My story is very much the same as everyone's here. I placed an order for a graco travel system (on 18th Oct) from what at first seems to be a very professional looking web site. The company then took my money - straight away and sent me an email confirmation stating that the goods would be delivered within 7-14 days. I waited..and waited.. I emailed..and finally (31st Oct) I got their typical "macro" response:
"We apologise for the delay with your order. This will be dispatched in the next ten days. We apologise for any inconvenience caused. "
Which from what I've read here, is the exact response everyone gets.
So the waiting continued..and I decided to look up reviews..albeit a little too late (Lesson learned!) After seeing so many bad reviews I wrote an angry email on the 6th Nov...which was never replied to...
I wrote a further email on the 18th Nov after contacting my bank and researching a little on Distance Selling Regulations, threatening legal action and this email was answered almost straight away with yet another macro response, worded exactly like so many other reveiws have said -
"Babies247 has been trading online since 2005. Over the past months the site has experienced a significant increase in business which was not forecast. As a result we have had neither enough stock to satisfy all orders or enough staff to provide an adequate level of service to our customers. As a result of this Babies 247 is in the process of suspending its operations until such time that the resources are in place to properly service an online offer in a professional way. It is not possible at this time to provide a direct refund to you. Please contact your card issuer and ask for a "chargeback" to be raised against us for the non delivery of goods. This will ensure that your monies are credited back to you without further delay. Refunds for purchases made by debit card (chargeback's are not possible with these cards) will still be made directly from Babies247. We sincerely apologise for the inconvenience caused by this. Babies247"
Having paid by debit card, I was of course concerned since it seems no one here has been able to get a refund. So again I wrote an angry email demanding my money back and and asking why they are still taking orders, since some of these reviews date from over a year ago. How long does it take to "suspend operations"? The other thing that bothers me is the banner link on their site to thinkbaby.com....why are such a bad company allowed to display this?
This morning I have sent via recorded delivery, a letter quoting distance selling regulations asking for my money back.
Also this morning, I recieved a reply to my email stating:
"The site has not taken an order since the start of Nov. The site is still there so that customers have at least some way of being able to find out how to communicate with us. We don't want to simply disappear on people Kind regards Babies247"
Which I suspect is a lie since it seems like you can still order from their site.
Just a small update - I got the same buggy, same price, same free accessories, delivered next day delivery from - http://stores.ebay.co.uk/Online4baby
I am still waiting for a refund from babies 247.
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
Great review. We are owed £449 by Babies247. We have gone down the route of Trading Standards with no success and the case is currently in the hands of our solicitor.
Advantages: Helpful customer service person, respond to email, refunded canceled order Disadvantages: Didn't have stock of items, seem inept at doing business
Ginge68 18.07.2008 (18.07.2008)
·
Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful
Review of babies247.com
exceptional by (11%):
very helpful by (78%):
helpful by (11%):
