Land Of Leather refund help?

parmenion

Hi,

Hope someone here can point me in the right direction. Paid a sizable deposit on a sofa in land of leather in oct last year. Sofa had to be ordered in from Italy which would take 12-14 weeks. When I heard they were going into administration in January I called around to the store to cancel the order and get a refund but they told me that the sofa was on it's way and the order would be processed. I rang them a week later Jan20th and they said the container had arrived but was waiting customs clearance they said I should have the sofa within two weeks. In two weeks time I rang again to be told the same thing wait another two weeks. I rang them this morning and they said that the order was now not being processed and to contact my credit card company to get a refund. Rang MBNA and explained the situation but they say that I've gone over 120 days(yesterday) and they cant cancel or refund. So it seems like land of leather have been stringing me along week after week after week saying that the goods were going to be delivered and as soon as the 120 day limit is up they cancel and keep my money. I've e-mailed and rang the administrators that have taken over Land Of Leather but havn't recieved any replies. Is there any way to get my deposit back? or will this be an expensive lesson learned?

Thanks

Nody

Sounds like you're in for a expensive lesson learned I'm afraid.

Sponge Bob

You can sue the liquidator in the small claims court for misleading you on your order . Had they said that it was not being fulfilled you could have charged back .

Read MBNA terms again , is it 120 days AFTER initial indicative delivery date or 120 days from first order ?? You can never trust that shower either

hobochris

Having worked for this company before I can tell you it is down to extremely bad stock control + transport system. The 2 weeks in customs is the only part they have no control over the rest though is down to a badly designed system where stock(including special orders) arrives randomly into warehouses. the staff themselves have very little control over this.

Did they say if your order is a special order? If not I would contact their head office in north fleet in the Uk. If it is a special order you've probably lost your deposit.

hobochris

Sponge Bob wrote: »

You can sue the liquidator in the small claims court for misleading you on your order . Had they said that it was not being fulfilled you could have charged back .

no can do I'm afraid. Land of leather have it in the terms and conditions of the contract that the lead time is not they exact date but only an estimate, which may changed.

As she the customer signed this agreement(binding contract) she agreed to the terms of it.


This is one of the many reasons I would never buy from land of leather or any other large furniture retailer.

Sponge Bob

The administrator or receiver was in charge on Jan 20th , LoL management and stock control is irrelevant as are their T&Cs

The OP spoke to an employee of this administrator receiver...not of Land of Leather as such . An important technicality.

parmenion

Thanks all, I've faxed MBNA all correspondense from LOL and the administrators and they're going to have a look and let me know if there's anything they can do. In the last letter from the administrator they state "The company's records show that you have paid some monies in respect of purchase of certain goods from the company which are yet to be delivered to you. Unfortunatly we do not have your goods in stock and will be unable to fulfill your order at the present time. Whilst it is not possible to confirm that the company's operations will be sold as a going concern, I can confirm that I am at an advanced stage of negotiations with an interested party and believe that there is a good prospect of a sale of the business being concluded in a matter of days. Whilst I cannot guarantee this, I can confirm that your deposit is safe." on the next page " You are entitled to contact your card provider for a refund, but not until i have confirmed in writing to you that your order can not be fulfilled" followed by "please note that the administrator appointment does not entitle you to cancel your order and seek the return of any deposits". I have tried several times to contact the administrator by e-mail and phone but have not recieved any replies. The chap in the store who sold me th suite rang me yesterday to apologise and said he didnt think LOL ever put my order through in the first place. I'll let you know what MBNA come back to me with.

johno126

parmenion wrote: »

Thanks all, I've faxed MBNA all correspondense from LOL and the administrators and they're going to have a look and let me know if there's anything they can do. In the last letter from the administrator they state "The company's records show that you have paid some monies in respect of purchase of certain goods from the company which are yet to be delivered to you. Unfortunatly we do not have your goods in stock and will be unable to fulfill your order at the present time. Whilst it is not possible to confirm that the company's operations will be sold as a going concern, I can confirm that I am at an advanced stage of negotiations with an interested party and believe that there is a good prospect of a sale of the business being concluded in a matter of days. Whilst I cannot guarantee this, I can confirm that your deposit is safe." on the next page " You are entitled to contact your card provider for a refund, but not until i have confirmed in writing to you that your order can not be fulfilled" followed by "please note that the administrator appointment does not entitle you to cancel your order and seek the return of any deposits". I have tried several times to contact the administrator by e-mail and phone but have not recieved any replies. The chap in the store who sold me th suite rang me yesterday to apologise and said he didnt think LOL ever put my order through in the first place. I'll let you know what MBNA come back to me with.

Im in the same boat mate , paid in full for my suite in oct last year, had all the letters saying dont worry my money was safe and my suite would be delivered , then had a letter off the administrator last sat saying that the only way i was going to get any money back was if i was to BUY another suite for a minimum of £1200 they would give me £525 discount off the new suite ,even if i was stupid enuff to give um more of my money i still wouldnt get a suite as they have gone bust ,trading standards say that i have no chance of getting my money back . so if any one finds a way twisting there arm please tell me as im out of pocket to the tune of over a grand .

parmenion

Just an update in case anyone else is in the same boat. After faxing over all correspondense to the MBNA claims dept they rang me to say that I was to be refunded and the deposit would be credited back to my card that evening. Checked my account and it's there all right. Happy day's... They did say that LOL have 45days to dispute the refund but I don' see how they could. Lot to be said for paying deposit with credit card but just to be aware of the 120 day rule. Have to say that MBNA were very good on the phone whenever I rang and solved this problem fairly quickly for me.