A Faulty Phone But No Refund?

[daz1969]

I purchased a phone from STK on the 15th of April 2020, the phone arrived, it was faulty, wouldn't charge, I got in touch with them, they told me to return it at my own expense. I received notification that they had recieved my phone back on the 1st of May and it was waiting evaluation. I contacted them on the 21st of May asking about my refund, they said that the offices are closed (even though they accepting returns) & will have to wait another 8 weeks for a refund. Unfortunately I didn't pay using PayPal as they don't have that option, I wouldn't mind but its £100 - any suggestions or should I just wait?

[Toorak]

If you paid by credit card you might be able to open a section 75 payment dispute to get your money back (as long as it was at least £100)

[Toorak]

Actually, it needs to be at least £100.01

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/shopping/section75-protect-your-purchases/

[gingejbee]

...and if the phone is faulty, you should insist on getting the return shipping costs refunded, too - as, in consumer law, return costs for faulty items are down to the seller.

[Buenchico]

(I'm assuming that 'STK' is Stklife.com)

Send them a formal written demand for payment, using Royal Mail's 'Signed For' service.

Your letter must include:
1. Your address ;
2. The address of the company. (See below) ;
3. The date ;
4. A clear statement that it as 'Demand For Payment' ;
5. The amount demanded. (You're entitled to include the costs you incurred in returning the phone) ;
6. A clear statement of the reason for your demand. (i.e. you were supplied with a non-functioning product and you had to pay to return it) ;
7. A statement to the effect that if you don't receive a full refund within a specified period of time (I suggest 14 days) you will commence legal proceedings against the company.

Your letter should be address to You Tec Limited, Santok House, Unit L, Braintree Industrial Estate, Ruislip, HA4 0EJ (and NOT to 'STK' or 'STK Life').

If you don't get your money back within the specified period, commence legal proceedings, using HM Courts and Tribunals Service's online process:
https://www.moneyclaim.gov.uk/web/mcol/welcome

. . . and next time read the reviews before ordering something!
https://uk.trustpilot.com/review/www.stklife.com

[gingejbee]

Oh dear.....those Trustpilot reviews say everything.....will you even get a refund, ever?

[Buenchico]

I've just checked the Companies House website to see what information is available about the directors of that company. Dodgy companies often seem to have directors who've 'got their fingers in too many pies', suggesting that they're not really concentrating on running any particular business.

One of the two directors of You Tec Ltd is Vimal Vrajlal Pau. He became a director of another company, Thing Tec Ltd*, just one day before becoming a director of You Tec Ltd. (That company has since been dissolved). On the same day as he took up his position with You Tec Ltd, he also became a director of Santok (UK) Ltd*. Just 11 days later he became a director of MTK Life Ltd*. 9 months after that his directorship of Braintree Property Ltd commenced. 6 months later (in March of this year) he became a director of Pau Capital Ltd, followed by becoming a director of RR (Greenstreet) Ltd last month. All of those companies are still active and Mr Pau remains a director of all of them.

He's also a director of 96 Chesterton Road (Management) Company Ltd, Santok Homes (Monmouth) Ltd, Santok Homes (1) Ltd, Santok Homes (Green Street) Ltd, Lohana Charitable Foundation Ltd, New Dimension Ltd, Santok Asset Managent Ltd, Santok Investments Ltd, Tecdesk (UK) Ltd* and Santok Property Ltd.

He was formerly a director of Lawry Ltd, which is currently in administration, as well as having been a director of the following dissolved companies: The One Watch Ltd*, Tecmobile (International) Ltd*, Kotecha Santok Ltd and Thumbs Up (UK) Ltd*.

All of the companies marked above with an asterisk have (or had) exactly the same address as You Tec Ltd, which is a fairly small lock-up unit on an industrial estate.

Mr Pau appears to run You Tec Ltd jointly with his younger brother. Jignesh, who has several directorship but nowhere near as many as Vimal does.

Maybe I'm jut the suspicious type but I wouldn't trust Mr Pau with an infinite number of the proverbial bargepoles!

[gingejbee]

Well done, Chris....job as researcher on Watchdog beckons.
In fact, these outfits look like they should be investigated by Watchdog.

[THECORBYLOON]

Under Reg 20 of the Consumer Rights Act 2015, relating to the right to reject, Reg 20(15) states,

"A refund under this section must be given without undue delay, and in any event within 14 days beginning with the day on which the trader agrees that the consumer is entitled to a refund."

I am in dispute with a business refusing to refund my £7.50 postage for returning a Wi-Fi booster that didn't boost. Mines is a small amount compared to yours but the principal is the same.

Citizens Advice has to be contacted prior to Trading Standards getting involved so I suggest you do that at the same time as taking CHRIS' advice

[Tuvok]

You might find template letters that you can use.

https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/consumer/template-letters/letters/

[daz1969]

Quick update on my situation with the phone, I have now been given a refund on the phone but unfortunately they will not entertain a refund of the postage, £5, it cost to send it back. They say it clearly states in the T&Cs that return postage is down to the buyer, I told them but the phone was faulty, they haven't responded.

[barry1010]

Report them to Trading Standards as it is against the law not to refund the postage when an item is faulty.

[barry1010]

It's the Citizens Advice Consumer Service that needs to be contacted. If you are in England or Wales call them on 0808 223 1133. For Scotland it is Advice Direct Scotland, 0808 164 6000.
They may be closed due to lockdown but it is worth a try.

[THECORBYLOON]

I'm in the middle of drafting a formal complaint to the company involved in my previous post. They are based in Latvia and their terms say Latvian law applies.

Luckily there's an official English translation of the appropriate Latvian consumer legislation online. I am also quoting UK legislation which is similar.

In Distance Contracts (which your one is) a trader must make the consumer aware of certain proscribed information prior to entering into a contract. This includes informing the consumer that if he or she withdraws from that contract, the consumer is responsible for the cost of returning the goods.

The Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013 Reg. 10(1),(4) & Schedule 2(m) is what supports that.

The consumer has to pay for the cost of returning the goods unless agreed otherwise OR if the trader has not informed the consumer of this condition.
Same Regulations but this time, Reg. 35(5).

I had a look at the STKLife website and this is the link to returns and refunds, https://www.stklife.com/pages/returns-refunds

Can't see anything there about paying for returns, regardless of the reasons.

I would ask them to quote the exact terms they claim to mean you need to pay and give you the link.

I was advised to make a formal complaint to the company, hence my having to prepare the evidence for it.

Contact the Citizens Advice anyway so that they are aware of it and can let Trading Standards know.

[daz1969]

I have had an email back today after quoting the consumer contracts as suggested by THECORBYLOON and they have offered to pay my return postage costs, but they cant refund it back to the card I have paid with, instead I got an email asking me for my full bank details, bank name, my full name, sort code, account number. To be honest Im not comfortable about this, the email address is [email protected] (x's have replaced some of the details), I could be sending my bank details to anyone.

[Buenchico]

^^^ That email address directs to Intercom.com
https://www.intercom.com/
which is a perfectly respectable company supplying customer contact services (such as email and online chat operators) to many major companies across the world. It should be fully safe.

[THECORBYLOON]

Glad to hear you're getting the money back. The chancers I'm dealing with, Hyperstech.com aka Novads OU were investigated by the Advertising Standards Agency (ASA) over a dodgy ad about a face mask and coronavirus.

They ignored the ASA's enquiries so I doubt they'll be too worried about my asking for £7.50 back.

The thing I'm thinking on is that Novads OU say they don't refund any return postage, regardless of the reasons, so God knows how much they've saved.

They operate under a fair few different sites and unless Trading Standards ask me for further details, it's unlikely they will do anything about the wider impact.

I should hear from Trading Standards by next Thursday, so if they're not interested, I'll be contacting the European Consumer Centre, Which?, Martin Lewis at MoneySavingExpert and the Latvian Embassy.

Yes, I should have checked Trustpilot before ordering, thousands of reviews and they're mince!