Background:

I ordered Xbox game before Xmas. It was the wrong game, so my fault.

I realised upon receipt, and posted back via myHermes.

I chased Zavvi up for the refund and they responded saying they had no record of receiving the games back in to stock and asked for POD. I sends them said POD which shows the time, date and signature of Zavvi member of staff.

The parcel was signed for on the 03/01/13. The POD was emailed to Zavvi
29/01/13. As I didn’t hear anything back from Zavvi, I emailed them again on 05/02/13 advising them that if I hadn’t received the refund in my account by 12/02/13 (Today) then the matter would be escalated to the ombudsman.

Would you agree I have clear grounds for contacting the ombudsman at this stage? Or am I being a bit keen?

Call them? Phone is always easier

What did you pay with? Credit Card would be the best answer to this question, as they may be able to charge back.

No number mate otherwise I would have done. 😕

Zavvi.com 0844 264 0702 01606 336169

May work – from SayNoto 0870.com

or

http://www.contactnumber.org/contact/zavvi/

@ Martinhutch – cheers however the 0844 is a recorded message referring you to their ‘message centre’ via your ‘online account’. The 01606 is constantly engaged. It was paid by debit card, not credit card. 😡

@ bruneep – see above. cheers.

Anyone else?

You might as well be buying knock-off stuff out of the back of a van for all the post-purchase support you get from scumbags like this.

OK, stage 2:

The Hut.com

Matthew Moulding Chief Executive

E-mail matthew.moulding@thehutgroup.com
Website http://www.thehut.com
Twitter @thehut_com

Email him, start leaving some caustic messages on their twitter and facebook accounts.

You’re spot-on, not sure how they get away with it tbh. I will send Matthew a little love message to see if he exists if nothing else. 😉

Thanks for getting in touch about your refund.
I am sorry that your refund has not been actioned for you, I would also like to apologise for the inconvenience that this has caused you.

I have now action your refund, this usually takes between 3-5 working days to show into your account.

If there’s anything else I can do please don’t hesitate to get in touch and I will be more than happy to help.

Kind regards,
Jeanette,
Customer Relations Executive.

*update*

I emailed Mr Moulding yesterday and today I received the above response.

Good work Mr Hutch 😉

Which ombudsman?

I often see threats to us that customer care pass on, where someone says “I’ll report you to the ombudsman” – it’s like a misguided adult version of “I’m going to tell my dad”.

Just send a polite (and this is important, be POLITE – you are dealing with human beings and their level of helpfulness is inversely proportional to rudeness, rantiness etc) email to customer services again, chasing it up. Ensure you include all relevant information, reference numbers etc. Stick to facts not feelings, this is probably just a little admin oversight and certainly not worth getting upset over.

Glad to be of service… 8)

Not that you’ve actually got your money yet.

andyrm – you’re a bit late to the party. I’ve done the POLITE emails and they’re being ignored.

I’m not upset about it, it’s just £15, if it was more and I was in need of the money I may think about getting upset and telling my Dad or in this case, the ombudsman.

Using the ombudsman is the last resort I reckon and if the company you are in dispute with won’t even respond (bearing in mind you have followed THEIR procedures to the letter), then contacting the ombudsman is the correct and proper way to go and in no way misguided. 😉

There is no ombudsman for what ails you. So it’s definitely the last resort.

There is no ombudsman for what ails you. So it’s definitely the last resort.

My point exactly! 🙂

Just checked Google Calendar – if you originally emailed them 29/01/13, the 5th of Feb is only 5 working days. I know that from my own dealings with Trading Standards on a professional basis that they accept up to 10 working days as a reasonable time to reply to an email enquiry.

Useful info above. Mrs Removed is experiencing similar with Zavvi right now. We bought the baby a Sean the Dream Sheep (musical sheep) in a vain effort to get him to go the flip to sleep.

Its head fell off and stuffing started coming out – on closer examination, there was barely any stitching. We also followed Zavvi’s return instructions and have been getting robbed off ever since. They have no record of receiving it. They have no emails from us with the scanned proof if postage. They need the while lot sent through yet again.

Avoid.

If you put that you ‘always try to respond to emails within 1 working day’ on your website, it could be argued that you’re creating a reasonable expectation that this will happen.

Even if you miss your 1 day aim, the customer would be expecting a reply of some kind within a couple of days or three at the most, and would definitely be feeling somewhat ignored by five, regardless of what Trading Standards say.

I notice your other thread on emotional responses. I don’t think the OP’s initial response here was entirely over-emotional and unreasonable.

Obviously he didn’t understand the ombudsman system, but lack of contact left him feeling powerless, and I can see how that can provoke an emotional response.

The essence of good customer service in online shopping (because there is no face-to-face element to build trust) is swift communication. Even if it’s just a standard email saying that the problem will take a while days to sort out, so bear with us. If firms raise false expectations in customers, then this is a fairly inevitable consequence.

Trading standards may have a view on what is reasonable, but that is way out of kilter with my expectations as a customer, and I’d be wary about using it as an example of good practice.

A holding email of the type I’ve described takes seconds to produce – if any company gave me two weeks of blank screen in response to a email I wouldn’t use them again.

*Update*

They’ve given me a £5 credit for my troubles, “patience” and “loyal custom” so it would appear that they have accepted that they fell short:-)

Love when a plan comes together *offers a high 5 to MH* 😉