| The Comments |
I bought a load of furniture and a leather suite from Villapack way back in July 08. A couple of days before it was all to be delivered they phoned saying all would be delivered except the suite as there was a delay from the manufacturer. I agreed to wait for the suite but take the reast of the furniture in July.
Anyway the furniture came, but they had "forgot" one of the wardrobes, a LCD TV, a Large picture and one of the units they did bring had a broken handle! Now I and my other half are reasonable people and we agreed to Villapack sending the balance of the furniture in October when we were next over in Spain during a weekday. However they then contacted me saying that they will never be able to supply the suite we chose and offered an alternative. We did not wish to talke an alternative as we couldn't see the alternative, (except by photo) and could not try out what they were offering to supply, so politely asked for our money back on that one.
After asking for the money back, for a few weeks I could not get a reply from Villapac, then I got an e-mail saying that they had a " change in procedure within the business and the owner has to sign each payment off that we do now. This is done by having a meeting with him, knowing how much funds are available, we have to prioritise the payments and then make the payments. However these meetings are only going to be bi-monthly and the next one will now be next week sometime. You are on our list of priority payments and this will be highlighted to the owner but he has the overriding decision based on the amount of funds available. We will endeavour to make the payment but I will have to keep you informed." . So I take it that they will think about paying me back MY money if they have enough!! Eeek! Is this normal practice in Spain, does anyone have any ideas how I can move this one forward? Is there a proceedure I can follow to make them pay me my money which I need for to pay for another suite? Am I being unreasonable or unrealistic expecting to get my cash back for something they cannot supply??
0
Like
|
Am I being unreasonable or unrealistic expecting to get my cash back for something they cannot supply??
CERTAINLY NOT, Firefly, it's not acceptable, is it ? What a carry on !! 
_______________________
0
Like
|
Thanks Morerosado, I wouldn't accept such behaviour in the UK, thought it may be the "more relaxed" Spanish way I had heard of. obviously not!
Difficult though, how to get the money from then. I may have to pray that they decide may case is important ennough to pay me back when they next meet with their owner! Then I have to wait to see if they will supply the furniture they still haven't supplied as yet but say they will, hassle that I don't need.
0
Like
|
Firefly, we have a superb lawyer called Maria de Castro who kindly posts help on our forum & is very well respected. (We're honoured to have her & she's helped so many in very serious situations where they thought there was no way forward).
I'll send her a PM to pop in to see if she can offer help in some way.
_______________________
0
Like
|
Did you pay any of the amount on a UK credit card? If any payment was over £100 you can go to the card company for a chargeback under the consumer credit act. If it was a cash payment, you will be an unsecured debtor of theirs and have to fight amongst all the suppliers that want paying too. I have seen postings about this company before on this forum, none of them good i'm afraid 
Mark
0
Like
|
|
Hi Marksfish, unfortunately I broke my normal rule of paying by credit card, (for protection) and only paid the deposit about £600 by credit then the rest by transfer from the UK. Looks like I am stuffed if they decide to ignore my plees for the not inconsiderable sum of cash. They just ignore e-mails and don't reply to messages left on their answerphone. Dispite their website having loads of wonderful testemonials, I fear they are as you say "not good". I wondered if there was some sort of "small claims proceedure" in Spain (like in the UK) that I could enter into at a small fee to try and get their attention and my dosh back as they are just not really too interested it seems. Oh how things have change from when I was ordering the stuff, couldn't do enough for me then!
Morerosado, thanks for your kind suggestion about the lawyer called Maria de Castro. It would be a route that I think I may have to go down now.
0
Like
|
You say you paid the deposit on your credit card? You can still get your credit card company involved as it is an entitlement under the consumer credit act, they should be able to help retrieve your monies in some way.
Mark
Edit to add: The 01204 dialling code on their website is for Bolton. No address though!! This message was last edited by Marksfish on 10/6/2008.
0
Like
|
Hi Smiley, yeah I had forgotten about that they have a branch in Bolton which is "near" to us. I was so fixed on the Spanish contacts I had forgotten about that. I think I could go there and kick up a bit of a fuss. Do you think they would like that? Exactly!
0
Like
|
Mark, I remember reading about comeback if you paid by cc but there was a time limit I seem to recall. Can't think of what it was though.
Justin, you really must sort the search out better. I can't even get hold of certain members, never mind posts. 
_______________________
0
Like
|
Excellent I have a plan forming from your replies everyone, many thanks. I will get in touch with the credit card company and if I only get the deposit back for now its something.
I will visit Bolton and see what they can do, perhaps bring a small claim in the UK against the UK branch although I am not sure about the legal side of that. Also Morerosado was going to put me in touch with a lawyer so there may be something there even if I have to pay a bit, these companies should not be allowed to get away with this king of disgraceful customer sevice and disregard.
0
Like
|
Firefly. Maria advises here freely. I've sent her a PM to look into thread.
_______________________
0
Like
|
This thread's moving FAST, don't miss anything.
_______________________
0
Like
|
Definately moving fast, its a great help!!!
0
Like
|
No address on the website, but there is on the net 
Villapac Ltd
Clarence St
Bolton
BL1 2DQ
Tel: 01204 534555
The small claims court is easy, you can do it online and it costs about £25. A lot of companies don't even turn up and you get a judgement by default. It is great satisfaction if they still don't play, you get to send in the bailiffs!! I did that to a restaurant once, it's amazing how quickly they stumped up the cash!!
You need to send a recorded delivery letter stating your intentions. Give them 30 days to respond, then get the claim in.
Mar
0
Like
|
From Moneysupermarket.com
What is section 75 and why is it important?
Under section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act of 1974, customers with a claim against a supplier for breach of contract or misrepresentation will usually also have an equal claim against the card issuer. This means that claims can be made against the credit card company when the supplier goes out of business.
It's not necessary to get a county court judgment - instead customers can simply choose whether to claim against the supplier, the card issuer, or both (although money cannot be claimed twice). Section 75 applies to the majority of credit card purchases, but the cash price of the goods or services must be more than £100 and not more than £30,000. It also applies to the total value of the goods purchased, not just the amount paid for on credit. Say you paid for the deposit on a car with your credit card and paid the balance by banker's draft, but the car dealer went bust before you took delivery of the vehicle, you could claim the whole amount back from your card provider (assuming it wasn't more than £30,000 in total).
And it's not just companies collapsing that section 75 gives protection against: you can also claim against your card provider if the goods you purchase are faulty or damaged but the retailer is refusing to give you a refund.
This protection simply does not apply to purchases made with debit cards, charge cards, cash or cheques. Given the fact that paying for goods with plastic is now a major part of daily life, particularly thanks to the emergence of internet shopping, using a credit card instead of a debit or charge card can be a much safer option just in case the worst happens.
So when you ring your card company, keep quoting Section 75 to them until they relent!!
Mark
0
Like
|
Brilliant Marksfish you know what I will be doing now then! £25 to put a rocket up them would be brilliant even better if they get the funds to me, we have a from room that requires a suite!
3 months, I have half what I originally ordered and they say before they can give me my money back that they will make a decision based on the amount of funds available! what cheek!!!
0
Like
|
Firefly, I searched your posts was intrigued. I saw way back in Feb you were going out to Spain to look at properties & you said you favoured the Mazarron area. You ended up in Javea, a truly beautiful area far more expensive too, we found, than the area we bought into. You didn't post about your experiences of looking & I was wondering how you chose Javea. Another thread maybe !! Or (when time permits) post on your previous one New to EOS and looking to buy in Spain 
_______________________
0
Like
|
A Google search of section 75 consumer credit act brings up lots of interesting information.
Mark
0
Like
|
Hey, you realise More should be packing & not lolling about here, going Spain tomorrow afternoon & case only half packed. 
Just made this seeing as it's getting a bit more light hearted. Hope you don't think it too flippant, Firefly. You won't be allowed to forget Section 75 now. 
_______________________
0
Like
|