SHOP
ELECTRIC
On Your Behalf we hear from ShopElectric customers who say Open
and Direct didn’t tell them when their interest free loan
was up.
The Buy Now Pay Later scheme – Interest free for a year -
sounds like a good deal, and if you pay it off before the year is
up, it may well be. But go one day over that year, and the interest
charges are exorbitant.
When Shop Electric went into administration at the end of last year,
many people were left high and dry – On Your Behalf heard
from many customers who’d paid a deposit, left goods in for
repair, or thought they were paying for peace of mind by taking
out an extended warranty.
On Your Behalf hears from listeners who say they didn’t know
where to go to make their payments when Shop Electric shut their
doors.
Open And Direct told On Your Behalf
"Open + Direct wrote to everyone who had a credit agreement
with ShopElectric on November 26, 2003. This letter contained details
of our new address in Upper Queen Street, a Freepost Address and
confirmation that credit agreements were unaffected by the ShopElectric
closure."
"The letter also advised customers that direct debit payments
would commence at the date stated on their credit agreement."
"We have checked our database and your listeners are on this
list. Our telephone number did not change when we moved offices."
Open and Direct
Royston House
34 Upper Queen Street,
Belfast BT 1 FX
028 9068 7681
updated 24.04.04
***********************************
Let’s look back
to Hallowe’en, because it was on the 31st October, 2003, that
Shop Electric pulled down the shutters leaving thousands of people
in the lurch.
Of
course there were the employees without a job and concerns about
their pensions. But from the consumer perspective there were
people who’d bought in good faith, people who thought they’d
paid for peace of mind by taking out an extended warranty; those
with goods in for repair or who’d paid a deposit.
The week
it happened there was considerable confusion but
KPMG - joint administrators for Northern Retail Limited and
Shop Electric Limited told us on 7 November they were
"In the process of compiling the necessary information
to enable them to write to customers who have paid for products
but not
taken delivery of these products" and they estimated "it would
take
another ten working days to do so."
On the 24th November KPMG "confirmed that they would be writing
that week to all customers who have paid for products but not
taken delivery of these goods."
So why
on 6th December - do these consumers, and others, still not
know what’s going on.
On Your Behalf asked KPMG, the joint administrators, for
an interview to bring us up to date on what has happened
in the
interim, and
where customers now stand. We asked on three separate occasions
over a period of weeks and on each occasion they
told us they were not yet ready to talk about the situation.
KPMG told us they had hoped to put up a spokesman for the
programme today (6th Dec)– they haven’t done
so. Their
statement says their spokesman has flu, and no-one else it
appeared was available
to speak this morning.
So here we are again, a few weeks away from Christmas and
people still don’t know who to talk to.
On Your Behalf invites two experts from Trading Standards
and Belfast Consumer Advice Centre into the studio to sort
through
the confusion.
Statement prepared
for On Your Behalf from Open + Direct -
5th December, 2003
"Within a day of ShopElectric’s
closure Open + Direct had set up a dedicated customer call
centre to deal
with all customer
enquiries. In addition this team commenced contacting ShopElectric
credit customers by telephone to ascertain whether the goods which
they had ordered had been delivered. At the same time Open + Direct,
on behalf of their customers, met with KPMG (the Administrator)
to identify and arrange for delivery of goods which were being
held in stock (at ShopElectric premises and a central warehouse)
awaiting distribution by the delivery companies.
Following a detailed review of stock across the 32 premises this
process has now been completed and all Open + Direct Credit customers
will be contacted by Open + Direct within the next 7 days either
to arrange delivery of their goods or to make alternative arrangements
where orders cannot be fulfilled. Open + Direct have agreed to
meet the cost of delivery.
Open + Direct has worked
very closely with the Administrator and with the Office of
Fair Trading to ensure that
their customers’ inconvenience
has been kept to a minimum and that all legal obligations have
been complied with. Open + Direct has committed a significant amount
of resources in order to resolve this unfortunate situation as
quickly as possible.
A significant proportion of Open + Direct customers had built
up excellent credit histories through their purchases in ShopElectric
and these are being safeguarded by the company. Customers who had
credit available through ShopElectric will find their credit limits
transferred to any other electrical retailer who deals with Open
+ Direct, in Northern Ireland, when they go to make a new purchase.
All existing customers have been contacted by letter to advise
of where such electrical retailers can be located.
ShopElectric Credit customers
who have any queries relating to goods purchased or ordered through
ShopElectric can contact Open
+ Direct on 028 90 26 9855."
KPMG told On Your
Behalf 5 December 2003
"Our spokesperson
is ill with the 'flu, we are unfortunately unable to put someone
forward for the programme."
This is ancupdate KPMG issued on 24 November 2003
Update for customers of Shop Electric Ltd (In Administration)
24th November 2003
"The Joint Administrators
of Shop Electric Limited have today confirmed that they will
be writing this week to all customers who have paid
for products but not taken delivery of these goods."
Ray Jackson, Joint Administrator from KPMG Corporate Recovery,
comments:
"We understand
that this has been a frustrating time for customers and we
would like to thank them for their
patience over
the last couple of weeks.
"As a result of legal advice now received, we are in a position
to release those items that were "appropriated" to individual
customers prior to the Company going into administration; that
is those specific goods that were paid for and put aside in stores
or in the warehouse, and marked as sold to a certain customer.
"Unfortunately
those goods which have not been appropriated to a specific
customer cannot be released.
"For those customers that paid using a credit card or by
a credit agreement and who are not in receipt of goods, we strongly
advise them to contact their credit provider to inform them that
the order has not been completed. The provider will discuss the
position with the customer in terms of the credit incurred. Open & Direct
are working closely with the Administrators to ensure prompt delivery
of those goods appropriated to Open and Direct customers.
"Customers who paid in cash, or by switch, Debit Card or
by cheque for goods ultimately not delivered as a result of this
process will have an unsecured claim for he goods that they have
paid for and not received. Their details are held in the company
records and while the Administrators are aware of their claims,
it is unclear at this stage whether or not there will be any money
available to people with unsecured claims".
RE Shop Electric
Prior to Shop Electric going into receivership, London General
Holdings (LGH) provided the administration service for customers
from Shop Electric and Electric World who bought service contracts
for their large domestic appliances, and extended warranties for
smaller appliances between August 2001 and August 2003.
LGH handled the policy administration however, when customers
made a claim, they would go directly through to the service division
of Shop Electric, who also handled the repair and service network.
Shop Electric went into receivership six weeks ago, which meant
customers were referred to the appointed receivers, who then referred
them onto LGH. At that time we were unable to progress these queries
until discussions with the receivers had taken place.
We have since been in
close discussion with the receivers to resolve the situation
for Shop Electric’s
customers and are now pleased to report that we are in the final
stages of arranging an alternative
repair service network. This should be finalised in the near future
and all customers will then be able to contact us on the current
number or a new number that LGH will provide.
In the meantime, we apologise
for the inconvenience that Shop Electric customers have experienced."
To contact KPMG regarding Shop
Electric queries
Tel: 028 9068 4820
Belfast Consumer Advice
Tel: 028 9032 8260
Consumerline Tel: 0845 600 62 62
More useful numbers
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