Am I being unreasonable ?
Discussion
I recently bought some wing vents for my replica 50s/60s classic car ( not a cobra ) from a dealer who specialises in the original versions of these cars, the vents are used on the rally style cars, they're a bit bigger than the cobra ones so a little more expensive, I paid £125 inc P & P for a pair reasoning that at least they'll look the part and will be good quality, not so I'm afraid, they were different shapes, sizes and in my opinion VERY poorly made,I rang the company to say so and that I would be sending them back for a refund the reason for that being that if they send out parts like that in the first place then will the next set be any better?
It cost £ 6.95 to send them back, I got a refund for £115 ! when I queried this I was told that its not company policy to refund postage when in their opinion there's nothing wrong with them!
when it was pointed out about the difference in sizes I was told " we've had no other complaints "
different shapes ? " you can twist them to fit "
scratches ? " you can paint them "
ditto with the ink from the marker pen ! that was left on them
I've been in touch with my credit card company who said they'll sort me out but what I want to ask is am I being unreasonable asking for ALL my money back ?
I'll still be £6.95 out of pocket as there's no way they'll refund my postage costs !
It cost £ 6.95 to send them back, I got a refund for £115 ! when I queried this I was told that its not company policy to refund postage when in their opinion there's nothing wrong with them!
when it was pointed out about the difference in sizes I was told " we've had no other complaints "
different shapes ? " you can twist them to fit "
scratches ? " you can paint them "
ditto with the ink from the marker pen ! that was left on them
I've been in touch with my credit card company who said they'll sort me out but what I want to ask is am I being unreasonable asking for ALL my money back ?
I'll still be £6.95 out of pocket as there's no way they'll refund my postage costs !
Can't really help but if it's any comfort, I'm in a very similar position. I ordered a part through an internet breaker finder. They circulated my enquiry round various scrappers and e-mailed me the quotes. I went for the best quote but when the part was delivered, it was damaged. I called them and had to send it back (a tenner by recorded delivery) and they never sent the new one. After about a month of calling, faxing, pestering etc, I got fed up with it and got in touch with my credit card company. The scrapyard have now said they'll refund me but not the carriage OR the VAT!!!!!
So I spent £50 + VAT + carriage + a tenner sending it back (plus numerous phone calls etc) and I'm told I'm going to get £50 back!
So I spent £50 + VAT + carriage + a tenner sending it back (plus numerous phone calls etc) and I'm told I'm going to get £50 back!
No !!!!!!!!!!!!
As previously quoted, complain, complain, complain.
It makes my blood boil, when suppliers supply substandard parts/service.
They are quick enough to take the money off you, but baulk when it comes to facing up to shite customer service.
I had an up&downer with a very well know supplier to the kitcar/motor-sport/rally enthusiast a few months back.......................
Ordered £55 worth of silicone hoses for a job. Phoned up before 4:30pm, order placed, debit card charged, thanks very much.
Hoses turned up 48hrs later. Great, until I checked the reciept.
Charged £10+vat for 24hr P&P ????????????? (nearly 20% of total)
Phoned supplier too ask for re-compense. No luck and not that interested.
Should have said I did'nt want the 24hr delivery, was the reply.
Ask to speak to manager.............usual chestnut of he's not in today blah, blah, blah.
Wrote to MD, and had letter back stating that they are biggest stockist of said silicone hose and you would'nt get them that quick from anyone else, also why was I complaining becuse I'd been happy with other stuff had in the past.
So what ? I'm not happy now !
Cheeky B*##*d's
Maybe a drop in the ocean, but I will not and have not gone back there since. Rather pay slightly more and get better service.
Rant over............................
As previously quoted, complain, complain, complain.
It makes my blood boil, when suppliers supply substandard parts/service.
They are quick enough to take the money off you, but baulk when it comes to facing up to shite customer service.
I had an up&downer with a very well know supplier to the kitcar/motor-sport/rally enthusiast a few months back.......................
Ordered £55 worth of silicone hoses for a job. Phoned up before 4:30pm, order placed, debit card charged, thanks very much.
Hoses turned up 48hrs later. Great, until I checked the reciept.
Charged £10+vat for 24hr P&P ????????????? (nearly 20% of total)
Phoned supplier too ask for re-compense. No luck and not that interested.
Should have said I did'nt want the 24hr delivery, was the reply.
Ask to speak to manager.............usual chestnut of he's not in today blah, blah, blah.
Wrote to MD, and had letter back stating that they are biggest stockist of said silicone hose and you would'nt get them that quick from anyone else, also why was I complaining becuse I'd been happy with other stuff had in the past.
So what ? I'm not happy now !
Cheeky B*##*d's
Maybe a drop in the ocean, but I will not and have not gone back there since. Rather pay slightly more and get better service.
Rant over............................
In this situation I just take every opportunity to mention poor service to anyone who it might interest. A builders supply company took £800-odd from my business over 10 years ago and I still explain that to people whenever their name is mentioned. I must have cost them thousands by now as people I know have gone elsewhere, but I'll keep doing it.......
Of course it would be inadvisable to put anything in writing...
Of course it would be inadvisable to put anything in writing...
Yes, but they only pay the VAT they have charged on items sold. So if you've had a refund for the item, then it hasn't been sold and they won't be payign any VAT for that item. Therefore, if they don't give you that back, then they are keeping it for themselves.
I can understand to a certain extent witholding postage costs, but the VAT hasn't cost them anything and you should get it back too.
I can understand to a certain extent witholding postage costs, but the VAT hasn't cost them anything and you should get it back too.
Right then here we go,
basically they weren't convinced that I had a legitimate claim and that the parts supplied were OK one reason being that other customers who buy these particular parts actually want them as the factory would have made them back in the 50s! ie crap, yeah right.
they wont refund my postage as if they did it would start to cost them money, I asked how much stuff gets sent back ? err well,
BUT If I ever want to buy anything in the future they'll do a deal with me regarding P & P, as if.
basically they weren't convinced that I had a legitimate claim and that the parts supplied were OK one reason being that other customers who buy these particular parts actually want them as the factory would have made them back in the 50s! ie crap, yeah right.
they wont refund my postage as if they did it would start to cost them money, I asked how much stuff gets sent back ? err well,
BUT If I ever want to buy anything in the future they'll do a deal with me regarding P & P, as if.
I know of a chap in buisness,who rebuilds suspension forks for the mountain bike fraternity.(me included) he says that he got the best deal from Parcel Force for postage,meaning that a parcel costing £13,he pockets £6.That is why 'certain' companies charge the most they can for you postage,as they then make more cash out of you.Happend to me on £30 worth of silicon hoses,cost me £8 for something that weighed nothing.One was the wrong diameter(my fault) I posted back and it cost me 90p and turned up next day.
I had a similar experince a few years ago with one of those breaker finder agencies like Avocet used.
Decided on my choice of supplier for a replacement engine for my car and when it arrived it had zero compression in 3 of the cylinders. Sent it straight back to them and they decided to keep 25% of my money as a "handling charge". This was almost £250 so I chased and chased and when they kept ignoring me I took them to the small claims court. The judge took about 2 minutes to find in my favour and award costs to cover time off work, travel expenses etc so the final cost to the breaker was nearer £500.
The best bit was that the breaker finder agency had a policy of not using any companies with CCJs against them so the breaker lost that stream of business too.
This is probably a lot of hassle for a relatively small amount but definitely worth doing for larger amounts or if the principle matters to you.
Decided on my choice of supplier for a replacement engine for my car and when it arrived it had zero compression in 3 of the cylinders. Sent it straight back to them and they decided to keep 25% of my money as a "handling charge". This was almost £250 so I chased and chased and when they kept ignoring me I took them to the small claims court. The judge took about 2 minutes to find in my favour and award costs to cover time off work, travel expenses etc so the final cost to the breaker was nearer £500.
The best bit was that the breaker finder agency had a policy of not using any companies with CCJs against them so the breaker lost that stream of business too.
This is probably a lot of hassle for a relatively small amount but definitely worth doing for larger amounts or if the principle matters to you.
That's why I pay by Credit Card.
Last Year I ordered a Starter Motor from a company that is a 'Vauxhall' Specialist, from their list of OBDSOLETE Mk2 Parts. Whilst on the Site I noticed that they had some rare badges going cheap.
And on CAVWEB there was a deal for forum users offering free delivery.
Anyway I rang up and ordered Starter and Badges and agreed free delivery. Eventually the Starter motor arrived (about a week longer than they said) but the badges never came and they'd billed me for them and delivery, I rang them and they agreed that they could not find the badges and the delivery would have been free, and they'd refund the difference to my credit card. This never happened so I rang credit card company and £12.02 credit appeared on my next bill.
Last Year I ordered a Starter Motor from a company that is a 'Vauxhall' Specialist, from their list of OBDSOLETE Mk2 Parts. Whilst on the Site I noticed that they had some rare badges going cheap.
And on CAVWEB there was a deal for forum users offering free delivery.
Anyway I rang up and ordered Starter and Badges and agreed free delivery. Eventually the Starter motor arrived (about a week longer than they said) but the badges never came and they'd billed me for them and delivery, I rang them and they agreed that they could not find the badges and the delivery would have been free, and they'd refund the difference to my credit card. This never happened so I rang credit card company and £12.02 credit appeared on my next bill.
Gassing Station | Kit Cars | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff