HEADS UP - Winstanley Bikes

[LyrradMoor]

Hi

Just thought I would share my transaction details with Winstanley Bikes.

On Saturday 21 Aug I bought a Charge Spoon with a delivery of 2 - 7 days from their website.

Monday 24th August I was informed that delivery would be on or before 29th October. I got email at 5.01 and office hours finish at 5.

Emailed back to state I would like to cancel as delivery not as advertised, and got confirmation that this is accepted and MONEY WOULD BE RETURNED TO MY ACCOUNT WITHIN 3 DAYS.

OK, not the end of the world, and only £19.99. But I have not got my money or my saddle. Surely money should not be taken until goods have been dispatched UNLESS they need my money to buy the goods. If that's the case then it is a poorly run business to say the least.


My advice to anyone. If spending over £100 ALWAYS but ALWAYS use a credit card. A credit card gives you protection that a debit card does not.

Essentially when you purchase anything with a cc over the value of £100.00 you enter into a transaction with both the card company and the retailer. DO NOT BE FOBBED OFF BY THE CARD COMPANY TELLING YOU OTHERWISE. They are both responsible for the transaction. If the reatailer accepts a credit card, the card company are legally responsible to ensure that retailer performs in a proper manner.

Hopefully may help someone in the future.

 

[DM]

Ah, Winstanleys & their (in)famous stocking/charging/shipping model:

Make a huge gert website listing lots of stuff;
Mark everything as "In stock or available almost instantly - Honest!";
Charge for orders immediately, even if items are not actually in stock;
Then try to source items;
Then take forever to ship it;
While providing zero customer updates.

I used them for an item that I couldn't find anywhere else.
I got it, eventually.
But it took forever and it was blatantly never actually in stock when I ordered and paid for it.

 

[MikeD]

Monday was the 23rd August

I'm struggling to see the issue here. You cancelled, they said you'll have your money back in three days, three days haven't elapsed yet. They're perfectly entitled to take the money when you order as long as they tell you they're doing it - usually there's a bit on the checkout page that says "Clicking "Submit" will take funds from your card" or some such.

 

[LyrradMoor]

Monday was the 23rd August

I'm struggling to see the issue here. You cancelled, they said you'll have your money back in three days, three days haven't elapsed yet. They're perfectly entitled to take the money when you order as long as they tell you they're doing it - usually there's a bit on the checkout page that says "Clicking "Submit" will take funds from your card" or some such.

Are they perfectly entitled?

It seems to me that it could not be too difficult to take the payment just prior to goods being dispatched. That's how most reputable online retailers work. If I order something from Amazon, Wiggle, M&S, webtogs etc I can cancel my order if goods have not been prepared etc.

Anyone can set up a website stating 2 -7 days delivery, take your money then go bust, or take the wife and kids out for meal then send an email out stating delivery 6 weeks do you want to pick something else. Their email to me did not offer refund but, Do I want something else rather than wait. To my mind it points to 'by design'.


I certainly will not deal with them again. I like to pay for goods that exist.

 

[MikeD]

Are they perfectly entitled?

Legally, yes. Nothing in the Distance Selling Regulations to forbid it. All that's in there is: "If consumers cancel before they have received the
goods you must refund the total price of the goods, including any
delivery charges," which clearly implies the acceptability of charging before despatch.

It seems to me that it could not be too difficult to take the payment just prior to goods being dispatched. That's how most reputable online retailers work. If I order something from Amazon, Wiggle, M&S, webtogs etc I can cancel my order if goods have not been prepared etc.

I must be missing something. Have you not cancelled your order with Winstanleys in exactly the same way?

From Wiggle's T&Cs: "Due to the nature of the clearing system your credit card payment will be taken at the point of processing. If a problem in supply should occur, your payment method will be refunded as swiftly as possible. The refund may take a couple of days to show as cleared funds on your accoun, depending on payment provider. "

Amazon does work as you'd like, though.

Their email to me did not offer refund but, Do I want something else rather than wait. To my mind it points to 'by design'.

I just think that it might be prudent/fair to wait the three days before complaining. That is all.

 

[Dead Rats]

Winstanleys have never let me down in the past, but I'll be watching this thread with interest having recently placed an order for a Charge Ladle :shock:

 

[WD Pro]

I have used them three times :

2 = goods arrived very quickly
1 = goods took about a week but email updates were good and the delivery was actually quicker than they informed me

Overall, I defo cant complain but do understand that not everthing will run this smooth

WD

 

[Alex Creasey]

Winstanleys have done the same to me this week also but did mail the next day with a projected delivery (a couple of weeks rather than a few days).

'Virtual stocking' is very common in the online aftermarket car game and especially so with Jap cars and parts. I personally don't do it with one of my businesses as it's nothing but a pita constantly chasing your tail rather than actually stocking it and actually sending it to the customer.

 

[hamster]

Technically they only should charge when they ship. This can get blurred a bit with e-commerce, but the principle holds.

Talk to your credit card issuer. They get very strong on this kind of thing, as they end up holding the baby if the goods don't appear.

 

[Radar]

My only grumble with Winstanleys bike department is they use Parcelfarce for shipping :twisted:

Winstanleys pram department is another ballgame altogether :twisted: :twisted: :twisted: :twisted: :twisted: :twisted: :twisted: :twisted: :twisted: (and probably a different forum)