talkmagic.co.uk

February of this year saw me ordering some items from a supposedly reputable magic dealer. To be fair to them it was an order made up of three magic videos, two which turned out to apparently be hard to source. They were dully dispatched and I received them sometime around June. Though the third product has not been sent.

I have written several emails and tried phoning the company but with little real joy to be honest. It has me most frustrated to know that there are companies I have dealt with who are consistently on the ball when it comes to delivery, or keeping the customer appraised.

I am now sort of resigned to neither getting my money back, or the product that I ordered. Is this a common thing, and what can be done about it? Is this period of time for delivery really acceptable nowadays?

Dave Woods

Eight months seems rather too long to wait for an order, unless the vendor has explained the reason and offered a refund if you are not prepared to wait.

I'm willing to bet that 28 days is the maximum for a (reasonable and) legal period of time.

I'd ask for a refund now and offer the possibility of continuing with the order only once they have the item in hand.

T.

If you paid with a credit card you should be covered by the credit card's guarantee and it might be worth your while getting on to your credit card company and seeing if they can help you out.

Name and shame!

Thank you for your replies. The whole situation was highlighted even more today. Yesterday I put an order in to Alakazam, and the stuff turned up this morning. It's a fair old difference isn't it between several months and essentially twenty four hours. I am not sure if it is appropriate to name to company in question, as I am sure it would make little difference. I saw two posts from the past that asked a similair question to mine regarding them.

Thank you very much for your replies. I have sent one last email to the company in question, and explained that I have discussed it on a forum. I am not currently prepared to name the company as I am not sure what good this would do. I noticed that there were past postings regarding similar issues, though not stretching as long as this one has. If I do not get satisfaction I will look at how I paid for the items, and if it is a credit card will try down that route. Thank you for the suggestion Lady of Mystery.

To balance out this issue I put an order into Alakazam yesterday, and received it in the post this morning. Now that really is service.

Dave Woods

I have now received a reply from the company in question, and they have finally agreed to a refund and some products as compensation.

Dave Woods

Glad to hear you finally got a good result!

davewoods wrote:To balance out this issue I put an order into Alakazam yesterday, and received it in the post this morning. Now that really is service.

Dave Woods

This is my experience every time with Alakazam. Top class service with goods more often than not arriving within 24 hours of ordering. They are one of the best on line shops I have ever dealt with in any product group

Johnny Wizz wrote:

davewoods wrote:To balance out this issue I put an order into Alakazam yesterday, and received it in the post this morning. Now that really is service.

Dave Woods

This is my experience every time with Alakazam. Top class service with goods more often than not arriving within 24 hours of ordering. They are one of the best on line shops I have ever dealt with in any product group

Same here, excellent service.

If you have recieved bad service from a company and have made the proper calls, emails, letters etc and a reasonable amount of time has passed without a resolution, then the reason to name the company is so others are aware of the issues and what has/had transpired.

Buyer beware goes hand in hand with buyer be informed. It seems to me that enough time had elapsed without you getting a proper response (or any response) and the only reason they seemed to respond is because you mentioned message board and internet. There may be other reasons but from what I can deduce from your posts that is what makes sense to me.

I just don't put up with poor service anymore. On the other hand when I recieve excellent service I let people know that as well.

I tend now to only purchase from the TM sponsors! If they support this site, I'll support them!

And of course, I use International Magic - It seems right to support my local magic shop!

The reason you got a result is BECAUSE you implied that you would name them! I think this is a very good tactic as a last resort if you are getting the run around. Give them a chance to respond before naming them. The very thought that you might name them and cost them business scares them into action.

In the old days the best tactic was to complain to the magic magazine that you saw them advertise in. That usually got results as the magazine would contact them tut-tutting about the matter.

Keep this naming option in reserve though. You still haven't got the refund and it may well be a delaying tactic.