uk Blinds?

[phill123]

hi,

sorry i am writing on behalf of my husband's sister. she has agreed toi have some blinds being drawn three weeks agos. she hasn't signed anything but thre person whi cones around to took the measurement told her that she will have to pay 10% of deposit and he will be around o -within a week to install the blinds. he gaved her a just a peice of paper with his name and her phone number which do not correspond to the headofice. when we rang them up they were very interested where we heard this phone number but will not tell us why they were so ?! she had paid this guy 100 pounds. the guy who "supposed" to work for UK blinds ask her to pay 100 pounds of deposit whihc was chewue after two weeks and a half but she hasn't heard anything at all. however it is abotu three weeks now she had waited her cheque just had been cashed in bu tnothinfg happend do you think she had contracted a dodgy sales men ? if yes what can she do to redress the situation? thank you for your advice.

[MARTIN3030]

Not as clear as it could be....for more reasons than one.

Welcome to the site.

If the cheque has been cashed then I suggest you go to the bank and ask them for some details.

Secondly contact your local trading standards and ask them if they are aware of similar cases in your area but even if they havnt you are filing a complaint.

Its quite likely that you wont be alone in this supposed [problem] and your info make help a wider investigation if theres one ongoing.

The golden rules are that you should not part with money without being certain that it is legitimate.

In the case of anyone offering these kinds of services,you should check that they are regulated by the FSA.

[MARTIN3030]

Have had a quick look in complaints archives but unable to find anything which is not a bad sign.

The joint directors of this company are Paul Taylor and Graham Shaw.Trading Standards are likely to ask you to contact them in writing (send recorded delivery) first to try and resolve this.Their details are;

 

UK Blinds Direct

National Distribution Centre Telephone: 01706 341170

Freephone: 0800 0288 998

Fax: 01706 341 414

Chichester Street

Rochdale

Lancashire

OL16 2AU

 

 

Whilst the company itself may be totally innocent of any wrongdoing its in their interests to confront them with the facts that you have.

 

 

In the alternative you could always call Rochdale trading standards and ask if they have had any dealings with these too.

Their number is; 01706 924186

[electron99]

There is a lot of information missing from the O.P. For example; did you contact the salesman and arrange an appointment - if so which telephone number did you use, and how did you obtain it.Have you tried to contact the number on the piece of paper he left?

It is not uncommon for salesman in this industry to be self employed, passing orders to the parent company and being paid commission.It is also not unusual to ask for a deposit as the blinds are being made to measure; and because of this delivery times are often 3 to 4 weeks.

[phill123]

thank you for your help it is much appreciated. this help is not fror me but for my sister in law. she need to have some blinds being mdonje i her house bu tdoen't know how ot do it . she saw an ad on a local thompson she contacted a guy working for UK blinds . however she tried to contact hin enough time but not having any success at all. . when i rang up UK blind they were interesteds to know how we get this phone number it is local phone number as apparently their phone number star by 0845 or so ... and thold that she shoudlhave been in contact with them first and then they woudl have send a guy to take measurement and have some form of contract specifiyng the job and so on .. but she even had whe she has instead is a scrpped paper with a name stan and a deposit of 100 pounds paid by cheque and a phone number ( with no VAT either...) . however she i s worried thaty no the cheque has been cashed in and the work will not be done he was supposed to have done the work this week but never turn up and doesn't know when he will do or if he does....

[phill123]

sorry ther phonenumber thaqt dhe used was form a local thompsons with a local number a guy turn up wearing casual clithes . the receipt is only a scrap paper no vat only a phone number ( local one again) , his name only known as stan and a his writtern down the name of compoany uk blinds that al. she ssaid the guy was very friendly . she tried to contact him bu tno answer we even try ourselves but no answer either.

[Conniff]

So who was the cheque made out to?

 

The bank wont cash a cheque made out to 'Stan', there needs to be a surname.

[MARTIN3030]

Still difficult to try and work out whats what here.

Maybe some straightforward answers then ?

 

1. You say that the number she rang was one found in the Thompsons local directory.Can you say whether the advertisement appears under a UK Blinds advertisement ? yes or no ?

 

 

2. So the number she then called was the one that is listed to call within the advertisement that offers blinds from UK blinds yes or no ?

 

3.When the person (who is being called Stan ) called did he not have a business card/brochures etc with anything that is connected to UK Blinds ? yes or no ..

 

 

4. When your sister in law handed over this money was a receipt not given yes or no ?

 

5. Whe UK blinds were asked to comment on this where did you find the number ?

 

6. In the Thompsons local advertisement does it give any further numbers for UK Blinds,and does it give any additional instructions for contacting them ?

[electron99]

Like Martin3030 I am a little confused as to what is happening.If the sister rang a number from the Thompson Directory and an appointment was made by UK Blinds Direct, how did this 'Stan' know the time and place of the appointment if he had no connection with the company.I think that the fact he did not leave a proper printed receipt is not too important; he could have run out of them and had to leave a handwritten one.The incorrect telephone number left on the written receipt could be a genuine error. I have a feeling that phil123 does not have English as his first lanquage, which could be causing the communication problems, both on this forum and with the blind company.

[MARTIN3030]

Yes this is possible hence the simplicity of my last post.

That said,We know that a cheque was given out and we know that it has been cashed.We know that the poster here has tried to contact UK and has no indications that the work will be done.Presumably "Stan " has not informed UKB that he has had the deposit.If the agent working for or on behalf of them had passed the cheque over then surely UK Blinds would know about the order by now.Even if it was "Stans" commission out of the deal one would expect that UKB would now be aware of the sale.I am still looking into this and am quite sure that UKB will be operating with a credit licence.

Regardless of whether this was a credit agreement or not the practices employed still need to be seen as above board if they are regulated.

So in a nutshell there may be communication problems but money has been paid and they have nothing to show as we speak now.If the poster has communication problems then it does not explain why the company in Rochdale can have them too.

[phill123]

sorry for my late respoinse as i quite busy , sorry i misunderstood her she found this phone number on a local newspaper it was advertise as Uk blinds but the phone number was a local one . the guy acknwledge to be working for UKblinds give this phone number a local One ( i willnot post his phone number not sure if i can ?!) took some measurement as ke for a deposit of 100 pounds she did by cheque to Uk blinds he set up a meeting he never turn up and not seems to have vanished as he never answered his phone . th cheque has been cahed in two weeks and a half latter.

when we rang up UkBilnds they wseem to be not aware of the phoien number given and were very interested how we got it ? we explained the story answered an ad from a local newspaper this guy turn up sying that yhe job will be done at at xx october 2007 and he ne ver tuen up now she don't even know if the job will be done as this stan never rang up telling her why he couldn't come and to set up a new appointment she is still waiting.

 

she ask for a receipt when she handed the cheque well what she got it is a bit suspiciosu it is litteraly a blank scrapp of aper with hois name, phone number and written uk blind direct and a cheque for 100 pounds n as deposit that it's . we find the number of ukblinds by google it how we find their number. the sguy stan never give any detail about the company adress nor their business number ther were no VAT on the receitp . so basically this is whuy we found it a bit suspiscious about it. as now it is a week we try to contact him and nothing the contract5 was done at the begining of october .

 

i hope this help sorry for the misunderstanding thank you aagain for your help .

[phill123]

sorry yes i am not english and i know it might be simple as a misunderstanding. what woory me is that she has given 100 pounds as a deposit for a job which is not done and UKBlinds are not aware of any sales who took place at tyhe begining of october and without a proper receipt how do you go to ask for a refund? if the transaction his genuine with this guy called stan.

[MARTIN3030]

Ok , I think there are two things to do then.

Contact your bank to get a copy of the cashed cheque to see it was cashed by UK blinds and was not altered.

I would then send UK blinds a copy of the cheque along with a copy of the advert from this newspaper.

If they fail to sort it out then,you can contact trading standards.

In the meantime keep trying the number you was given by "Stan"

[Conniff]

As the cheque was made out to UK Blinds and should not be cashed with any alterations then UK Blinds will be responsible for either supply or reimbursment.

If the cheque has been cashed by other than UK Blinds, ie altered, then it looks like the bank will be responsible.

[phill123]

thank you conniff and everyone else , this is much appreciated .

[MARTIN3030]

Keep us informed of how you get on with this.If you need further help dont be afraid to ask.