Assistance and Advice Needed with Online Purchase

[steve11111]

On the 2nd of October 2015,

I placed an order at www.xldata.co.uk for some marketing data.

This was a personal purchase and was made under my name and using my personal home address.

However, in error, I entered my work email address into the form.

 

The company emailed me the data to me on 5th October 2015 and included an invoice which was due for payment within 7 days.

I noticed that the invoice had the name of my company on it, albeit, the other details were correct (my name and home address)

and because I didn’t foresee any issues with the purchase, on 11th October I made payment via BACS

to the details provided on the invoice from my personal bank account. The total sum being £948.00.

 

On the 12th October, I received an email from the company advising that payment had not been received

– I advised the company that I could see the payment had been made and that they should expect it over the next couple of days.

 

Over the coming days, infact every day, the company emailed me (the same person – Mr Clive Brown), advising payment hadn’t been received,

I confirmed time and time again with my bank that it had been sent,

however, there was a question about the success of the transfer that was raised by one person at the bank

who advised usually a confirmation message is seen by the sender to confirm payment had been received successfully by the recipient,

this was not present for this payment – the bank began to look into the payment.

 

On 20th October, after a barrage of emails and phone calls, which got increasingly curt in tone,

I emailed the company advising that I would like to cancel the purchase

and confirmed I had not used the data and it had been deleted from my computer.

The company refused to accept this.

 

On the same day, I received an 2 emails from Mr Brown advising that he was to instruct his solicitors to commence legal action,

not against myself, the purchaser, but against my employer,

 

 

when I questioned this and reiterated that my employer had nothing to do with the purchase

and that in any case, I was not an authorised purchaser and furthermore no purchase order was generated by the company,

this was ignored.

 

 

On 21st October a letter before action was issued to my employer.

I have repeatedly sent proof of initial payment (screen shot of online banking statement)

and advised again and again that this was a personal purchase, but the company continued to proceed

and finally made direct contact with my employer where they forwarded all emails

and correspondence from myself and made a demand for payment,

threatening legal action through the county court.

 

On 28th October, I received a phone call from my employers CEO, who was understandably, very angry,

demanding to know why I had ordered data under the company’s name

– I clearly explained I hadn’t and that it was a personal purchase,

 

 

in his anger he demanded that I had 15 minutes to get rid of my employers liability or I would be asked for my resignation.

Clearly, only being 3 months into my employment and totally taken back by the whole situation,

I called Mr Brown, under the supervision of a member of senior management and paid another £948.00 by debit card,

 

 

I also reminded Mr Brown that I didn’t have the data and that it had been deleted.

To additionally clarify, there are no terms and conditions at point of purchase on the website at all, or on the invoice.

 

My questions here are:

• I do not want to continue with this purchase – my experience has been appalling

 

• I have suffered great defamation of character at work and loss of trust and respect from my employers/colleagues

 

• My personal affairs/information/purchases – my data – have been shared with my employer without my authority.

 

Ultimately, I want my money back and the purchase cancelled

– I am now £1,896.00 out of pocket, with nothing to show for it apart from a damaged reputation and my employment at risk.

Edited October 30, 2015 by steve11111

[unclebulgaria67]

On the 2nd of October 2015, I placed an order at http://www.xldata.co.uk for some marketing data. This was a personal purchase and was made under my name and using my personal home address. However, in error, I entered my work email address into the form.

The company emailed me the data to me on 5th October 2015 and included an invoice which was due for payment within 7 days. I noticed that the invoice had the name of my company on it, albeit, the other details were correct (my name and home address) and because I didn’t foresee any issues with the purchase, on 11th October I made payment via BACS to the details provided on the invoice from my personal bank account. The total sum being £948.00.

On the 12th October, I received an email from the company advising that payment had not been received – I advised the company that I could see the payment had been made and that they should expect it over the next couple of days.

Over the coming days, infact every day, the company emailed me (the same person – Mr Clive Brown), advising payment hadn’t been received, I confirmed time and time again with my bank that it had been sent, however, there was a question about the success of the transfer that was raised by one person at the bank who advised usually a confirmation message is seen by the sender to confirm payment had been received successfully by the recipient, this was not present for this payment – the bank began to look into the payment.

On 20th October, after a barrage of emails and phone calls, which got increasingly curt in tone, I emailed the company advising that I would like to cancel the purchase and confirmed I had not used the data and it had been deleted from my computer. The company refused to accept this.

On the same day, I received an 2 emails from Mr Brown advising that he was to instruct his solicitors to commence legal action, not against myself, the purchaser, but against my employer, when I questioned this and reiterated that my employer had nothing to do with the purchase and that in any case, I was not an authorised purchaser and furthermore no purchase order was generated by the company, this was ignored. On 21st October a Letter before Action was issued to my employer.

I have repeatedly sent proof of initial payment (screen shot of online banking statement) and advised again and again that this was a personal purchase, but the company continued to proceed and finally made direct contact with my employer where they forwarded all emails and correspondence from myself and made a demand for payment, threatening legal action through the county court.

On 28th October, I received a phone call from my employers CEO, who was understandably, very angry, demanding to know why I had ordered data under the company’s name – I clearly explained I hadn’t and that it was a personal purchase, in his anger he demanded that I had 15 minutes to get rid of my employers liability or I would be asked for my resignation. Clearly, only being 3 months into my employment and totally taken back by the whole situation, I called Mr Brown, under the supervision of a member of senior management and paid another £948.00 by debit card, I also reminded Mr Brown that I didn’t have the data and that it had been deleted.

To additionally clarify, there are no terms and conditions at point of purchase on the website at all, or on the invoice.

My questions here are:

• I do not want to continue with this purchase – my experience has been appalling

• I have suffered great defamation of character at work and loss of trust and respect from my employers/colleagues

• My personal affairs/information/purchases – my data – have been shared with my employer without my authority.

Ultimately, I want my money back and the purchase cancelled – I am now £1,896.00 out of pocket, with nothing to show for it apart from a damaged reputation and my employment at risk.

 

You need to get your bank to investigate the first payment made. There should be some data relating to this transaction which should enable xldata to find it. Every BACS payment should have a unique number to identify it. The Bank will have a department that deals with such issues, as branch staff may not have the knowledge or cannot access the information needed.

 

Once you have proved it definitely went to xldata, you can then seek appropriate compensation from them. If they supplied the data and met the original contract terms, you will have to accept that you had to pay the amount due on the original invoice.

[steve11111]

Many thanks for your response.

I will of course continue to make enquiries with the bank, however, it should be noted that I no longer have the data - it was 'returned' (deleted) and there was no terms and conditions at all.

Also, what about pursuing my employer for the funds and the consequences

[unclebulgaria67]

Many thanks for your response.

I will of course continue to make enquiries with the bank, however, it should be noted that I no longer have the data - it was 'returned' (deleted) and there was no terms and conditions at all.

Also, what about pursuing my employer for the funds and the consequences

 

You ordered the data, they supplied it and you were invoiced. Because you included work details which might just be an email address, they put the invoice in a company name. If you did not correct this and they could not trace the payment, they would chase the invoice as normal. Your employer had right to protect their reputation, by getting you to sort out the matter by making the payment.

 

So no chance of taking action against employer. Your only course of action as i see it, is claiming back the second payment based on them receiving the first. If you prove that then you might have scope to issue a court claim against xldata for any loss you can identify, plus possible harassment.

 

The fact that you deleted the data or did not use it is not relevant, unless you can point to a contract term that the payment you made only relates to you actually using the data and not just them providing it.

[honeybee13]

Many thanks for your response.

I will of course continue to make enquiries with the bank, however, it should be noted that I no longer have the data - it was 'returned' (deleted) and there was no terms and conditions at all.

Also, what about pursuing my employer for the funds and the consequences

 

Hello there.

 

Why have you deleted your first post please?

 

HB

[Conniff]

Mr Clive Brown

3 Thistlebarrow Road

Bournemouth

BH7 7AJ

 

You can return data as per the new regulations - http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/forumdisplay.php?441-Digital-Content-ss.33-47

[dx100uk]

and ill wave my magic time wand

 

 

bing..its back now