Needed a new Tv/DVD combi unit and saw one on BID TV's schedule on 18/06/10 on a falling price scenario which was due to close at (approx) 20.33 that night. I made an online/web bid of £50 as i was just taking a lucky chance it may be a crazy price reduction job.
It came up on my system with a notice in red that my bid was accepted, but, to warn that this item had previously sold for £249.99 in the past and it may be worth bidding again. The £249.99 price was in the "bid again" box at the bottom of the screeen at this point I thought i may as well up my bid to £100 and as i moved the mouse over to insert my new bid amount in the box to bid again, the screen changed and a message came up thanking me for my bid and confirming it as £249.99.
I called the Customer Service number (if ever a number was so innacurately described it is this one) and advised a girl at the other end of the phone, which was obviously not UK based as the dialling tone changed while it was ringing the number, and advised her that i had made a bid in error for the item, which was an AKURA 21.5" tv/dvd combi unit, and wanted to cancel the bid. She informed me that the item would not show up on her system till after the auction had closed at 20.33 and to call back then and they would sort out the cancellation.
Unsurprisingly, my "bid" of £249.99 was the highest they received for the item, but, the auction closed at £199.99 and i was lucky that i would only have to pay £100 more than my original intended bid!!!
After the auction advised that the item was cancelled and i would receive a full refund in "10 working days maximum", but, should the item be delivered i had to refuse delivery.
I waited till 29th June and then checked my credit card account and Bid Tv site to see if refund had happened, but as expected, it had not and, more worringly, the item was showing on their site as "despatched".
I called customer service (?) number again to be told that a supervisor would call in next 24 / 48 hours to arrange the refund. This was after being informed that 1) i had refused delivery on 25/6/10 which never happened and 2) the item was back at their warehouse.
The promised call never materialised but a couple of days later i tried again and was advised that the matter was "being escalated to a supervisor and they would call in "next 24 hours".
This call also did'nt happen.
I called again today and after telling the first girl i spoke to that i wanted to speak to her supervisor NOW, i spoke to someone who advised that 1) I had refused delivery on 25th June... 2) The item was not back in the warehouse but still with the courier... 3) I cannot get a refund even though they know the item is back with the courier as the item's barcode has to be scanned back into their warehouse before a refund can be made... 4) Should the item not be scanned back in by 7/7/10 i will get a refund regardless.
When i asked why i cannot get my refund now as the item is, by their admission, at the couriers, i was informed that it was not procedure to do this.
As i write i am waiting on a call back from someone at their uk HQ, which they refused to give me a number for, and i have been assured this will be before 5.00 p.m. today. You will understand that i am not holding my breath waiting on this happening
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