UK users: Beware MacWarehouse - dodgy dealings

messiah

You know MacWarehouse - one of the biggest (if not the biggest UK Apple dealer)? The same guys that advertise in just about every Mac mag that there is?



PROBLEM #1

I ordered an upgrade to the Adobe Creative Suite CS (Premium) and when it arrived it wasn't as described on their [MacWarehouse's] website, so I phoned them an returned it. That was over a month ago and I still haven't seen the money.



Everytime I phone them I'm told the same thing - that the refund failed the last time but that it'll go through this time. That's over a month I've been out of pocket and nobody at their end seems to know what's going on.



PROBLEM #2

I was after a 6800 Ultra graphics card, and they were thin on the ground so I was pleased to find that MacWarehouse had seven of them in stock. So once again I pulled out my credit card and ordered one. Upon checking that everything was proceeding as normal, I discovered that they didn't actually have them in stock, and that I would have to wait 14 days for MacWarehouse to restock... so I e-mailed them and asked them to cancel the order. I received an email back saying that the order had been cancelled and that that was the end of it.



Except that it wasn't, because I received my credit card statement in this morning and it turns out that MacWarehouse have charged me for the card anyway.



It turns out that it is company policy to charge the full amount to the card even if they do not have the goods in stock ? which I always thought was illegal. So they are now telling me that I will have to wait on a refund to the card (is this starting to ring any bells?).



It would seem that MacWarehouse also have a policy of telling customers that they will get a refund and then not actually giving them the refund ? which sounds a bit like a company that is about to go down the tubes to me. The problem is, that if they go down the tubes there's a good chance that I'll be out of pocket big time.



So who should I contact next? Trading Standards, Watchdog?



Mods, please feel free to move this to the appropriate forum ? I wasn't sure where I should stick it ? but I wanted to make UK users, who might be considering a major purchase in the near future, aware of MacWarehouse's business policies...

awill

I am not sure about the credit card standards in the UK, but in the states if there is a dispute between a company and a cardholder, you can get your money back. If it is the same you need to call the credit card and tell them that the company did not fulfill their end of the deal and they will refund the money. They will then begin to research your claim and determine if it is valid or not. If your claim is valid you will not have to pay that amount. The quicker you take care of this the quicker you can stop interest charges on your credit card. I had this happen to me 2 weeks ago and they took it off my card the same day and I just recieved a letter stating it was valid claim and will not be charged on my account. That is one of the reasons it is always good to make large purchases on a credit card. It protects you. Like I said before I am not familiar with the credit card laws in the UK, but I am in the states. Hope this helps.

pbg4 dude

Don't forget also, your credit card company will start an investigation when you call them, but most companies require a written explanation of the events as well.

messiah

Cheers Guys...

mr skills

Just to confirm - this is the same in the UK. By law you can tell your card company that you want to put a transaction into 'dispute'.

lundy

Yeah - I'm going to move this to the Lounge. We don't have General Discussion anymore.

executivesaver

My own experience of dealing with Macwarehouse reflects that of other posts on this forum. I ordered an Elgato Eye TV Diversity, which on arrival did not work. I read the manual,ran through all the troubleshooting suggestions on the Elgato website, read their forums and finally I contacted technical support at Macwarehouse. Their rep simply starting reading the same troubleshooting tips from the Elgato website I had already implemented. To cut a long story short, I asked for a refund, and I was told they would not give me a refund unless the item was confirmed to be faulty by the manufacturer. After a drawn out discussion I quoted the sale of goods act and was asked if I had read their terms and conditions which states they only do business on a business to business basis which precludes them from the sale of goods act, to which I replied regardless of their terms and conditions the items they sell must fulfil the purpose for which it was bought and this item clearly didn't. However I spent 10 days toing and frowing with Elgato in America receiving conflicting advice from three different Elgato reps before finally giving up and deciding to challenge the Macwarehouse to refund my purchase.



SO BEWARE this company says it only sells on a business to business basis, and uses this as an excuse to provide extremely poor customer service and its seems they will do all they can to get out of issuing a refund. I far as I can see if they do not qualify a customer as being a business user they are selling to members of the public hiding behind terms and conditions which make this companies morals questionable.

neiltc13

Quote:

Originally Posted by executivesaver


My own experience of dealing with Macwarehouse reflects that of other posts on this forum. I ordered an Elgato Eye TV Diversity, which on arrival did not work. I read the manual,ran through all the troubleshooting suggestions on the Elgato website, read their forums and finally I contacted technical support at Macwarehouse. Their rep simply starting reading the same troubleshooting tips from the Elgato website I had already implemented. To cut a long story short, I asked for a refund, and I was told they would not give me a refund unless the item was confirmed to be faulty by the manufacturer. After a drawn out discussion I quoted the sale of goods act and was asked if I had read their terms and conditions which states they only do business on a business to business basis which precludes them from the sale of goods act, to which I replied regardless of their terms and conditions the items they sell must fulfil the purpose for which it was bought and this item clearly didn't. However I spent 10 days toing and frowing with Elgato in America receiving conflicting advice from three different Elgato reps before finally giving up and deciding to challenge the Macwarehouse to refund my purchase.



SO BEWARE this company says it only sells on a business to business basis, and uses this as an excuse to provide extremely poor customer service and its seems they will do all they can to get out of issuing a refund. I far as I can see if they do not qualify a customer as being a business user they are selling to members of the public hiding behind terms and conditions which make this companies morals questionable.

I may be wrong here, but I would have thought that for a company to state that the business to business terms apply (even if you "accept" their terms and conditions on the website), that company would need to prove that you are placing your order on behalf of a business. Other companies that do this in the real world (such as cash and carry stores) usually require evidence that you are a business before they will open an account for you.