Unbelievably bad customer service from tooled-up.com

[Grunff]

Just a rant I'm afraid. I've just had one of the worst customer service experiences in a very long time from tooled-up.com, and thought it worth sharing.

- A couple of weeks ago, I purchased a stapler from them. They sent it. I tried it, it was faulty (kept jamming).

- Called them, then sent it back at my expense.

- They sent a replacement. This also turned out to be faulty.

- Called them again, they asked me to send stapler 2 back. I said I'd only do this when they've refunded my postage for the first one, which they haven't. They eventually (after a very long conversation) agreed to collect stapler 2.

- They've now sent stapler 2 back to me stating no fault. They won't refund my postage, and they've charged my credit card more than I'd originally paid.

I know I could (and should) pursue this, but TBH I've really had enough of it; I'd rather just bin the thing and forget about the whole incident.

I would normally have stuck to Screwfix, Axminster and Toolstation, all of which have great customer service in my experience, but they didn't have the model I wanted.

[wattie]

Complain to your card issuer and you will get a refund. WM

[Grunff]

Yeah, I know I could do that, but I really don't want to bother with this any more, tooled-up have been very unpleasant to deal with, and I can only imagine they'd get more unpleasant if they get a charge-back.

[Mogga]

Get your money back from your CC and then NEVER EVER shop with them again. You didn't really need telling the latter though, did you?

[Autolycus]

Now, grandmother, you take this egg...

Did they supply the staples, too? The world of staples, their sizing, and their equivalence, seems to be one of the darkest and most obscure. Is it remotely conceivable that a different type of staple would be OK?

Some of my wife's colleagues can manage to make sure that staples fit over the "saddle", and even that they don't then rattle, but persist in using staples that are slightly too narrow, so the punch catches the "next" staple as it goes down. Then they break the bits of jammed staple up with a pair of scissors.

... and you make a hole in each end...

[Broadback]

I understand your feelings Grunff, but why should they be allowed to get away with it, if indeed the stapler is faulty? If you get your money back from the card company why will you need to deal with tooled-up.com? They are hardly likely to come knocking on your door. Any post from them can be returned unopened, or if the envelope isn't marked just reseal and return "opened in error", if you get phone calls just gently replaced the receiver.

[Grunff]

Yes, I made a point of buying the staples at the same time, they are even the same make as the stapler.

[Grunff]

You're correct, of course. Maybe I will contacted the CC company - I'll see how I feel about it in a day or two, never a good idea to act on such things when you're still fuming :-)

[Pete C]

Hi,

What stapler and staples was it? Any part/stock numbers?

cheers, Pete.

[Grunff]

Arrow P35, along with P35 staples.

[Pete C]

Hi,

Might be worth a call to Arrow UK:

IME sometimes staplers can be a bit fussy about how the staples are loaded.

cheers, Pete.

[Grunff]

I have two other Arrow staplers, both of which work very well.

I'm not sure I understand what you mean though - surely the staples go into the track, and the sprung plunger goes in afterwards - there aren't many variables there really.

[George]

Silly question but where the staples the correct size?

[Mathew Newton]

Only as a goodwill gesture though - their shared liability is only for purchases >=A3100. That said, I've had no problems with my card provider (HSBC) for amounts under this so they obivously see it in there interests.

Mathew

[George]

Gawd,why did you choose this over an electric or cordless?

[Grunff]

You would need to understand the application - if you read how it works, this should help you.

[Pete C]

Was just a thought, if there was a bad batch then you may get one of the same from the retailer, whereas Arrow would be more likely to swap one from another batch and/or check it out carefully.

Maybe the staples in your stapler aren't feeding properly, would a little bit of WD40 on the staples help?

I once lent an electric stapler to a neighbour, who said it wouldn't work, when I got it back the staple carrier was put in in a way I'd never conceived of!

cheers, Pete.

[Peter Parry]

That's only for claims against the card issuer rather than the vendor as jointly liable under S75 of the CCA. If the complaint is about a company still trading the card issuer will often reverse the transaction no matter what the amount is as long as there is good reason.

[Mathew Newton]

Perhaps I should have been clearer - I was more referring to the 'will get a refund' which should really be 'may get a refund', given the CC company are under no legal obligation in this particular case.

Mathew

[Dorothy Bradbury]

"and" as long as the complaint is done in a reasonable time.

Do not let things drag on too long - give a specific time to resolve a problem, then do act without delay re C/C cover.

For international purchases time is critical - I relied on faxes, emails, consumergroup (BBB) to push BakerPrecision on a refund for too long. By the time I advised Citibank they refused to act, I lost £153, goods, they lost a customer.

I would complain to the maker of the Stapler, because SPC manufacturing can produce correct but unusable product. Bouncing staplers/staples back & forth is not a solution.