Credit card protection - Awful Company

[SkidMarkKing]

Hi guys,

i'm having a nightmare with a particular car part dealer.

I ordered a car part 2 months ago with an estimated delivery of time 1-2 weeks (Part had to come from Europe). The item kept getting delayed and turned up 2 months later. I thought I had been scammed because it was delay after delay, some emails taking 3-4 days to be replied to as well. I was told it was sat in a port one week then checked again 2 weeks later and it was still "sat in the port". After this I had checked their latest reviews online and they are receiving so many negative reviews regarding customer service and delivery times.

A few days before it actually arrived I contacted my credit card company (they are investigating it now) for a refund.

Apparently selling items within the UK there is a 14-day (cooling off is it?) period in which you can return the item, even if the merchant has hidden in the T&C items are non-refundable?

The company have now threatend me with legal action if the credit card company sides with me and I don't pay the merchant (I have said I will happily return the item). I had paid a garage a deposit to fit a particular part which needed this bumper I had ordered and in the end found a part within the UK which turned up next day. I had to keep delaying fitting with the garage so I started to feel like a pain as well.

I have told them to take legal action if they please (over a £200 part, which I have offered to return).

Seems such a strange business, from the reviews they even say they have parts in stock but they take months to turn up. Most emails I receive are signatured with a different name (attemping to look larger than they are?). Upon checking there address it's looks like a small unit on a farm.


Not 100% sure where I stand with the return situation? Extremely frustrating when they threaten legal action and they are offering an awful service.

 

[Jim99]

It can get fairly messy importing items, since the seller isn't going to be all too interested in UK consumer law.

Ultimately, if your credit card company sides with you and refunds, the company can still try to hold you liable for the cost AFAIK. However, the likelihood of them chasing a £200 debt in a foreign country is extremely low.

On the flipside, they may well be assuming that you're just trying it on and will keep both the refund and the part.

 

[GreatAuk]

Ideally you would have refused delivery, but as it's already been delivered then as long as you told them within 14 days that you wanted to return the item then you're completely within your rights. Do they have a returns process you can use or are they refusing to let you know where to send it?

 

[SkidMarkKing]

It can get fairly messy importing items, since the seller isn't going to be all too interested in UK consumer law.

Ultimately, if your credit card company sides with you and refunds, the company can still try to hold you liable for the cost AFAIK. However, the likelihood of them chasing a £200 debt in a foreign country is extremely low.

On the flipside, they may well be assuming that you're just trying it on and will keep both the refund and the part.

The company is a UK company who order parts in from Europe if required so the UK consumer law should apply to them?

First phone call I had they said they will send over a returns label once the credit card company have done there investigation.

48 hours later I've got another email saying they aren't going to accept the return and will await the decision of the credit card company. If I get the refund they will then chase legal action for the money owed. Absolute scumbags. Service seems terrible across there recent reviews.

 

[SkidMarkKing]

Ideally you would have refused delivery, but as it's already been delivered then as long as you told them within 14 days that you wanted to return the item then you're completely within your rights. Do they have a returns process you can use or are they refusing to let you know where to send it?

The FedEx driver put it over the gate so I wasn't here

I told them a few days before it actually arrived to cancel it (due to the delays) then again within a few hours of it being delivered.

They actually say no returns in there T&C apparently as the part came from abroad (someone did say they can't apply that as UK consumer law overwrites it).

 

[GreatAuk]

The FedEx driver put it over the gate so I wasn't here

I told them a few days before it actually arrived to cancel it (due to the delays) then again within a few hours of it being delivered.

They actually say no returns in there T&C apparently as the part came from abroad (someone did say they can't apply that as UK consumer law overwrites it).

That's annoying... yeah I don't think they can do that, because you're buying the item from a UK based company not whatever overseas company they're sourcing it from (as long as that is actually the case andthe purchase wasn't actually from the overseas seller). If their supplier is based in Europe I think the same returns protections would apply anyway though.

If they're refusing to let you return it to them then they're in the wrong - at least as far as I understand things.

E: and I think as you asked for the order to be cancelled but then they delivered it anyway they should cover the postage costs for any return too, but I'm not 100% sure on that.

 

[Jim99]

The company is a UK company who order parts in from Europe if required so the UK consumer law should apply to them?

First phone call I had they said they will send over a returns label once the credit card company have done there investigation.

48 hours later I've got another email saying they aren't going to accept the return and will await the decision of the credit card company. If I get the refund they will then chase legal action for the money owed. Absolute scumbags. Service seems terrible across there recent reviews.

Ah right, in that case yes and they'll be aware of that.

When it arrives you can tell them specifically that you're cancelling as per your CCR rights. They will have the legal right to the item back again, but not the money.

 

[Blackjack Davy]

Sorry for your trouble but this is why you read reviews before you buy something not afterwards

 

[SkidMarkKing]

Sorry for your trouble but this is why you read reviews before you buy something not afterwards

This particular part wasn't available from many places. The reviews seemed a bit hit and miss hence the credit card payment

 

[Diagro]

Post it back to them. Hand over tracking details. End of the discussion.

 

[SkidMarkKing]

They are now saying

"
I have consulted our legal team on this, this doesn't apply to Custom-Made or Personalized Items: Goods made to the consumer’s specifications or clearly personalized are not subject to the usual 14-day cooling-off period.

Unfortunately, we cant accept a return for this order and we still have to bank's decision on this matter. Typically, this takes about 75 days to resolve.

I hope this clarifies."

I don't know if there are exceptions?

 

[BDEE]

What is custom about the part? Is it not just a standard car part? What is the actual item?

Customisation means things which are made specifically to your order. Like printing your name on a football shirt, for example.

 

[SkidMarkKing]

What is custom about the part? Is it not just a standard car part? What is the actual item?

Customisation means things which are made specifically to your order. Like printing your name on a football shirt, for example.

It's a rear diffuser for a car. Nothing custom about it.

 

[tom_e]

I imagine as they had to order it in they're going down the it's custom. They're wrong.

 

[BUDFORCE]

Lol they try to take you to court if your credit company sides with you.

Who is this company, name and shame.

 

[Sirrel Squirrel]

Lol they try to take you to court if your credit company sides with you.

Who is this company, name and shame.

This is what I'm thinking, it's between them and the CC company.

 

[BUDFORCE]

This is what I'm thinking, it's between them and the CC company.

It's just a scare tactic, and pretty bad form if you ask me.

 

[BDEE]

Would like to see their reply to you pointing out to them that it isn’t a custom item

 

[Vanquish-Storm]

Send all the details to your credit card company along with the fact they won’t let you return. Let them waste money on legal stuff. Log it with trading standards. Sit back relax and name and shame

 

[dowie]

A few days before it actually arrived I contacted my credit card company (they are investigating it now) for a refund.

Apparently selling items within the UK there is a 14-day (cooling off is it?) period in which you can return the item, even if the merchant has hidden in the T&C items are non-refundable?
[...]

I have told them to take legal action if they please (over a £200 part, which I have offered to return).

Why didn't you just return it or refuse delivery?

If you're already pursuing a refund for it not arriving then it arrives you ought to either tell your credit card company to cease taking action or return the part, you can't reasonably keep it for free.