Online Shopping

[Ankou]

back in march i placed an online order with a .co.uk company for some dvds and paid there and then, and a week or so later a package arrived all fine, but one of the dvd’s was missing. it was an import package, not recorded delivery or anything, so they were obviously selling dvd’s cheaper as they were posted from abroad.

so i emailed the company straight away and they said they did not know why that happened and would look into it. a few days later i emailed again asking progress since i had not heard anything. they replied within a day and said that it was out of stock and they were sending it now. a week went by and still no dvd, i left it for a few more days. i emailed them again asking where it could be, 3-4 days later they replied and said that delivery was attempted by the post office but nobody was in, so we should try the delivery office. well my wife is a stay at home mum and we had no note from the post office. we live in a fairly smallish village and the postie would be more likely to leave it with a neighbour anyway or it could have fitted through the letterbox?

so we tried at the delivery office anyway, and they said no delievries fr our address. at this point i did more digging on the website and could not find a contact telephone number at all, al comms by email.

i have sent at least one email a week since and they have not replied at all. the dvd is probably worth about a tenner, but it really naffs me off that they have just taken my money claim to have award winning customer support, have no telephone number and are just ignoring my emails for an update or requesting a refund (which i haven’t received).

i know i should probably just write it off as a bad deal, but is there any recourse?

[Buenchico]

It would help if you would name the company. That's because a .co.uk address doesn't necessarily mean that the firm is based in the UK (or elsewhere within the EU, where you retain the same statutory rights). It's pointless anyone here telling you how to pursue an EU company if the trader you're dealing with is actually in, say, China.

So which company is it?

Chris

[Ankou]

hi chris, thanks for posting anyway

the site is:

http://www.citydvd.co.uk/shop/

[Buenchico]

Oh dear, I think that you've got problems.

The domain name CityDVD.co.uk is registered to an address (using a PO Box number) in Guernsey. The chance of that being the actual location of the company is negligible.

Indeed, the company goes out of its way to say "Your silly UK (and EU) rules don't apply to us, so tough sh!t, mate!". Of course they put it slightly differently but their statements amount to exactly that. Here's what they actually say:

Quote 1:
"We are not a UK based business, we have no connection with the UK whatsoever and we maintain a .co.uk domain name for the benefit of our UK customers who usually like to shop on a website that is priced in UK Pounds"

Quote 2:
" . . . if it truly does go pear-shaped then be aware that we are not constrained by the distance selling regulations of the UK and we are outside the remit of the Rome convention. Your consumer rights are affected by this . . . "

Source:
http://www.citydvd.co...d56614171331187747342

So you seem to be dealing with a company outside of the EU. The chances are that it's in the Far East, quite possibly in China. So, unless you know a Cantonese-speaking lawyer with expert knowledge of what limited consumer protection laws there might be in China, you're wasting your time trying to pursue any legal claim.

Sorry!

Chris

[Ankou]

yeah i thought as much.

thanks for your reply though.