Evesham Computers

Hi,

I'd like to share my recent experience of Evesham Computers with you and to
hear your views.

This morning I ordered a new pc, in total the price came to over £1400,
quite a large sum of money for me, and whilst I understand that Evesham are
not the cheapest, I've got the impression they're a respectable company who
provide high quality products.

I was told that the estimated time for delivery will be nine days.

A few hours later I decided to check my credit card and was shocked to note
that Evesham had already debited my card! I called Evesham back who
explained that due to credit card fraud, this has been normal practice for
the last few months. I accepted this, but the more I've thought about this
the more annoyed I've become.

I've since noticed an article in the October edition of Computer Shopper in
which the magazine bought a number of systems incognito in order to evaluate
what the buying experience is like for "ordinary consumers". In this
article, they purchased an Evesham system and their credit card was debited
two days after delivery. This completely contradicts my experience.

What do you think, is taking money immediately on receipt of order and nine
days before the customer receives the system acceptable? Am I over-reacting?

As things stand, I'm likely to ring Evesham tomorrow and ask for a temporary
refund and allow funds to be taken just prior to dispatch.

Let me know your thoughts.

Dave.

(David Gill) writes:

[...]

I've got the impression they're a respectable company who
provide high quality products.

Also my impression.

I was told that the estimated time for delivery will be nine days.

A few hours later I decided to check my credit card and was shocked to note
that Evesham had already debited my card! I called Evesham back who
explained that due to credit card fraud, this has been normal practice for
the last few months. I accepted this, but the more I've thought about this
the more annoyed I've become.

That's a bit surprising. I thought it was still normal to debit when
they actually had the goods. I might be wrong though.

What ****es me off about Evesham (respectable company though they
might be) is that they recently spammed me. It includes the usual
crap about caring about spam, and "database provider" possibly "not
washing their data correctly", but one spam was sent to
, which suggests to me that the
database doesn't need washing so much as it needs inserting forcibly
into someone's orifice. Either Evesham's been web scraping, or
they've been buying email databases from someone who does, and neither
suggests good business judgement.

[...]

I have always found them to be reputable.
Frankly I don't blame them for taking the credit card.
If they went under, you would get the money back anyway, thats what is good
about using a credit card.

Les


"Bruce Stephens" wrote in message
...
Martin Alderson writes:

[...]

Or, they have an affiliate program and some ****er is sending spam
too a website about it, in the hope he/she will make some quick
£££...

No. I don't think Evesham do that, and this came straight from
Evesham anyway.

On Fri, 29 Aug 2003 at 11:47:19, text news (text news
) wrote:
I have always found them to be reputable.
Frankly I don't blame them for taking the credit card.
If they went under, you would get the money back anyway, thats what is good
about using a credit card.

I think if the item was debited and a couple of days later you get your
next bill with the transaction on it, some would be rather upset if they
didn't have the goods in their hand. If their next bill wasn't due for
a while yet and they'd noted it had been taken early when it arrived,
then they wouldn't be so bothered
--
Mike

"David Gill" wrote in message
m...
Hi,

I'd like to share my recent experience of Evesham Computers with you and
to
hear your views.

This morning I ordered a new pc, in total the price came to over £1400,
quite a large sum of money for me, and whilst I understand that Evesham
are
not the cheapest, I've got the impression they're a respectable company
who
provide high quality products.

I was told that the estimated time for delivery will be nine days.

A few hours later I decided to check my credit card and was shocked to
note
that Evesham had already debited my card! I called Evesham back who
explained that due to credit card fraud, this has been normal practice for
the last few months. I accepted this, but the more I've thought about this
the more annoyed I've become.

they are allowed to charge your card if they have the product in stock (this
is in the terms and conditions the merchant has signed for them to accept
card payment)
so i assume they have the bits ready for the build, so they have the product
in stock

most online/mail order companies do not hold stock so they do not charge
until despatch of the goods, this is usually when they have bought them
or the online/mail order company despatched the goods so quickly that the
payment is processed instantly and the goods delivered before the
transaction appears on the statement for the card.....this may look like
they have not charged you until you have received delivery but it is just
the case that it takes card companies at least 1, but this can be 2-3,
working days for them to put the transaction on the statement

what they could have done it pre-authorised your credit card, this would
have held the money on the card (preventing you from spending it) and they
charged the card on despatch of the goods
however a pre-auth will only last 5 working days, so in between days 5-9 you
could use the credit on your card to purchase something else, and the card
would decline on despatch causing them extra work in phone you etc...


I've since noticed an article in the October edition of Computer Shopper
in
which the magazine bought a number of systems incognito in order to
evaluate
what the buying experience is like for "ordinary consumers". In this
article, they purchased an Evesham system and their credit card was
debited
two days after delivery. This completely contradicts my experience.

see my comment above about the time taken for transactions to appear on
statements
it is not the case that people are charged a few days after delivery, there
is no way any mail order/online retailer will charge a customers card after
despatch for fear of it declining....unless they are very foolish and have
forgotten to charge the customer, or they have pre-authorised and are
processing the transaction within the 5 days (unlikely as it will delay them
getting their money)


What do you think, is taking money immediately on receipt of order and
nine
days before the customer receives the system acceptable? Am I
over-reacting?

As things stand, I'm likely to ring Evesham tomorrow and ask for a
temporary
refund and allow funds to be taken just prior to dispatch.

Let me know your thoughts.

Dave.

(David Gill) wrote:

I'd like to share my recent experience of Evesham Computers with you and to
hear your views.

A few hours later I decided to check my credit card and was shocked to note
that Evesham had already debited my card! I called Evesham back who
explained that due to credit card fraud, this has been normal practice for
the last few months. I accepted this, but the more I've thought about this
the more annoyed I've become.

While it's bad form to charge credit cards prior to products being be
ready for despatch, it's fairly customary (and not entirely
unreasonable) for goods which are customised or made to order. I
presuming they're building your PC to order?

--
iv Paul iv

[ Mail: ]
[ WWW: http://www.hopwood.org.uk/ ]

"Baffie" wrote in message
...
On 27 Aug 2003 15:35:50 -0700, (David Gill) wrote:

Hi,

I'd like to share my recent experience of Evesham Computers with you and
to
hear your views.

This morning I ordered a new pc, in total the price came to over £1400,
quite a large sum of money for me, and whilst I understand that Evesham
are
not the cheapest, I've got the impression they're a respectable company
who
provide high quality products.

I was told that the estimated time for delivery will be nine days.

A few hours later I decided to check my credit card and was shocked to
note
that Evesham had already debited my card! I called Evesham back who
explained that due to credit card fraud, this has been normal practice
for
the last few months. I accepted this, but the more I've thought about
this
the more annoyed I've become.

I've since noticed an article in the October edition of Computer Shopper
in
which the magazine bought a number of systems incognito in order to
evaluate
what the buying experience is like for "ordinary consumers". In this
article, they purchased an Evesham system and their credit card was
debited
two days after delivery. This completely contradicts my experience.

What do you think, is taking money immediately on receipt of order and
nine
days before the customer receives the system acceptable? Am I
over-reacting?

As things stand, I'm likely to ring Evesham tomorrow and ask for a
temporary
refund and allow funds to be taken just prior to dispatch.

Let me know your thoughts.

Dave.
I think it's unacceptable for *any* company to do this unless it's
made very clear to you before you hit the 'buy' button - hiding it
away in the T & C's is just not good enough.

If Evesham or any other company for that matter folds before you get
your goods, then yes you have protection from your credit card
supplier, of course it will take a while before the dust settles and
you get your money back. Under distance selling regulations, you have
a minimum of 7 days to decide whether you want to keep the thing or
not (the dealer may give you longer - check those same T & C's) but if
you decide to send it back (either because it doesn't live up to
expectations, is faulty, or you just don't like it) then you'll
probably find the same T & C's allow the dealer another 30 days before
your card is refunded.

I think that's all one way traffic - don't you?


AFAIK, cards are not allowed to be debited until the items are ready to
ship. I don't think the OP will be covered under the DSR, as it does not
cover items which are built or altered to the customers specification (I'm
assuming this is a custom pc and not a pre-built one?).

--
Scorpio

"Malev" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 1 Sep 2003 21:47:56 +0100, "scorpio18"
wrote:


AFAIK, cards are not allowed to be debited until the items are ready to
ship.

Please quote relevant chapter of your merchant contract.

I don't have a merchant contract. I was meaning the SOGA. I haven't read it
in a while, but it was my understanding that companies should not debit
funds until the have the goods ready to supply.

--
Scorpio

"Malev" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 1 Sep 2003 22:43:33 +0100, "scorpio18"
wrote:


"Malev" wrote in message
.. .
On Mon, 1 Sep 2003 21:47:56 +0100, "scorpio18"
wrote:


AFAIK, cards are not allowed to be debited until the items are ready
to
ship.

Please quote relevant chapter of your merchant contract.

I don't have a merchant contract. I was meaning the SOGA. I haven't read
it
in a while, but it was my understanding that companies should not debit
funds until the have the goods ready to supply.

In this case, please quote relevant chapter of SOGA.

I'm not going to read it all to find the part I'm referring to. I was just
trying to help the OP. If it's needed, read the SOGA and try to find it for
yourself (or for the OP). As I've said, I haven't read it in a while, but
this was my understanding from when I did last read it.

--
Scorpio

"Malev" wrote in message
...
On Tue, 2 Sep 2003 12:33:50 +0100, "scorpio18"
wrote:


I'm not going to read it all to find the part I'm referring to. I was
just
trying to help the OP. If it's needed, read the SOGA and try to find it
for
yourself (or for the OP). As I've said, I haven't read it in a while, but
this was my understanding from when I did last read it.

With all due respect, the OP would have been better helped with facts
chapter & verse, rather than with "what a guy in a newsgroup thought
he had understood by reading the SOGA a while back"

And with all due respect, I was just stating a point. The OP can go and read
the SOGA if they want. If you want to help the OP then feel free to find the
relevant section. I was just letting the OP know what I thought was the
correct procedure, not to create a case for them.

--
Scorpio