Pull up a comfy chair, it's gonna be another long one

I drive past a motorsports shop on Gorgie Road, Edinburgh every day on my way to and from work.

Back in May, I was about to do my first track day and wanted to purchase some EBC brake pads.

The shop in question, <B>DTM Motorsport</B>, always looked fairly busy and I noticed that they had EBC stickers on the front window.

Being the lazy git that I am, I rang them to order a set of the pads (I needed them really quick, or else I would have got them from Scoobyshop, I promise). This was on the 9th of May.

I was told that they could have them 'the next day', but that they would need a credit / debit card to secure the order.

Point 1: Always check if the retailer is going to debit your card straigt away, or when the goods are delivered.

Needless to say, after a week of chasing and many stupid excuses, they were unable to deliver the pads. I was now two days from the track day, and sourced the pads elsewhere.

When I rang to cancel the order, I was told that 'the floor limit on card refunds is £50, and head office will have to send a claim form for you to fill in and then they will send you a cheque'

The total cost was £127.66 (for front and rear greenstuff pads).

Ok, annoying, but at least I would get my money.

After a week and no letter in the post, I drove down to talk to them at the shop.

Lo and behold, the window was painted up, and the doors were bolted shut.

I immediately rang the bank, to try and get my money back.

Unfortunately I had paid with solo, and there is no consumer protection on solo or switch cards, the way that there is on visa and other credit cards.

Point 2: Never pay for anything with solo or switch unless you are present. If you later dispute a transaction the bank will do nothing to help you.

I then contacted trading standards and told them my story.

I have just now heard back from them today.

The secretary and director both resigned on the 30th of April, and the company entered into a 'Corporate Voluntary Agreement' aka liquidation on the 24th of April.

This was all that Trading standards could do. As the company had no officials, there is nobody to take to small claims court to get my money back

I was told to ring companies house and get the details of the liquidator, so that I could register as a creditor.

Companies house wanted £12 for this information, but I looked it up on their webiste for free

 

Unbelievable. So they were <I>still</I> charging customers even after they went into liquidation?

Cem

 

Point 5.
NEVER use EBC Green Stuff on track.

Good luck though.

Stef.

 

Sorry to hear it Andrew.

Hope you get your money back.

On a brighter note, what do you think of the pads that you bought from the other source? Were they EBC's and where did you get them?

Rich

 

nae luck

good luck. [not that u seem to have had any with ur car recently]

Edited to remove mistaken identity.





[This message has been edited by SCOSaltire (edited 26 June 2001).]

 

Stef,

But I need the greenstuffs, the other colours just don't coordinate with a green car

Cem,

That's the bit I find hardest to understand. Surely this is illegal, but I don't know how to pursue it ...

RichS,

They were green stuffs that I ended up with, on black diamond cross drilled discs.

Worked fine at Croft, still plenty of pads left at the end of the day.

Much better bite, I was actually able to get Ian (maxy) floating forward against the seatbelt at the braking point on the two straights

I'm thinking about trying reds for the track day at Knockhill on Saturday, but I'm not sure about the whole bedding in thing.

SCOSaltire,

I think you might find that the flyer from Crail was actually DR Motorsport (but I could be wrong), and I'm quite sure that Dave is alive and kicking, as is his company.

Andrew.


[This message has been edited by AndrewW (edited 26 June 2001).]

 

woops!

removed

I have heard of them tho.

where u going for ur service?

 

Sorry to hear about this.

Let's hope others can learn from your misfortune.

<I>Always</I> use a credit card for any mail order or internet transactions. Never use a debit card of any sort, be it visa delta or Switch. If the retailer charges you a percentage, it's probably still worth it.

 

SCOSaltire,

Nobles - £380
S&S - £340
AWD - £250

Unfortunately, as it seems that monopolies are legal in the 2nd and 3rd year of warranties, I will be going to S&S for the service.

Just think, for the amount that I will be paying, I could have had the service done at AWD including ITG panel filter and iridium plugs, and still had £50 left over to spend on booze

Oh well, such is life.

Andrew.

 

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:<HR>Originally posted by AndrewW:
That's the bit I find hardest to understand. Surely this is illegal, but I don't know how to pursue it ...
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Trading whilst knowingly insolvent is seriously illegal - the directors of the company would be banned from being directors of any company again if they were caught and successfully charged, and would probably go to jail if they could not meet the creditors claims & fine. I'd suggest contacting your local Citizens Advice Bureau, and report the matter to the police.

 

lo andrew

sorry to hear about the pad's,hope you get some joy in recovering the money.

John spicer at S+S Service's same to him you were down for the West coast meet and see if he will give you a discount ,he did on the day,plus you are travelling down from edinburgh, might get some joy, just tell him i sent you.

dougie+diana

[This message has been edited by dougies549 (edited 26 June 2001).]

 

A "C.V.A" does note mean the company has been liquidated. This is usually an abbreviation for "Creditors Voluntary Arrangement"

This is an arrangement, approved by the Court, whereby Creditors agree to a Scheme of Repayment ie 50p in the pound or suchlike, over a period of years.

If the Company has actually been liquidated, make sure you tell the DTI/Liquidator that they nicked your money after the event. That is a big no-no and will get them into trouble.

It is also illegal to resign as a Director without another being appointed.

I would knock on their front door, that usually works.