Always use email wherever possible

[Ozzyzig]

Sorry if this sounds like I'm being condescending, but if you're paying a substantial sum of money for goods or services, ALWAYS confirm the details over email.

I've now found myself in a position that I'm £3k down for carpets and the shop have taken them back and there's no sign of me getting either my money or the carpets.

I've now had to instruct a solicitor through my home insurance to get the money back since a credit card chargeback could take quite a while. Thankfully, all of the agreed terms were made over email since I generally can't make a phone call whilst I'm at work.

The issue is of course how hard to hit the company now with the ORM to make sure others don't fall into the trap. There's a lot of ins and out just now, and it would just be my like that the owner is also on here so I can't elaborate on the ins and outs. Always treat any business transaction the same way you would when buying a BST on here. You never know when you need to shit list someone.

 

[Salamouna]

I use calls and always record

 

[The Undefined]

Sorry for your temporary loss. I hope you'd be able to recover it; however, in the meanwhile, I'd like to share the following with you and anyone else who's doing business (especially offline deals).

Quoted directly from The Art of Manipulation by R. B. Sparkman (page 95, How to Avoid Being Taken in Financial Dealings):

"You can avoid ninety percent of the world's financial cons by steering clear of these deals where you pay in advance. Advance payment is the hook in nearly every get-rich-quick scheme, bogus investment deal, worthless stock swindle, or home repair ripoff ever invented."

 

[TheVigilante]

Sorry for your temporary loss. I hope you'd be able to recover it; however, in the meanwhile, I'd like to share the following with you and anyone else who's doing business (especially offline deals).

Quoted directly from The Art of Manipulation by R. B. Sparkman (page 95, How to Avoid Being Taken in Financial Dealings):

So best bet cash on delivery?

 

[The Undefined]

The book shows a couple of examples and potential ways to smoothen those deals. But generally speaking, for home repairs or anything repair-related that doesn't have a good reputation in your country (for example, here plumbers aren't that reliable), I suggest paying after the job is completed.

With that said, sometimes, some jobs require a little bit of prepayment for materials. In those cases, the book suggests buying the materials yourself; however, as many of us don't have enough knowledge in the quality and stuff, I have found out that paying a little bit of money to get the job going can be worth the headache. But make sure you're paying less than the price of materials as soon as they'd started to work (not before).

 

[Ozzyzig]

Sorry for your temporary loss. I hope you'd be able to recover it; however, in the meanwhile, I'd like to share the following with you and anyone else who's doing business (especially offline deals).

Quoted directly from The Art of Manipulation by R. B. Sparkman (page 95, How to Avoid Being Taken in Financial Dealings):

Thank you.
I really should have insisted on cash on delivery. It's been a learning experience for me. Unfortunately for the shop owner,when this is all finished, I'll be able to let the people in the street know about the shop. The unfortunate part is that this is a street with newly built homes, so I can see his reputation going right down the drain.


For some reason I can't quote your second post. Yeah I had to pay a deposit to buy the materials, and the agreement was the work would be started on the 14th and completed on the 15th October. Instead, they've high tailed out of here with my money and the majority of my flooring.

That and the fact that I didn't realize until yesterday morning the damage they've done to some of the rooms, so I'll need to get a joiner in to repair it.

 

[Ozzyzig]

So I heard back from my credit card provider today.
Their response is that because the communication was through emails, they don't class that as a proper agreement in place and they've regected my claim for £3k.
I will of course be taking this up with the regulators. I also sense a new journey thread coming on...

 

[K-One]

So I heard back from my credit card provider today.
Their response is that because the communication was through emails, they don't class that as a proper agreement in place and they've regected my claim for £3k.
I will of course be taking this up with the regulators. I also sense a new journey thread coming on...

It took them three months to tell you this?!? Who is this shitty credit card company?

I use calls and always record

Pretty sure it’s illegal in the UK to record residential calls

 

[Ozzyzig]

It took them three months to tell you this?!? Who is this shitty credit card company?



Pretty sure that’s it’s illegal in the UK to record residential calls

Very shitty indeed. To be fair, I did send a massive claim form and it had a lot of photos and contained every piece of correspondence between myself and the vendor. It also contained my reasoning for why my claim should he honoured.

The credit card company is Barclaycard

 

[K-One]

Very shitty indeed. To be fair, I did send a massive claim form and it had a lot of photos and contained every piece of correspondence between myself and the vendor. It also contained my reasoning for why my claim should he honoured.

The credit card company is Barclaycard

So if I got this right then the supplier is out right denying return of the carpet rolls? Were they fitted or new before return?

 

[Ozzyzig]

1/4 of the carpets were fitted and the rest are with the shop.

For the ones that were fitted, the company decided to cut the carpets outside despite me saying no. The carpets were cut on a wet driveway. Lifted them the following day after speaking to my insurance company about it (I was worried they'd be wet underneath and cause dampness and the insurance company told me to lift them) and they were wet underneath and weren't even secured down properly.

The vendor is refusing to acknowledge me at all. I'm going to use the solicitors that come with my home insurance to see what can be done, but they initially told me to do the credit card claim instead so I can't really discuss the company I bought it from yet. I can say though it wasn't a national chain.

Barclaycard on the other hand can go and f**k themselves.

 

[DediRock]

Agreed. If it isn't written, it isn't true.