Dear LPG, 

I don’t want to bore you, but I promised part two of the story of the pruner (►►►)).

The only thing left from part one is a broken pruner and the knowledge that not using one could be hazardous for my uncle. On the positive side, we learned that the solution had been invented, and I decided to find another. 

This time, I researched and found one made by a British company, whom I could talk to about their product. I was about to order one when they advised me to buy it from another online outlet, which I have since discovered is known as an online shopping ‘Deal Site’. The advisor told me that I would save about £40 that way and guaranteed that we would still be able to contact the manufacturers directly if the item went wrong again.

We ordered one, and after going through the online process, we waited for about a month only to realise that, although the money had left my account, the goods had yet to arrive.   I tried to find a phone number without success, but there was an online chat facility where I explained the problem many times only to get an answer, which did not make much sense whatever I typed.  No matter what I asked, the reply came back asking for a voucher number I did not have.  I typed another message, and the answer was always another request for that elusive voucher number; we were going around in circles.  It was then that I realised that I was either talking to a virtual assistant (a computer and not a person) or someone whose first language is not English. I spent a lot of time typing and would like to speak to an English-speaking person, but I need something.

Online Live Chat was not working for me, but I paid via an online bank and asked them to recall my money. They suggested that you approach the seller first, and when they did not respond, there was yet another online form-filling exercise to complete, but it worked. The deal site sent a somewhat obscure text message, and although they did not talk to me, my money was returned.  

Result…

So far, we still have no pruner, but we have learned that one way to get those companies you can’t speak to on the phone to notice is to see if your bank will recall your money.  

Perhaps getting the pruner will involve parting with the extra £40. I will let you know when we reach the end of the story.

GN, Penge

LPG found some information about getting money refunded

(►►►)