Refund On A Phone From UK Company Now Closed: Possible or Not ?

[RoadsterUK]

I bought a cheap android phone from a UK company which is now closed/bust. Basically the phone fails to make calls & text messages after about 3 weeks of usage (it was a chinese imitation costing £150)

I emailed the company about 4 days ago (but as it was Easter) wasn't expecting a response. Their website was active yesterday, today I checked and it gone. They basically sold chinese tablets, mini tv sticks & android mobile phones which they supposedly imported from China.

The redirect on their websites states the following:


InGadget.co.uk is now closed.


We tried our best to provide you with the best service we could but to achieve this you need to have full support from suppliers and brands which we could not get.

All our tablets were bought from here:

FAO Eric
SUITE 27
65 PENARTH ROAD
CARDIFF
CF10 5DL
UNITED KINGDOM

We want to say thank you for everyone who showed support.

Thanks from all the team!


Is it worth contacting/going to that person at that address for refund or not ?

EDIT: What is the likely relationship of that person to ingadget.co.uk

Thanks for any advice, never been in this situation before

Latest: Interesting I just did a Google search of the address and found didobuy.com which is another similar site selling tablets etc.

The funny thing about that is:

I looked up http://www.didobuy.com/ a couple of months back, and if I recall corectly they were operating from a trading estate in Slough, not Cardiff, which is where it says they are based on the About Us page:

http://www.didobuy.com/about-us

The main page says they are in Cardiff, the About Us page says Slough and they were somehow connected to Ingadget (apparently my phone was dispatched from Southampton)

Anyone any ideas ?

 

[Steven]

That would indicate it is a one man band: InGadget.co.uk - InGadget - Android Tablets, WHDI, Bluetoot

Depends on the status of the original site, sole trader or private limited company. You can still pursue privately or with the administrator / liquidator respectively. Of course before court action it is worth checking they have the ability to pay and whether you have the time / expense to see it through over a £150 handset. Might be worth a letter or two of course

 

[stevelup]

Did you pay by credit card? If so, you could try contacting your card issuer.

 

[RoadsterUK]

Yes I paid by Credit Card

 

[stevelup]

You should be fine then - speak to your card provider, explain the unit isn't fit for purpose and that the vendor has gone out of business, and they will probably refund you.

 

[RoadsterUK]

Ah ok fine. I think i've had it exactly 3 three weeks, if my memory serves me correctly.

 

[RoadsterUK]

Do you think its the same company with two different websites or.....?

 

[stevelup]

Don't think the other company is related, other than that's where he bought his stock from.

This is though...

 

[RoadsterUK]

Oh so you don't think he imported anything from China, just bought from another site to sell on his own site...thats strange

 

[stevelup]

Well, he certainly seems to be passing the buck back to the other supplier, and the 'you need to have full support from suppliers and brands which we could not get' comment suggests that the relationship between the two of them has somehow broken down.

Anyway, I really wouldn't worry about it too much - you're almost certainly covered by your card issuer.

 

[RoadsterUK]

Thats what I thought, why on earth would you possibly mention that person at that address. Anyway thanks for that, i'll contact the credit card company and see what they say and update here.

 

[RoadsterUK]

Just to clarify I paid by CC through Paypal (I don't have a Paypal account), but just entered the card details etc there. I don't know if that makes any difference ?

 

[stevelup]

Should still be ok - they were just acting as a payment processor

 

[RoadsterUK]

Fine, I'll try & find out tomorrow. Oh yeah I do remember from the ingadget website they had some drop ship facility in Cyprus. Now Cyprus has gone bad i'm not surprised their out of business !

 

[RoadsterUK]

I had an email from the person who sold me the phone from ingadget this morning, he said

"I'm sorry but we werent given any prior warning. I'll see if there is anything we can do ? "

Shall I wait for further response before contacting the Credit Card company ?

 

[RoadsterUK]

I'll give them the benefit of the doubt, still the weekend or Monday.....

 

[RoadsterUK]

Havent heard anything since from Ingadget, so rang the CC company this morning, they told me to firstly raise the dispute with PayPal.

Sent an email to Paypal, got an automated response, saying to contact via their website. I filled out a web form & have again received an automated response to "log in" to my account.

Only problem is I don't have a Paypal Account. I purchased the phone with a credit card & as stevelup pointed out PayPal were acting as the payment processor.

I shall try ringing Paypal, I have found a UK number:

0844 41 43 019

If anyone knows any other number(s), or other advice much appreciate it ?

Will report back tomorrow.

 

[stevelup]

You need to go back to your bank and explain to them that you do not have a PayPal account. You don't need to deal with PayPal.

 

[RoadsterUK]

I did tell them that I didnt have a PayPal account, they told me that PayPal would raise the dispute with the Merchant.

I'll ring them up again & tell them couldnt contact PayPal, as they want me to login to an account. Therefore if required for them to contact PayPal themselves.


She said something because the payment appears as: PAYPAL*SALES

 

[stevelup]

PayPal will not speak to you as you are not their customer. You need to be a firmer with your bank.

 

[RoadsterUK]

OK fine, thanks for that. Will update tomorrow

 

[RoadsterUK]

Spoke to the CC company just now, they said they will refund the money tomorrow on a temporary basis and also send a claim form. I am to fill in the claim form & send it back to them. They will then contact the seller's bank, hopefully then situation will be resolved.
I shall provide further feedback as to when the refund has been given on a permanent basis once this has occurred.

Thanks again

 

[Ayub]

0800 358 7929. PayPal

 

[RoadsterUK]

Thanks for that Ayub but am completely the necessary forms today to send back to CC company

 

[RoadsterUK]

This morning received a letter back from the CC company:

Re: Transaction from PayPal Sales

Having fully reviewed the documentation, which you have supplied in support of your claim, we note that the transaction was debited to your account by PayPal.

I would like to inform you that PayPal is a payment method used to transmit payments between yourself and the supplier of the goods that you have ordered. When payments are made to a company that is not the one providing you with the end goods, as is the case with PayPal, there is no claim under Section 75 because the credit card company must have a direct relationship with the supplier for them to be equally liable. This is known as the "debtor-creditor-supplier" agreement.

As per the terms of Section 75, on this occasion, PayPal have fulfilled their obligation by passing funds to the supplier of items, and as their is no breach of contact or misrepresentation by PayPal, it is with regret I inform that we are unable to guarantee the outcome.

I would also like to confirm that we have made representations to the merchant's processing bank on your behalf, however we are totally reliant on the goodwill of this retailer to respond, as the purchase was transacted through a third party.

In the circumstances, a temporary credit of £149.99 is applied to your bank account; this adjustment will appear on your next monthly statement. All representations of this nature are undertaken on a goodwill basis, as such we are unable to guarantee the success of such representations and should our representations prove unsuccessful, we will accept no liability in this respect.

If you have any further queries regarding this transaction please contact us ..................

I guess I just wait !