how to quote the law without raising your voice at any time.

Did you know if their is a long queue in a place like Argos you can go to the front and ask for the manager. Just mention to him/her that you want their name & address so you can report the disgusting way you are being herded like animals to head office. You 'usually' get served quicker.

[Onlyforfun]

So how would you deal with British Gas in this case:

Move into new house , give all details before moving, assured that it will be perfectly smooth sir etc etc.

Move in get meter changed from pre-pay to credit (a saga in itself). 6 months later, have received no bill, call and ask why not, "you have a pre-payment meter sir". No I damn well do not, it was changed 6 months ago. "We will look into it".

1 month later, a letter arrives threatening court action if I don't pay my arrears on my pre-pay meter. Telephone call pointing out that "it is impossible to have arrears on a pre-payment meter and I don't have a pre-pay meter anyway, can you send me a bill for my credit meter please". "Maybe the place you bought credit from hasn't processed it sir or you used the wrong key". "I sent you the old key you must have it and if it is the former its between you and him"

Round and round in circles for a further 6 months, I get a note on my account as an "abusive customer" for pointing out that this is the fifth time I've :censored: called your :censored: company today, I want it sorted now or I'm not putting the phone down. Wife takes over, very mild mannered she is too. Within a month she is in tears and also on the abusive list!

Continued letters threatening to cut us off, take us to court, replied to with "please do, would love to bring this into the open".

Finally get a senior manager who "sorts it out" in a day, until a bill arrives for £1500 (1 years elec usually about £100 for me). Turns out when the meter was changed the starting reading wasn't put on the form by the installer, despite us calling and telling them aswell.

The only way I managed to fix it was to change suppliers, then when they threatened me with bailiffs told them that unless they wrote off the charges for the year I would counterclaim for the stress they had put me and my wife under.
2 years later my blood still boils and I've chased off more than one, "would you like to come back to British Gas " salesman with a hearty ":censored: off"

[Win2Win]

http://www.consumer.gov.uk/consumer_web/utility.htm#top

You should have had paperwork when the meter was installed. Along with that, and your telephone records of phone calls made to them, a copy of proof of moving, and 12 months of bills from the previous house, I would have wrote a polite letter, starting by quoting the relevant law in your favour, laying out in ABC everything that had happened, and the dates if possible. Also include a photo of the meter.

Finishing up with a sentence explaining that if it is resovled in 30 days you will forward a summons to make a claim against you for harassment, and loss of money, also asking for the name and address of the MD to issue the summons on.

Send it recorded, and if it's not sorted in 30 days, issue a summons, they have to pay all costs as you'd win.

Be polite in the letter, and even going as far as apologies for your behaviour to the companies staff, but due to the constant non-communication with the problem, you were stressed.

Always be nice, but forceful. Remember the law is usually on your side.

One other tip, whenever you get something that is damaged, or you move house, etc, takes notes of everything, log dates, and take pictures. Judges love evidence like that, but the company knows that and upon seeing the evidence generally give in.

[piggy]

another small tip when dealing with mail order, a few years ago we were collecting disney books from grolier an infamous company and we were sent 1 new book of knowledge to look at to see if we wanted to collect them within a week the full set turns up and a bill for over £250 i rang them and all i got was youve got em you pay for them, luckily my brother worked for readers digest at the time[ and we all know what they are like] so i rang him and asked for his advice, he told me to write to head office and demand that they remove their goods from your house within 30 days or that you would dispose of them, also that if you had to enter into any further correspondence you will charge letters at £10. they sent me a pre paid sticker to return the goods in 2 days but i rang them and explained i was disabled and couldn't carry the box to the post office and they would have to collect them, 3 days later a got a letter saying i could dispose of them as i wished as it was uneconomical to collect them. result

[Onlyforfun]

Will be using this with Jessops tomorrow.


Last week put in a CD of photos on their 50 copies for a fiver job. 200 copies , paid upfront (doh!) £24. Got them back last week, looked at them after I got home and the colour is dreadful, my kid looks like an Asian!

Took them back today to be met with a load of old rubbish about; "Its the way your PC copied them to the CD." "Because a digital camera only shows what it thinks it sees rather than that it does see." "That light yellow wall would make it darker." "Its a fine line between too much yellow and too much blue"

I had taken in copies I'd printed straight from disk that were far better but he still stuck by this despite the fact I've printed them at work with good results. After he bull*&%$£ my wife for 5 minutes I went over and said "Thats nonsense, I want them re-printed or my money back". And he said, and I quote "I was going to help you but I'm not now".

I really want to wipe the smug smile off that little idiots face.

[bigcumba]

Good luck OFF and keep us posted!

[Onlyforfun]

Success, called them last Monday and they said would look into it and call the guy in the store (who's name I took) to find out what had gone on as the excuses I had been given sounded like a load of rubbish to them. Hadn't heard anything so called back today, and asked very politely how the lack of a refund was justifies as i was under the impression that the Sale and Supply of Goods to Consumers Act blah, blah stated that...


Just got a call back to say that a full refund would be sent or I could go back to the store to collect it.

Being the git that I am I'm going back to the store to ask for the bloke personally!

[phil_999]

Good on yer OFF, well done, thats one for the people. :D

[Onlyforfun]

Question?

We got a bed from Next Directory 18 months ago and they called today to say "very sorry, it appears that we never took the money for this, we will bill you now".

Shameful as it is, we never even noticed (we'd just moved house and had a baby so our finances were in disarray to put it mildly).

Question is, after this amount of time can we get out of paying for it? Or can we say we don't want it any more, please come and collect it? (we do actually want it, but don't think they'd collect something after this amount of time).

Any ideas?

[vegyjones]

I'd imagine that this from the terms and conditions means you can not return it.


Beds \ Mattresses \ Divans

Once beds, mattresses and divans are unwrapped, they are excluded from our returns policy for health and hygiene reasons, unless the item is found to be faulty. Your statutory rights are not affected.

[mathare]

I'd check your credit card and bank statements to make sure you haven't been charged for it 18 months back before going any further with Next

[tophatter]

Yeah go through all your statements thoroughly.

Im pretty sure though that if you have not paid it then they will be able to backdate it. Maybe you could make life difficult for them though by saying that you have not got the money and as it is their error maybe you could come to an agreement to pay in installments interest free.

That way they get their money without going through all the usual rigmorole of debt collection and you get to spread it out so you dont notice it as much as a big wedge going out in one go

[wb]

(we'd just moved house and had a baby
Any ideas?

If you made the baby on that bed, I don't think you can return it :D

[vegyjones]

If you made the baby on that bed, I don't think you can return it :D
:laugh :laugh :laugh

[sparkyminer]

If you made the baby on that bed, I don't think you can return it :D
The baby or the bed?:doh

[Stewards enquiry]

When I left school my first job was working at a furniture store delivering furniture. If people did not keep up the payments we had to go and fetch the furniture back sometimes with the help of the Police.
One Saturday we were told to go and fetch a 3' bed back from a man who lived in an attick in a rough part of town who had fallen behind with the repayments and had failed to answer letters sent to him. When we got to the flat there was no one in but the door was open so we went in. It was a one room bedsit and there was the bed stinking wet through. No way were we going to carry that mattress and base to the van so we just unscrewed the legs off it and the headboard and took them. I bet he had a shock that night when he came home drunk, fell onto the bed and it was about six inches lower.

[wb]

Ha Ha, I know what It's like SE. I used to work selling TV's & Videos etc.
We had some rental & Hire Purchase customers, and I would have to chase up the non-payers. It was not a nice job, knocking on the doors of some of the roughest estates, looking for money, or the TV back :yikes:
Amazing how many people were not in when we knocked :)

[vegyjones]

Amazing how many people were not in when we knocked :)
I was down the market gov! Honest! :D

[Win2Win]

I was down the market gov! Honest! :D
Selling veg on Incapacity :doh