Beware of Rimmerbros!

[Malteser]

Last week I ordered the last remaining finishing parts off of Rimmerbros.co.uk because I couldn't find them anywhere else and since they are finishers, I wanted them new. In total the bill came to 191.66 GBP. I even received the order confirmation with that amount. I just received my parcel today and saw the invoice and it said that there was a charge of 219.50 GBP to my card! I checked my bank account and sure enough that was what was taken out.

I never received any communication about this change and no notification at all that they were going to debit me more than what was on the invoice. I called them today but no one was there from the Web Sales division so I will have to wait till tomorrow to see what they are going to do.

Hopefully this is just a mix up and I will be refunded the difference of almost 28 GBP.

Just wanted people to know to check their invoices and make sure that what was taken out is actually what was SUPPOSED to be taken out. Even from well known companies!!!

[petet16]

I know you have to be careful with their delivery charges because the standard delivery is generally about 3x the first class postage charge, would yours be anything to do with currency charges, or something like added vat, which you shouldn't pay as it's for export.

[Malteser]

The shipping is the same...I had a discount code for 16% which I had used but just realising that that is what they didn't honour in the final invoice. So should have I paid VAT or no then?

[petet16]

I don't think you pay vat on items being sent outside the uk, but it would be worth confirming that to be sure.

[Malteser]

On their Checkout in their "Cart" it says VAT: (UK & EU only) so I'm guessing, I have to pay that. That would be fine though as I was expecting that, it is the removal of the discount and addition of that price taken out of my bank account without notifying me that is upsetting me mostly.

28GBP is about 34 Euro which isn't exactly chump change.

[petet16]

I've just checked the vat, and it seems you pay vat between the uk and Malta, but I agree with you 100% about the difference between what you expected to pay and what you actually paid, I've always found their customer service to be pretty good, so I'm sure it will get sorted.

[Malteser]

Hopefully because they are a well known company and I'm hoping it is just a mix up...Let's wait and see what they say tomorrow.

[Jason04r]

You pay vat to every country in the EU , outside then you don't .. Gibraltar for example and yes there delivery charges are huge , must be for the lovely packaging with rimmerbros stamped all over it

[Malteser]

So I got in contact with them today and to be honest, I'm not impressed. They are saying that that discount should have been on Triumph and SD1 parts only. Ok. But when I brought up the fact that I wasn't even notified of the difference in price, he said he missed sending that email and apologized. That again, Ok, people make mistakes.

The part that really got me over the phone though was when he said that he had refunded me the difference when initially checking the problem but then RECHARGED me the difference afterwards. So basically now that they have my information, they can charge me again directly without even notifying me?!?! This is ridiculous!!! Can they even do that?!

And not even an offer for a slight discount for the trouble or inconvenience! I have worked in sales and customer service before and even if we couldn't offer the entire thing, we at least gave something, but nothing was even offered.

I am disappointed with their service and will never use them again. If I need any other parts for this car and can't find it from anywhere else, I just pray that it is not a major part because I still will not purchase anything from them again.

BUYER BE WARNED!!

[petet16]

That's disappointing, other xpart dealers are available however who will post outside the UK.

[peterzs]

Shame, as I have always found them to be OK.

I always take it higher, if I'm not satisfied with the service, Managing Director, or Company Secretary, always keep it friendly and for the good of their company. Customer Feedback, and Customer Service, might be worth mentioning!!

Send a few Emails off, makes you feel a bit better as well.

[Malteser]

Where would I find the email addresses of the higher ups? I wouldn't mind making them aware of this because I just received the email letting me know that they recharged me and it was put under "Miscellaneous Comment" for a total of 27.84 GBP. How can they charge me again without my authorization is what I would like to know. That is mainly what I would like to clear up with the higher ups if I can get a hold of them.

[Dan1971]

Contact your bank and tell them the payment was not authorised. They should refund you.

[Malteser]

Well I called my bank and they said that they should not have passed those transactions without notifying me first. So now I have to send all my details and papers of the transactions and orders to the bank and then they will try to sort everything out from there. For me it's not about the money now, 30GBP being not a small amount but one that I can take right now, it's now about the security of information with this company. Since I gave them my information for a one time use for a certain amount of money, and them being able to change that amount to a higher one without my authorization, and then refund me and charge me again WITHOUT my authorization, it begs to question how safe is my personal bank data with them.

Their products might be genuine and good, but this is something to consider when dealing with them. I'll keep you guys updated on what my bank tells me when I get the stuff to them on Saturday.

[Dan1971]

Well I called my bank and they said that they should not have passed those transactions without notifying me first. So now I have to send all my details and papers of the transactions and orders to the bank and then they will try to sort everything out from there. For me it's not about the money now, 30GBP being not a small amount but one that I can take right now, it's now about the security of information with this company. Since I gave them my information for a one time use for a certain amount of money, and them being able to change that amount to a higher one without my authorization, and then refund me and charge me again WITHOUT my authorization, it begs to question how safe is my personal bank data with them.

Their products might be genuine and good, but this is something to consider when dealing with them. I'll keep you guys updated on what my bank tells me when I get the stuff to them on Saturday.

Shouldn't have to do all that.

This is simple.

You tell your bank what payment was authorised. They should refund you the difference and then they take it up with the seller. It's all about payments and guarantees in relation to when the buyer is not present at the time of sale and doesn't either enter a pin number or sign.

The issue is for the bank.

[peterzs]

Looks like a registered letter addressed to one of these. http://companycheck.co.uk/company/02155394/RIMMER-BROS-LIMITED/directors-shareholders#people-summary

and sent here. http://companycheck.co.uk/company/02155394/RIMMER-BROS-LIMITED/company-summary#contact-details

[petet16]

Good find Pete.

[Malteser]

Still can't find an email so I think I'm just gonna call tomorrow and ask for the manager, if they give any fuss, i'll just give all the info to the bank and have them sort it out. If I keep calling though, I'll spend all the money that they overcharged me in international phone calls! So think I should just let the bank deal with it.

[Malteser]

So an update on the situation. Could not find any information about managers of the place and bank told me to contact them one more time before they deal with them. I called today and got the email of a manager because apparently managers are never available during working hours. I just sent my email and am awaiting a reply. Let's see what they do.

Here is the email that I sent:

Mr. XXXXXXXX (At least I'll protect their data for the time being)

My name is Clayton Vella. I am emailing you because am very upset with your lack of customer service and concerned about my personal data being in the hands of your company. On January 9th, 2014 I placed an order totaling £191.66 (this includes all VAT, p&H and the 16% discount code that I used). When I received my package a few days later, I saw the invoice was for a totally different amount. They had removed the discount and charged me a total of £219.50. When I checked my bank statement, it showed this new amount was charged instead of the original amount.

First problem - Total taken from my account was changed without my knowledge, notification, or consent!

When I called to see why this happened, thinking that it might just have been a mistake somewhere along the way, I was told by the person that I talked to that the code I used was not meant for the parts I ordered. Fine, that was a mistake on my part. Then, he continued to say when he looked into the issue, he credited the difference back to me and then when he saw what the issue was, REDEBITED the difference and charged me for it. AGAIN WITHOUT MY CONSENT!

Second Problem - My account was charged AGAIN with my supposed Protected Information without my knowledge, notification, or consent!

I am emailing you to see what can be done in this situation before I take all this information to the bank and have them deal with you about the extra charges that I wasn't notified about and did not consent to, and before I take it to the authorities that information given to you can be used again without the owner's consent. I am awaiting a reply. Thank you.


What do you guys think?

[peterzs]

Sounds OK.

Hope they see sense and credit the money back, with a bit more for the inconvenience and aggravation.

[adam]

My last order with Rimmer Bros went pear shaped. I paid for next day delivery and the parts took around a week to arrive. To their credit they refunded the delivery charge and supposedly re-sent the parts....although only one set arrived....

I was forced to order from them again over the weekend, hindsight I should have just ordered the parts from Honda, but we shall see if they arrive ok.

[Malteser]

So after sending that email, I received no correspondence so I called yesterday and the manager wasn't there, I left my contact information with them and was told he would get back to me. He never did. Today I called back and was told he wasn't there. When I told them I would give them to tonight to respond before I involve the bank, I got an email 5 minutes later.

Dear Clayton Vella,

Thank you for your email, I have checked into the circumstances and agree that we removed the discount from the order because it did not qualify for the special offer.
We are working with our web development team to try to prevent this scenario happening in the future, by preventing non eligible parts from being discounted.
I am sorry that we did not act more pro-actively to alert you to the discount error before we processed the order at the correct price.

We refunded the discount amount following your query in error and then re-charged the refunded amount to rectify this and balance the transaction. I apologise for any confusion this has caused.

As a good will gesture I would like to offer you a refund of the £27.84 difference between the web order total and the transaction total.

Kind regards

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX (Protecting the name)

So I emailed in return with this:

Hi Mr. XXXXXXXXXXXXXX,

Thank you for your response. The refund would be appreciated. Thank you. Would you also please remove all of my personal information from your systems once the refund is done please because just the fact that your company was able to charge my account without my confirmation still doesn't sit quite right with me. Please let me know when the refund is completed and also when the personal information is removed as well. Thank you and have a great day.

Clayton Vella

Let's see how long correspondence takes this time. Even though their customer service came through in the end, I still will not order from them again because I don't feel that I can trust my personal information with them.

I'll keep everyone updated on the final progress.

[peterzs]

Goodish, result I suppose.

Bit more cash for the inconvenience etc. wouldnt have gone amiss.