Problem with Airsoft World/Scotland

[Tinkerton]

In May, (yes, THAT LONG AGO) i placed an order for one can of Olive Krylon, and paid for it the same day. I got a confirmation email, saying that my order was received on the 14th of may. I heard nothing for 4 days, and so emailed again asking what was happening, and why i hadn't received a shipping confirmation or anything. They emailed back saying that the Olive Krylon was out of stock, and that they sent me an email explaining this (i never knowingly recieved this email, and Gmail doesnt normally put replies into spam...)

 

Anyway, i email back asking when its likely to be in stock, and they say that:

We have put an order in for it, it could be up to a week before we get it in.

 

Fair enough, i think, i'm happy to wait a week for it.

 

I hear nothing, until i email them on june the 25th asking if they have any Olive krylon in stock. They email back saying:

We are still waiting.  I shall get Ronseal chased up as they should have delivered by now.

 

Will get back to you as soon as we have spoken to hem

 

Fair enough, i know people can be unreliable sometimes, so i want for them to 'get back to me'.

 

I email yet again on July the 16th, asking about the stock status of the Olive Krylon.

 

July 17th, Airsoft World email me saying:

We have received and are processing the following order, thank you very much.

 

It would be an extra £5.20 to send this item as Aerosols cannot be sent via the post.

 

I email back, stating that i was confused at why it took them this long to inform me of this, and also where to send the money to ( i had paid with paypal originally, and wished to do so again. I'm still wary of using my debit card for transactions)

 

No reply.

 

I send a follow up email on the 15th of august saying pretty much teh same things. Why could you not inform me of the restriction to aerosols, and where do i send the money.

I later change my mind, and decide i want a refund, so i could buy the krylon from somewhere else.

 

No reply. I've phoned up 5 times since, using both the 0845 number, and the one they gave me (01383...) Both lines were engaged/busy every time. on the 0845 number, which went straight to answerphone, i got told 'not to leave a message becuase they wouldnt get around to listening to it.

 

I've had enough. I want my money back, or I want my Krylon at the price i paid for it. If its not resolved by the end of the month, i'll be seeking advice for further action.

[Jack Bauer]

Just managed to get through to them, and the attitude of whoever was on the phone was dreadful. Ranting and raving about terms and conditions, referring to people ordering stuff in presumably for GZ as "morons" for ordering a week before the game. He wasn't a good advert for his company with his angered approach.

 

For the record, they are the ones who took a weeks holiday and they are the ones who had Paul from Actionhobbies put up a pre-order for a £200 support weapon that obviously must have popped in some extra orders for them to process. He was raving about "We get seventy orders a day" as an excuse for this when I was asking about vague langauge in an obviously form email sent that seemed to say it was arriving monday. It indeed was. I asked about this vague langauge, and he stated "the evening shift uses a form email and to change it to read for every customer would take took long."

 

"It will arrive monday" is the only possible answer at the day and time the evening shift works according to him for such orders, with them being collected at 3PM by the courier. Yet they apparently rely on a limited stock of form emails to cover the whole week. True, it can be understood, but it remains vague.

 

True, terms and conditions do say that if busy it can take a while for them to process, and I knew this. I was merely trying to confirm my order would arrive on Monday, and admittedly did take an approach asking something along the lines of "Why call it next day when it is not next day?"

 

However, the message stating they are busy is on the bottom of the front page below a banner saying "GUARANTEED NEXT DAY DELIVERY". Yet their terms and conditions condtradict this "guarantee. This could be taken as false advertising, no? Or at the very least, sloppy website maintenance.

 

On that note, it should also be taken on board that the message is at the bottom due to a gargantuan banner proclaiming them "Retailer of the year" as voted by Airsoft International. This banner in fact hides the "busy" message totally on my browser, and if you were to click any sidebar links first, you would miss it entirely. The same if you are coming into the site via a link from elsewhere to a page other than the homepage.

 

By the way, I didn't tell him I wasn't going to GZ, so the "moron" thing might have been a veiled insult at me, him presuming I am going.

 

So yeah. GZ players who shop at ASW, by the estimation of ASW's worker I spoke to, are morons. Don't shoot the messenger. Mainly because I'm not going. But if I was, none of us could shoot cos we won't have ammo thanks to ASW allowing themselves to build up a backlog whilst on holiday a week before the biggest game of the year and when they bring out a highly desireable product for pre-order.

 

There is a second way of interpreting this complaint about being busy, and that is that they are too busy raking it in to deal with anyone who only ordered a small item or two. Like, say, a tin of paint. Or some ammo.

[Tinkerton]

unfortunately i havent been able to phone them today, so i will try tomorrow a good few times, as i go on holiday on sunday. If they dont answer/ give me even acknowledgement that i have a problem, i will be taking this further. Oh, and i wont be dealing with the again, and i shall be warning the people i know not to deal with them.

 

Could somebody please PM me the process to go through the court for small claims? or whatever it is called.

[pokethepope]

Have you tried contacting Paypal? They have the buyer protection thing that is usually very good (and prompt) at getting the buyer refunded in these sort of situations, im sure it will be a lot quicker and easier than going through the Small Claims court at least. Worth a try i think.

[Tinkerton]

the problem is that i sent the payment 4 months ago, and i think paypal only gives you thirty days to file a dispute, or whatever.

[GuzziHero]

Small Claims requires you to go to a civil court, recieve a paperwork pack, fill out the form and hand over £120 of your hard earned. If you lose, you lose the £120.

 

Been there, done that, got shafted in an insurance case.

[joeking27]

This is a thread to help Tinkerbell sort out his problem with ASW, not for ranting about how rubbish you think they are. There is a review section where you can submit useful comments about a retailer.

 

Any more posts I have to delete from here will receive warn points.

[Catman]

*mumble mumble* fair enough review posted.

 

Tinkerbell, try emailing Stephen Madley at stevemadley[at]btconnect[dot]com - I did find him rather rude but he did issue me with a refund, expect some excuses but just don't expect an apology of any sort. Might be an idea to give the link to this thread in the email.

[Tinkerton]

phoned them up today (didnt get around to it before i went on holiday) and my order is apparently now cancelled, and i'm waiting for my refund, which either should be done today or monday. The chap on the phone did seem to be genuinely nice, and he was very apolagetic. So. I'll post again on monday, or as soon as i get the refund.

 

Even though the chap's telephone manner was very good, and he did seem to be genuinely sorry, i wont deal with them again.

[Tinkerton]

Still no *fruitcage* refund!

 

and unfortunately i've just started a job which i work from 8:30am to 6 PM. monday to saturday. so i can't phone them at all.

 

i will email them again, but i doubt i'll get a reply. can anyone help? its just a *fruitcage* tin of paint. its not like i want a refund for half of the shop.

 

<<<EDIT>>>

 

just sent this to them via the contact us form at the bottom of the contact us page:

 

Hello. I ordered a can of Olive Krylon paint in MAY, (order number DC71SJ10013721) and was told it was out of stock. fair enough, you told me it would be in the following week, so i decided to wait. i continued to ask about the stock status of olive krylon, but had no response. You then emailed me in JULY saying that aerosols cannot be sent via royal mail and must be sent via courier, and so it would be an extra £5.20 for me to get my can of paint (which was now presumably in stock). This irritated me, as you could have put a note in the item description saying this, or contacted me when i first made the order. Fair enough, though. I emailed back asking where to send the money, and recieved no reply, and so emailed back again. twice. still no reply.

 

i phoned up the shop on SEPTEMBER the first, and spoke to a man who appeared to be very apolagetic, and cancelled my order, despite my asking that in one of the emails you never replied to. He then said i would have a full refund through paypal either the next day (saturday) or the following sunday.

 

it is now OCTOBER the third, and i have STILL not received either a partial, or full refund. Please refund me in full, or send me my can of Olive Krylon paint. If i have not received a refund or a can of Olive Krylon paint for the price i originally paid by the end of the month, i will be seeking legal advice.

[slacky]

have you tried posting in their retailer section on the other forum? they seem to reply fast when stuffs put up.

[Tinkerton]

no. I dont really see why i should have to contact them via a third pary when they have a perfectly functioning (even if they choose to ignore it) email system.

 

i might if i dont get a reply though.

[creepingfear]

If they continue to ignore you then yoiu have perfect legal grounds to dispute and get your money back. There's no harm in you contacting their local Trading Standards. AW have to abide by the Law like every other retailer. Don't let them *fruitcage* you about. Take action while you can.

[frenchie]

no. I dont really see why i should have to contact them via a third pary when they have a perfectly functioning (even if they choose to ignore it) email system.

 

i might if i dont get a reply though.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Have PM'd you my direct email address - please drop me a note & we'll sort this.

 

My apologies to one and all for the difficulties encountered recently. Life has been slightly manic, but is improving slowly.

 

F

[Tinkerton]

Still no refund *sigh*

 

just sent an email of to frenchie (again).

 

reckon it'd help if i phoned up during my lunch?

[ChasKi]

I think it would help if someone from trading standards, or someone giving you legal advice called on your behalf instead. Maybe they might feel your case is warranted a longer attention span that way.

[Tinkerton]

supposedly theres a cheque in the post. if it gets here (in my one and only experience with them - unlikely) i'll let you guys know.

 

if it doesnt, then i'm going to find me a solicitor.

[Inq Eisenhorn]

All this for a tin of paint....it sucks don't it! I mean, in reality what are we talking here £20 maybe less? but its the principle, its the thought that they have taken say £20 from you and have given nothing in return!

 

Here's what I would do...in fact, I'm speaking from experience, becuase I bought a rifle from Airsoft Warrior before the VCR came in, anyway it hasn't turned up yet, and I've tried calling, emailing...nothing...its disgraceful how companies can take your money and think any excuse of hectic business etc will release them from their obligation to provide you with service you deserve and the product you paid for!

 

Anyway, what ou should do, and what I will do! Is rather than pay for a solicitor, or go to court (which will cost you money in both cases) is get together with a few friends and actually go to the shop, with your confirmation details and transaction forms, etc.....and politely ask for your product or a refund!!

 

Its easy to ignore an email, or not answer a telephone....its a bit more difficult when a crowd is standing there in fornt of you demanding whats theirs!

 

They won't call the Police, because they have no grounds...you're a customer asking for the goods you paid for and that they accepted payment for! Trust me you will walk away with something....

 

And get a refund for the delivery costs!!

[Tinkerton]

i'd be more than prepared to do that (was prepared about 2 months ago) but unfortunately, i live in norfolk (southish east england) and they're in scotland.

 

a bit far to travel for a tin of paint.

 

and i think my final bill (excluding the added charge for the courier) was just under £10.

[Tinkerton]

STILL NO CHEQUE.

 

will email again, and if its not here by the end of tomorrow, i'm finding a solicitor.

[Inq Eisenhorn]

Trust me a Solicitor is not going to be interested in "under £10"...even if you rack up the bill with other costs like "loss of earnings through worry" etc.....

 

I know you live a long way from Scotland, but trust me, a train ticket is gonna be a whole lot cheaper than hiring a solicitor! They can charge anything upwards from £50 a hour!!