Elderly woman is left £600 out of pocket by Comet (From Echo)
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Elderly woman is left £600 out of pocket by Comet
8:00am Friday 9th November 2012 in Local News By Christine Sexton
Joan Willson
AN ELDERLY woman has been left more than £600 out of pocket after Comet failed to deliver her new cooker.
Joan Willson, 86, paid the cash in full at the Southend Comet store on October 27 - just five days before the company announced it was going into administration.
The widow who lives in Southend was told her new Hotpoint cooker - which she had spent almost two years saving for - would arrive on November 6, but there was no delivery.
Tired of waiting she went to the store in Eastern Avenue.
Mrs Willson, who lost her childhood sweetheart husband in 1996, said: “I got a taxi to the Comet shop and they had one of the same cookers on show, but they said I couldn’t have that one.
“The man there did try.
“He called head office and asked if I could have it but they said no.
“They told me I could have it if I gave them another £600, but I’d already paid.”
Mrs Willson, who has had two knee replacements and survived several brushes with death including in July when she spent a month in hospital with septicaemia, added: “I am pretty tough. I was born in the Chinese Year of the Tiger so as a cat I reckon out of my nine lives I have used up four of them.
“The first was in the war when I narrowly missed boarding a bus which was hit by a bomb.
“Then I had two pulmonary embolisms and then nearly died in July so I suppose I count myself lucky but this is really disappointing because all the money I saved on food by being in hospital for a month went to the cooker.”
Deloitte has been appointed as the administrator for the firm, but there seems little indication of when or if customers will get the goods they paid for or refunds.
Mrs Willson said: “They told me at the store I probably wouldn’t get any of my money back.
“I had been really looking forward to getting the new cooker because it has a grill at the top instead of the bottom like my one so it would be a lot easier for me.
“I just use the microwave now but I like cooking so it’s not the same.”
Neville Kahn, joint administrator and restructuring services partner at Deloitte, said the immediate priorities were to stabilise the business, fully assess its financial position, and begin an urgent process to seek a suitable buyer to preserve jobs.
He added: “In the meantime, all stores will continue to trade and all employees will continue to be paid.
“We appreciate the co-operation and support from the management, staff, customers, landlords and suppliers at what is clearly a very difficult time.”
Comments(26)
AndyBSG
says...
9:10am Fri 9 Nov 12
GentleGiant
says...
9:16am Fri 9 Nov 12
I am quite sure her family would help her out if she has no cooker.
She was smart enough to contact the Echo, so I suspect she will be just fine.
r6keith
says...
9:30am Fri 9 Nov 12
black jack ketchum
says...
9:44am Fri 9 Nov 12
exBillericayDicky
says...
12:01pm Fri 9 Nov 12
Person paid for goods, company goes into administration, therefore the buyer temporarily becomes a creditor, who will get money back should the company be wound up at that point.
However, the realism is that once the Administrators have done their due dilligence on the accounts, things like the stock should start to flow, and (rose tint time) hopefully those who have already paid will be first.
What about all the other people who have paid money into them for goods? Why dont we hear them bleating to the press? Because this is a normal function of a company going out of business. It was evident a year ago Comet were going bust when they were bought for £1 (or a small amount) so why risk your money there?
I shop at Game, have their reward cards etc, when they went into Admin earlier in the year, the cards were frozen and I couldn't get access to the money on them, or spend them. I can now. So patience is needed
Biker One
says...
1:04pm Fri 9 Nov 12
I nearly bought a new cooker from Comet for £395 with an extra delivery charge of £20, instead I went to http://www.appliance
sonline.co.uk and got the same cooker for £340 with free delivery!
I have no pity for them, except for saying it's a shame so many job losses will be made, especially so close to christmas!
Firestormgjc
says...
1:22pm Fri 9 Nov 12
Biker One wrote:And that is exactly why Shops are going bust.
Beware of so called bargains in the Comet sale. It's no wonder they have gone into administration. Even with ticket prices 'slashed' by 10-20% they are still dearer than other high street retailers and cannot match prices offered by online retailers. I nearly bought a new cooker from Comet for £395 with an extra delivery charge of £20, instead I went to http://www.appliance sonline.co.uk and got the same cooker for £340 with free delivery! I have no pity for them, except for saying it's a shame so many job losses will be made, especially so close to christmas!
The rental costs of having shops together with the extra number of staff needed to run the shops , plus the delivery costs from Warehouse to Shop means that Companies selling out of retail outlets are generally more expensive to run than an online company operating out of one warehouse and therefore have to charge more to cover the costs
The convenience of a local shop , being able to view the goods etc comes at a price, which some do not want to pay (their decision ) unfortunately the fewer who visit the shop the less money the shops take and its a slippery slope to administration and insolvency
cgreen1980
says...
1:52pm Fri 9 Nov 12
cgreen1980
says...
1:56pm Fri 9 Nov 12
Provided your order has been paid for in full and the item is currently in stock at one of the distribution centres or is already in process of being delivered by the Home Delivery Platforms, it is intended that existing orders/deliveries will be delivered and installed as normal.
Where the item for an existing order is not currently in stock, this delivery cannot now be made.
New orders or payments for home delivery are not being accepted at this time.
AnotherSister
says...
2:34pm Fri 9 Nov 12
lawbreaker
says...
2:48pm Fri 9 Nov 12
Warriorisme
says...
3:21pm Fri 9 Nov 12
lawbreaker wrote:I think they should take YOU to court, as you are probably the exact reason companies like these are closing.
Absolutely disgusting. Take the bast!ards to court Mrs Wilson. People like you have survived a war, been through alot of things during your life time, then get mugged off by 21st century Britain. Thats why I shop lift goods alot of the time. Im not giving a company who makes millions of pound a year my hard earned cash. I hope you settle this, but it seems unlikely now. Good luck.
They are not making millions you thick idiot, otherwise they would not be in administration!
Steve H
says...
3:35pm Fri 9 Nov 12
lawbreaker wrote:Uh Oh Retard alert!!!
Absolutely disgusting. Take the bast!ards to court Mrs Wilson. People like you have survived a war, been through alot of things during your life time, then get mugged off by 21st century Britain. Thats why I shop lift goods alot of the time. Im not giving a company who makes millions of pound a year my hard earned cash. I hope you settle this, but it seems unlikely now. Good luck.
Olivia2847
says...
4:14pm Fri 9 Nov 12
lawbreaker
says...
4:33pm Fri 9 Nov 12
Warriorisme wrote:Of course they. Companies like Tesco's etc.. Try shoplifting, every little helps!
lawbreaker wrote:I think they should take YOU to court, as you are probably the exact reason companies like these are closing.
Absolutely disgusting. Take the bast!ards to court Mrs Wilson. People like you have survived a war, been through alot of things during your life time, then get mugged off by 21st century Britain. Thats why I shop lift goods alot of the time. Im not giving a company who makes millions of pound a year my hard earned cash. I hope you settle this, but it seems unlikely now. Good luck.
They are not making millions you thick idiot, otherwise they would not be in administration!
Augustus
says...
6:07pm Fri 9 Nov 12
andy:)
says...
9:54pm Fri 9 Nov 12
Warriorisme wrote:Ha..I agree. Go to court and youll waste even more money, no doubt you would win in court and then what...you still wouldnt get the money back !
lawbreaker wrote:I think they should take YOU to court, as you are probably the exact reason companies like these are closing.
Absolutely disgusting. Take the bast!ards to court Mrs Wilson. People like you have survived a war, been through alot of things during your life time, then get mugged off by 21st century Britain. Thats why I shop lift goods alot of the time. Im not giving a company who makes millions of pound a year my hard earned cash. I hope you settle this, but it seems unlikely now. Good luck.
They are not making millions you thick idiot, otherwise they would not be in administration!
But maybe youll end up in criminal court when they catch you nicking.
Major Incident
says...
10:44pm Fri 9 Nov 12
Olivia2847 wrote:Sale of Goods Act not applicable because the Insolvency Act is when a business goes into administration. The company that Mrs Wilson paid for her cooker technically no longer exists and she is now another name on the long list of creditors (providing she registers her claim with the administrator). However, the more promising news is that Deloitte are keeping the business trading as normal whilst they search for a buyer and have stated in the national media that all orders should be honoured.
Sale of Goods Act anyone?
Wesley92
says...
9:28am Sat 10 Nov 12
I work for a leading highstreet bank, if you have paid via you're debit card, you may be able to raise a chargeback to claim you're money back.
Please read the following I will advise on what you need todo to attempt this process.
You will need to contact you're bank and advice them you are looking to raise a charge for a DEBIT card payment.
If you paid via CHIP & PIN in store,
You MUST have paperwork to show you did not take the goods away the same day you paid for them. This means, an invoive showing an exspected delivery date for example.
You will need to either fax this paperwork / make a copy and post to you're bank. NOT YOU'RE BRANCH. You must only send this paperwork to the address the agent tells you to on the phone.
We are unable to do the charge anything less than 15 days before the payment debit date.
This means, If I bought something on the 30/10/12 I would need to wait till 14/11/12 before being able to raise a chargeback.
If you paid online, You don't need to send any paperwork.
You just need to call and raise a charge after 15 days of the payment.
Just call you're banks ' Telephone Banking Line' and they will be able to place you through to the correct department.
But before you have done this, PLEASE make sure you have contacted COMET on there recovery line, its stated on there website.
You're be suprised how many call us and have not even botherd to contact COMET.
Well I hope you find this usefull.
Kind Regards
Steve H
says...
7:26pm Sat 10 Nov 12
D-
Wesley92
says...
4:13am Sun 11 Nov 12
Steve H wrote:Everything is abbreviated in my department, and a spelling & punctuation test is not needed. But thanks for seeing slighty past the reason for my post. I hope it helps, you or someone you know.
Good advice, shame about the spelling and punctuation. As you work for a bank, I hope your Maths is better than your English.
D-
Wesley92
says...
4:15am Sun 11 Nov 12
Shocking.
Steve H
says...
4:34am Sun 11 Nov 12
Wesley92 wrote:No it isn't!!! You're is an abbreviation of you are, I said YOUR maths, which is correct, not YOU ARE maths which is what you are saying.
It's also spelt 'You're'.
Shocking.
Duh!!
Joe Hune
says...
2:06pm Mon 12 Nov 12
COMET have gone bust, are not trading anymore and have been taken over by the administrators.
But................
They have kept the sign over the door which still says COMET, they are not telling people that once they have taken the money, you will never get a refund even if they can't get the stock. If you get the product home and there is a part missing, tough!! They will just tell you to contact the company that made the product. Who ever the company is will charge you to supply the missing part!
Deloitte are now buying more 'old' stock to sell under the COMET sign until Christmas and then will shut down everything and you won't have a leg to stand on with any faulty products etc.
Now ask who is the number one creditor, the comany at the top of the list to get their money from the Administrators?
OPCAPITA - These are the people that took all the money out of Comet, the people who bought it for £2, the people who stripped all the profits out and then re loaned the money back through another one of their companies, the same people that put MFI out of business.
American crooks who do this for a living and Deloitte are just helping to not only line their pockets, but actually help them make money out of it.
Take my advice, don't blame COMET and especially don't blame their staff as they are just trying to stay employeed for a few more weeks pay.
DON'T BUY FROM COMET UNLESS YOU ARE PREPARED TO TAKE THE RISK ON EITHER A FAULTY PRODUCT OR NOT GETTING IT AT ALL.
Antonius
says...
11:15pm Fri 23 Nov 12
Especially as the Echo is on a "banning" spree :)
Nebs says...
8:19am Fri 9 Nov 12