We bought two hoverboards from E-Scooters (e-scooters.co.uk) for our kids for Christmas, paying £600 to the company by bank transfer at the beginning of December. We received an acknowledgement and then heard nothing. I chased and chased, on occasion being able to reach them by phone, to eventually be told just before Christmas that it had encountered problems with customs and so wasn’t being allowed to bring the goods into the country (we live in France).
We asked for our money back and it agreed; we put it in writing, sent several emails, left several voicemails, and have heard nothing nor received a refund. I have chased many times a day since then, but either the phone rings and rings or just goes to voicemail. Emails go unanswered.
We are gutted. This was money that I had saved over six months from my paramedic/firefighter job to give the children a very special Christmas gift, and the end result has been that we’ve actually given them nothing. Is there is anything we can do? S O’H, Saint-Antonin-Noble-Val, France
The website looked authentic, but we fear that is as far as it goes – there are genuine concerns about this company’s operations, and clearly Brighton and Hove’s trading standards (the website carried a Brighton address) thinks so too, as it told us it is currently investigating following a barrage of consumer complaints.
We emailed E-Scooters and, like you, got no reply, and phoned on several occasions, getting either an answerphone or the phone put down on us. Had you paid by credit or debit card you might have had a chance of getting your money back but, sadly, paying by bank transfer gives you no redress.
If you had paid by a UK credit card, as the item costs £100 or more (but less than £30,000), you would have been able to make a claim against your credit card provider under section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act, which makes the credit card company equally liable if the original contract is broken. Likewise, if you had paid by debit card you could have applied to your card issuer for a refund through “chargeback”, which can apply if goods are damaged, not as described or haven’t been delivered.
The only option now is to try to recover your costs through the small claims court, which covers most breach of contract claims. This will cost you £60 and will require you to come back to the UK for the court hearing. Interestingly, while researching E-Scooters its website was suddenly reduced to a holding page with a message that reads: “SHOP CLOSED. The online shop you were looking for has been closed.”
You told us that you contacted the website host to warn of what the company was doing, and to try to get the website suspended, so it appears that you at least have had a result on that front. We’d be interested to hear from other readers who have had their fingers burnt by this organisation.
Meanwhile, never pay by bank transfer to (potentially dodgy) organisations you don’t know anything about.
We welcome letters but cannot answer individually. Email us at consumer.champions@theguardian.com or write to Consumer Champions, Money, the Guardian, 90 York Way, London N1 9GU. Please include a daytime phone number
