What's the deal on ordering in the UK?
 

Hello there,
with the current €/Pound exchange rate I find myself increasingly tempted to order more stuff from the UK, then I did before. That a lot of truly great products (like Kriega, Wolfman, Giant Loop) are not available in Germany at all does the rest.

However I have no idea how the customer rights differ to those in Germany, so here's a couple of general questions:

• How does the warranty work? Do you have to return it to the place of purchase or are you supposed to deal with the manufacturer directly?
• You order, pay, receive and it doesn't fit, you don't like it, it just doesn't take your fancy like it did on the pictures. Can you just return it, do you have to have valid reasons and how long can you wait for returning it?
• What's the deal if the dealer seemingly takes forever to send it out, can you just cancel your order and get your money back? Is there any special procedure involved?
• What's the process if you have to get legal with the dealer? (No shippage, you suspect something foul, need to get the money back, ...)
• Anything, at all you need to be aware of?

I know this is quite a list and most of it should be findable with google, however my English legal-speak is not quite up to standards and so far I found a bit of conflicting info, since quite a few people seem to assume that there's only one system of law in the whole english world. one has to be careful not to memorize the Australian, Canadian or Florida commercial law :helpsmilie:

So any help, infos or links would be greatly appreciated, if you have any questions about how this is done here in Germany I'll be glad to answer them to the best of my knowledge!

Cheers
buebo

Everything bought new from a retailer in the U.K. has a 12 month warrenty against defect. Anything electrical should work for that time, product should do its job for at least that time.. Minus "wear & tear"

This doesnt count for any damage if it's obviously your fault...

If you buy something and it YOU change your mind, then that depends on the companies own policy. Most big companies offer 14 days to return with no penalty, some 30.

If you buy off a website etc, new distance selling laws mean that you have 7 days to cancel, return with no penalty (maybe postage).

In all, its VERY VERY VERY safe to buy from large, well known U.K companies , especially within the E.U.

Many also take PAYPAL and the protection that claims to provide.

I would ALWAYS use a credit card though as they offer more protection.


Before you buy anything, check the website's return policy. They all have them.

never thought about all this return and legality regulations... I just ordered everything I needed or fancied so far from the UK, never had a problem, actually usually I received my good even faster than ordering any items in Germany it self....:thumbup1:

most of my bike and outdoor gear is actually coming from the UK... it's just better compare what ever you find in Germany.:clap:

Yes I agree, ordering from well known companies is absolute a pleasure :D

OK the term "well known companies" quite tricky if you don't know this companies at all, even never heard about them in Germany.... "well known companies" for a UK resident, on the other hand... well no question at all.... OK I'm trusting the business behaver of the Brits ! used to live on the monkey-island for seven years (dealing with foreigners orders).... if some thing eventually goes wrong (which hasn't happened so far) I just call the guys and things are sorted fast.

so what is it about if Brits want to order from "QUELLE", "NECKERMANN" or "LOUIS.de", "POLO.de" they never heard about this German companies before... so can they trust them ?

And yes... Brits got this attitude... "Europe is oversea"... on mainland everything is delivered next day... Europe on the other hand and all this foreigners... well they don't speak proper English and often get lost in translation, have way differed expectations which is often misleading... so everything just takes it's time... never mind.
or put it like that: "shit happened, get on with it"

buebo... the links of companies I did send you... this guys are great, the gear is top :D

spooky

I think I've something of a problem here: Ordered some bits and pieces from a military surplus store and been waiting for it for about a month now. After none of my mails were returned I called them up the week before last. The website showed my stuff as awaiting dispatch, so I asked when they would finally dispatch the order.

They told me a post strike was on, but they would send it out monday last week. Nothing received yet, website status unchanged, E-Mails still without reply and I can't get anyone on the phone.

Payment was via Credit Card if that changes anything.

So, what's the next step?

P.S.: Just found out that - apparently - I can reclaim my money via my credit card company. So I just e-mailed the shop, explained how I feel about them right now and gave them a deadline by the end of this week to send me some proof that my order has been dispatched. Otherwise I'll have my credit card company do their thing. I've wasted quite a bit of time so far, so hopefully I'll at least get my money back this way.

sounds like some of your ordered items are on backorder to them....
was the item you ordered a unusual colour other than standard like sand instead of green or else they may not have as stock item ?

well the post was on strike indeed... and still is in some parts of the country, everything right so far... now.... the British part of the "attitude" dealing with foreigners if something is heavily delayed... like: "oh.. him again... give him some bullshit and bug us no more, why can't he wait" I know that wound help you a lot and isn't very nice at all, but that's the way it is

did they charged your credit card already ?
usually in the UK your card only get charged on the day of invoicing and despatching the goods. yes you could claim the payment back at your credit card company.

I suggest you wait... I had a order from a eBay shop dealer... usually it only takes 3-4 days to deliver... I was waiting for two weeks, complained and received a replacement item which arrived in two days.... the seller even was able to claim his money back from the British-Post office...
guess what.. the original item arrived too... three weeks later... was stuck in the post some how. (buy one get one free... was a Hennessy HEX-fly...)

I know it's annoying... try calling the shop and be polite....

spooky

Hi,
what bugs me the most about this particular shop is just their total lack of communications. I don't think it should be necessary for me to call them up in the UK just to get some excuse. If you run an Internet business, then at least answer your emails...

I was about to offer them to send it out with a courier service on my dime, but haven't been able to get anybody on the phone yesterday and today I feel a bit over calling them again and again. I would also have to recharge Skype for that.

With this exception my shopping experience in the UK has been nothing but pleasant and uncomplicated, so I'll just wait to the end of this week, get my money back and take my business elsewhere.

It's not so much the waiting that bothers me, I don't need most of that stuff until next year anyway, it's just that I think you should at least communicate a bit. I mean now that I can't even get anybody on the phone (not to mention that one of the two numbers on their page is disconnected), what am I supposed to do now?

Fly over and collect my parcel myself? :rofl: