PPI Claim Back

Ordered a playhouse as a child's birthday gift which had a 10 - 15 working days delivery on it. They assured me it would be delivered on time & it didn't arrive. Spent ages on the phone & email chasing it and being told misinformation about the order status. Courier was supposed to call to arrange delivery, they just left it on street outside our house. I complained to company and still no reply over two weeks later. Shocking customer service

On 1 December, we ordered and paid for a large toy to be delivered for a child's Xmas. The item was described as "in stock" on Variete's site.

By 14th December the Variete tracking system still didn't show the item as dispatched so we phoned and were told "we don't have the item in stock any more". When we asked why they hadn't told us but had taken and held onto our cash, we were simply told - you will have to wait 5-7 days for a refund.

So - we are out of pocket for the next week, don't have the present, and it's now too late to order a replacement elsewhere! On behalf our grandson - thanks Variete!

We are writing to Trading Standards in Sunderland as we have now seen other complaints online from dissatisfied customers.

I ordered from Variete twice before and always had positive experiences, I have no real issues to report. The last thing I ordered was a sofa I liked that I spotted on the site, I was told when it should arrive and it got here at that date (I ordered on a Thursday and I got it the following Tuesday) and the sofa was exactly as advertised. These other comments worry me as I have never had any problems with them, the whole process always went perfectly smooth. I'm happy with their products and services, especially the prices, and will order again if I ever need another piece of furniture.

Don't use this company. I ordered a Shire Abri 7x7 Apex Shed from them and paid for itin full and £19:98 for delivery. 5 days later they wanted another £30 for delivery and blamed their supplier for the charge. I was told I would receive my shed in 20 days time and that was my order gone throught. 7 days later they emailed me to say they had cancelled my order and they would refund my money as the item was no longer available. I checked their website that night and the same 7x7 shed was on sale for £70 more than I had paid for it. I emailed them back and they wouldn't sday why they never offfered me this shed as an alternative. I questioned the price hike an dthey put it down to the, manufacturer revision change. I emailed them back and they never replied to my mails again. Their terms and conditions are a joke quote "Prices and availability of products are subject to change without notice" Trading standards are investigating this matter.

WARNING: COMPANY REFERRED TO TRADING STANDARDS

This company ripped me off.

I purchased a furniture set from their website. The accompanying photograph showed a coffee table, lamp table and sofa table. In the 'what's included' description, it clearly bullet-pointed the three items. When only two were delivered (late, of course) I rang up to see where the sofa table was. They said it wasn't included and wanted an additional £200.

In error or otherwise, it definitely was. They have now changed their website – adding a field to select an optional sofa table – but will not send me the goods I have paid for. This clearly contravenes the Sale of Goods Act 1979 because the goods were not as described.

And they will only accept returns if I pay for the large items of furniture to be sent to them. This is totally unacceptable, seeing as they haven't sent me what I ordered and paid for. When you try and complain, you can never talk to anyone. When I emailed them asking why I should pay to return items due to their breach of contract, they have cut me off all together.

Citizens Advice has now referred Variete.co.uk to Trading Standards. DO NOT DEAL WITH THIS COMPANY. It's everything you fear when you buy online from an unknown source.

Variete Stores – A Review

If you only read the first couple of lines then the main message is:

Do not use Variete Stores they will let you down badly.

Here goes a little more detail.

I ordered a near £300 parasol from this company over a month before a big event I needed it for. I considered this plenty of time as the website stated a 3-5 day delivery.

The following then took place:

A confirmation email and payment taken two days later

After a week of waiting I emailed as it had not arrived. I was informed the order had been lost but it would be delivered asap.

On 4 separate occasions I was informed a delivery would be made but it was always lost or not put through. Twice this involved me waiting in my house for a whole day when not convenient after being promised the delivery would be made.

On the 5th attempt at delivery the wrong parasol was delivered

By this time it was the week before the big event we needed it for (in this terrible summer a parasol was crucial!) and with 3 days to go and a month since ordering I was told it was now out of stock and they would pick up the old one but I just had to deal with it.

They would not talk about compensation at all until the transaction was completed which of course it now will not be! And the customer service was passive aggressive with requests being ignored and no ownership over any of the issues taking place.

In summary they took my money and kept it for a month, lost my order, failed to deliver 4 times, then delivered the wrong item before informing me three days before when I needed it that it was out of stock.

Essentially there are fundamental issues with this company in both their logistics management and the customer service.

I am sure that sometimes items get delivered properly and it will seem smooth but you should know that if there is any form of issue it will be dealt with extremely poorly.

Stay away from this company and it's associate brands.

Cheers

Dave