talkmagic.co.uk

Has anyone ever had an order from Alakazam go astray in the post? I've just noticed their policy on lost orders; they won't resend it and it's your loss unless you pay to have it sent by special delivery. Seems a bit harsh. I don't know of any other dealers with the same policy. Makes me a bit apprehensive to place orders with them now, as I've had a couple of orders go missing in the last year or so.

i had a copy of Annemann's PMM go missing (after it was on back order) and when i phoned them they traced it with Royal mail and then re-sent it to me. This was just after Blackpool too so i imagine they would have been busy.

Is that legal, Replicant? I thought it was the shop's responsibility until it landed on your door mat?

i would assume this to be the case, unless they ship out by courier, which can be tracked door to door.

Lady of Mystery wrote:Is that legal, Replicant? I thought it was the shop's responsibility until it landed on your door mat?

That's what I thought, too. This is taken from their terms of business...

In the event of loss of a first class parcel, Alakazam Magic Ltd cannot be held responsible and will not resend or replace a lost item...If a first class package is lost or undelivered the customer can request Alakazam Magic to put a trace on the item but this can take up to four weeks before processing begins...Next day delivery is the preferred shipping option and it shall be automatically added to all orders made via the telephone unless otherwise requested by the customer. If the customer chooses not to take this option then Alakazam Magic Ltd cannot be held responsible if there is delay or loss on a first class package and the company accepts no liability for loss or holds the responsibility to replace lost packages free of charge.

I have never heard of such a policy from any website, magic-related or otherwise. Unless you're willing to go to the extra expense of paying for special delivery on every order you place with them, then you risk losing your money if your order goes missing. That's how I interpret the above, anyway. I think I will only be using Alakazam for items which are exclusive to them from now on.

They're referring to first class letter post, not signed for, and the Post Office will only compensate up to a certain value for losses under that service. It takes ages to process a claim via the PO for that sort of thing so Alakazam are probably right in the way they state that policy. I'd imagine that they, like a lot of other suppliers, have to deal with many spurious claims or claims where the item is just delayed through no fault of theirs or the customer. Annoying though it is to have to pay any extra, some sort of tracked or signed for service has to be a better choice, PO Special Delivery is one of the best services but, of course, someone has to be in to sign and take delivery or you need to collect from the local sorting office.

Shoddy if you ask me. I once ordered a book off amazon from Powells that went amiss (not sent recorded) and I got a full refund. The book finally turned up and I was told I could keep the book and the refund

See, that's why you refund lost items. You get talked about on internet forums

Peter isn't daft. He's been hawking stuff for long enough to have taken legal advice over the years.

He knows that UK law (er whatever that means, IANAL) protects the consumer and that his statement is piffle. Even if it's possible to insert a contractual clause that derogates from your rights, I suspect that in practice it's not terribly enforceable.

check out oft.gov.uk guide on distance selling. Basically where goods are lost in transit, then the vendor (with certain exceptions like financial services, property but not magic tricks - it says that in the legislation) has to reimburse the customer: it's the Distance Selling 2000 regulations . I don't know about having to get the mail to trace it, but I would expect that the small claims court or the local authority trading standards would consider what was a reasonable wait.

Irrelevant that some people might be fraudsters, Pete, old bean: it's the cost of doing business.

However, think about Alakazam. they are a very credible organisation that risks a significant reputational loss by not treating you fairly. They have a bricks-and-mortar shop (with assets you can sieze) that you can call and call in on. Peter Nardi knows only too well that if you were legit, you made a formal complaint to trading standards, took him to the small claims court and then presented the facts on the interwebby forums then he'd lose rather more than the cost of a bit of plastic.

A damn sight more reliable than ebay, IMHO.

Mind you, I've never actually ever had to make a claim against a distance seller ...

Mandrake, I always request special delivery on high value orders, otherwise I just stick with the standard first class service. Doesn't make sense to pay £5-odd for special delivery on a £10 order.

Don't get me wrong, folks. I've always received good service from Alakazam in that they are always very prompt to dispatch orders. But the true test of any company is how they handle legitimate complaints if things go wrong. I'm not saying they should immediately issue a refund if an order doesn't arrive within 24 hours; I was just a little taken aback to read their policy because I've not seen it anywhere else. And I've never had cause to put their customer service to the test so I don't know to what extent they enforce that policy.

magicmann wrote:I am interested to here from anyone who has registered as a VIP is the £9.99 a good deal.

Paul

Thats something I'm interested to hear too. Noone joined from here?