@Uff My dad's been dealing with Ming who I see is one of the directors listed on that page so it looks as though it's not possible to go any further up than that. I last emailed them on 09/03 regarding the photos they were supposed to have been sending. They still haven't arrived and I've had no response at all to my email. I'd personally prefer to do business that way as well, I can never understand it when companies don't.
@Pete.8 I paid using my debit card which I believe is a slightly different set up.
@philippasmith2 Some of the plants were genuinely poor quality with broken branches and stripped bark and some were damaged in transit, apparently because they'd packed as many trees into a box as possible. My dad seemed to be coming to an arrangement with them which was a relief but they've gone silent for 2 weeks now. Having worked in customer service I know that sometimes unexpected things happen that derail your best intentions which I personally don't have a problem with, it's when promised phone calls don't materialise that I start to get suspicious.
@Obelixx In theory I would agree, however, my dad doesn't have access to email. He's a stickler for detail and has details of who he's spoken to and when. At present it's been a case of me doing follow up emails after they've spoken as my dad isn't able to. I shall see what he wants to do next.
Sorry @februarysgirl- I knew someone had mentioned them! I really hope you can sort it out. It's a huge sum of money for anyone to be out of pocket by. I don't want to sound alarmist, but I'd be concerned that they might on the verge of going out of business too. I'd go down the social media route too, if you don't get anywhere in the next day or two.
It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
You can go one step further with the directors @februarysgirl You can write to the directors collectively giving them 7 days to put right the poor customer service. If they don't respond then take the matter to the small claims court to claim back the price of the shoddy goods.
@februarysgirl - I recently bought a Stihl cordless pruner by mail order and after less than an hour's use it stopped working. Obviously it was now a 'used' item but I also considered it to be a faulty item.
After a couple of phone calls to the company (names, dates, times etc all recorded) I started to feel I was being fobbed off and that the company was trying to persuade me that they should attempt a repair when I had decided I wanted a refund.
At this point I turned to the Citizens Advice Bureau website which I found very useful for outlining my legal position. Specifically the fact that I was within my rights to insist on a full refund because the item supplied was not fit for purpose and I had notified the company of that fact within 30 days of taking delivery. It sounds as though your father is in a similar position.
The CAB website has some useful letters to use quoting the relevant parts of the Consumer Protection / Distance Selling Acts and also indicates appropriate timescales within which the vendor should be asked to respond. I based my emails on their formal letters.
I would suggest you read their advice and send a formal email demanding requesting 😉 a refund and quoting the relevant CP Act etc.
The CAB website then goes on to tell you the correct way to escalate the matter if necessary.
It's important now that there are no nice chatty phone calls or emails. The time has come to state your case, state your rights and demand a full refund.
Good luck.
PS I received a full refund and a very nice apology within a reasonable time frame once I'd moved things onto a more formal footing.
Heaven is ... sitting in the garden with a G&T and a cat while watching the sun go down
Debit cards are covered by a system known as charge back. It's not quite as good as credit card section 75, but it is another potential route. To plagiarise an old saying "past performance is no guarantee of future success " So many companies that used to be good seem to becoming unreliable now. Many have been taken over, or are just struggling. No excuse for not responding in a timely way though.
OK, update. Sent an email a couple of days ago pointing out that he hadn't sent the photos promised or called my dad and he needed to sort it out. Still no email but he did call my dad yesterday because apparently I'd "put a rocket up him". If he thinks that was putting a rocket up him he'll be in for a rude awakening if I do 😂 Anyway, he said he was having trouble trying to locate any stock and was still chasing it. In itself, not a problem but not dropping a quick email to explain the delay is pretty inexcusable. One thing I learnt when I was a an insurance claims negotiator is that life is a lot easier if you just keep people informed, even if it's just a brief letter or phone call to say that you're awaiting a response from someone. My dad's told him that he needs to sort something out by Thursday or we'll take the charge back route. Fingers crossed for Thursday 🤞
@Loxley It's the condition of the trees that's the issue, I've seen better quality ones of the same size outside Wilkinsons! Oh yes, I've sent them pics, 111 in all but then we're talking about over 40 trees!
Posts
To address a few points:
@Uff My dad's been dealing with Ming who I see is one of the directors listed on that page so it looks as though it's not possible to go any further up than that. I last emailed them on 09/03 regarding the photos they were supposed to have been sending. They still haven't arrived and I've had no response at all to my email. I'd personally prefer to do business that way as well, I can never understand it when companies don't.
@Pete.8 I paid using my debit card which I believe is a slightly different set up.
@philippasmith2 Some of the plants were genuinely poor quality with broken branches and stripped bark and some were damaged in transit, apparently because they'd packed as many trees into a box as possible. My dad seemed to be coming to an arrangement with them which was a relief but they've gone silent for 2 weeks now. Having worked in customer service I know that sometimes unexpected things happen that derail your best intentions which I personally don't have a problem with, it's when promised phone calls don't materialise that I start to get suspicious.
@Fairygirl That was me 🙂
@Obelixx In theory I would agree, however, my dad doesn't have access to email. He's a stickler for detail and has details of who he's spoken to and when. At present it's been a case of me doing follow up emails after they've spoken as my dad isn't able to. I shall see what he wants to do next.
Again, thank you all for your input 🙂
I really hope you can sort it out. It's a huge sum of money for anyone to be out of pocket by.
I don't want to sound alarmist, but I'd be concerned that they might on the verge of going out of business too.
I'd go down the social media route too, if you don't get anywhere in the next day or two.
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
You can write to the directors collectively giving them 7 days to put right the poor customer service. If they don't respond then take the matter to the small claims court to claim back the price of the shoddy goods.
After a couple of phone calls to the company (names, dates, times etc all recorded) I started to feel I was being fobbed off and that the company was trying to persuade me that they should attempt a repair when I had decided I wanted a refund.
At this point I turned to the Citizens Advice Bureau website which I found very useful for outlining my legal position. Specifically the fact that I was within my rights to insist on a full refund because the item supplied was not fit for purpose and I had notified the company of that fact within 30 days of taking delivery. It sounds as though your father is in a similar position.
The CAB website has some useful letters to use quoting the relevant parts of the Consumer Protection / Distance Selling Acts and also indicates appropriate timescales within which the vendor should be asked to respond. I based my emails on their formal letters.
I would suggest you read their advice and send a formal email demanding requesting 😉 a refund and quoting the relevant CP Act etc.
The CAB website then goes on to tell you the correct way to escalate the matter if necessary.
It's important now that there are no nice chatty phone calls or emails. The time has come to state your case, state your rights and demand a full refund.
Good luck.
PS I received a full refund and a very nice apology within a reasonable time frame once I'd moved things onto a more formal footing.
https://www.which.co.uk/consumer-rights/regulation/consumer-rights-act-aKJYx8n5KiSl
Cambridgeshire/Norfolk border.
Pics would help a lot. Did you order a lot of trees for £600?
To plagiarise an old saying "past performance is no guarantee of future success " So many companies that used to be good seem to becoming unreliable now. Many have been taken over, or are just struggling. No excuse for not responding in a timely way though.
@Loxley It's the condition of the trees that's the issue, I've seen better quality ones of the same size outside Wilkinsons! Oh yes, I've sent them pics, 111 in all but then we're talking about over 40 trees!
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.