This topic was closed on 2019-03-08. If you have a problem which is similar to the issues raised in this topic, then please start a new thread and you will get help and support there. If you would like to post up some information which is relevant to this particular topic then please flag the issue up to the site team and the thread will be reopened. - Consumer Action Group

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I honestly wouldn't put anything past this lot. They need to be barred from trading in the Uk. (After you've got your refund or delivery) They're a bloody nightmare. The question is... how do you let EVERYONE in the UK kow what they're up to? It's impossible. So Trading Standards have got to close them down. But they'll find a loophole. I don't have much time on my hands these days.. too busy earning a living to devote endless time to pursuing them (B&P) but I'm going to look into starting a "Don't Buy From Bits & Pieces" Facebook page. I also, at the time , emailed many of the companies who promoted them via links on their sites, many of whom removed them. but there were SO many links it was impossible to contact them all without devoting years to it, unfortunately. Your case has certainly rejuvenated my interest in this shower of Shysters. There are many other things I'd like to sort out in this now-awful country too..... I'll post again when the Face book page is up and running...

Sorry to hear that, Cedas. Fingers crossed for delivery today...? Happy Christmas to you anyway !

Hi Cedas. which other sites?? Hope you get your goods ok

Just found this.. http://blogs.mirror.co.uk/investigations/2008/10/the-mail-order-firm-that-didnt.html I also posted this at the time... http://wiki.answers.com/Q/I_am_searching_for_owner_of_bitsandpiecesuk.com http://www.complaints.com/complaintofthedaydecember282000.1.htm http://www.uktoystores.co.uk/bitsandpieces.html Sorry to say that checking out these links will not get you your money back, but may offer a small crumb of comfort in the knowledge that you are not alone.

Hi all. I am really sorry to see that this thread has been added to... just to update from where I left off in2007, the UK arm of B&P did apparently go into liquidation then. It had then, and probably still has, an American parent company, which if you delve deep enough asI did at the time, also had a terrible reputation for customer service. To sum up what happened in my case, I lost all my money, we had a ruined Christmas ( and I thank my family for being so sympathetic! ). I chased B&P as hard as I could. Never managed to find out who the receiver or liquidator was, never received ANY written correspondence over the matter either. Eventually approached the bank whose DEBIT card I had used for the payment (as advised in this forum) only to be told that there ws no ChargeBack system in place for that particular card, and that it is always safer to use a CREDIT card for Internet purchases. About 7 months later I received literature from my bank saying that the card now had a chargeback facility! Then.... Guess what?? Early December 2008 a Bits & Pieces catalogue dropped through the letterbox... addressed to my wife!! The cheek of it! We were blown away. I got straight on the phone to them (number had changed) asking about reimbursing me. They were obviously ready to field questions of this sort... I was told to write a code number they would give me on to my next order and they would let me have a 20% discount! There was "nothing further they could do" as the UK arm was being operated "under new management"... (same products, same catalogue, though!) I told them where to stuff it and binned the catalogue.. the same as I have done evey year since. This shower REALLY need exposing for what they are! Someone needs to start a "DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY" website! I am gutted to hear that their wayward practices are still continuing. Trading Standards and other authorities really need to be involved now...

Hello all. Is anyone else having trouble obtaining their refund from bitsandpiecesuk.com? Early in December 07 I placed an order for over £170-00 worth of Christamas presents. Waited patiently for delivery but nothing arrived, no goods, no email, no letter, no phone call. Emailed many times to their customer services, no reply. Ever. Reluctantly phoned their 0871 989 7962 customer services number after Christmas (by the way, when is it going to be made illegal for firms to use these numbers and charge you when they HAVEN'T provided a service to you???) and was told their Dispatch Company had gone bust and that customers would be sent a refund. Nice of them (not) to advise us all by email, I said. No apology was offered, no reference Number given, I was just told refunds would be going out in the next 7-10 days. Another call to them on 24th Jan produced same result. No-one can tell me the name of the failed company, so it is difficult to check their story. I have contacted Manchester Trading Standards and await the outcome of their enquiries. Today I phoned their order line and attempted to place an order which they refused to let me do, on account of their "suppliers having gone out of business-ring back mid-February".Fair enough- but an attempt to purchase online at their site met with no such refusal. Obviously I did not actully click on "Buy"! ....Also today phoned their CustServs again- apparently there are "thousands" of people in the same situation with them- and the representative WAS apologetic. "Refund by the end of February", I was promised. ........By which time they will have wound up their operation and disappeared altogether?? Ideas, anyone? In the same situation, anyone?

Donate Button seems to be the way forward! Is it worth a Poll? I will donate again as soon as your preferred method is in place! We are all up for it!

I agree with Martinwhite. Autodata,one of the motor trade's leading "bibles" covering virtually all makes & models,also state that the cam belt renewal interval is 40,000 miles for this model. Newer engine designs dictate that the cam belt drives more pulleys, therefore the belts now tend to make more "twists & turns" than they used to, meaning replacement is more frequent. Cost and blame aside for the moment, renew the belt AND THE TENSIONER, AND THE GUIDE ROLLERS AND THE WATER PUMP. If any of these items fail, the consequences are the same as breaking a belt! I can't quote parts prices, but Autodata give repair times of: Remove & Install Cam Belt: 1.3 hours Remove & Install tensioner: 1.0 hour Water pump remove & install times can depend on whether the pump is easy or difficult to remove.Guide rollers usually straightforward & quick.The garage are required by law to make YOUR old parts available to you for inspection or to keep. Hope this helps you.

Exactly what I am doing! -----It could give MANUAL INTERVENTION a whole new meaning!

http://www.connectotel.com/marcus/ceoemail.html Tried to post this in "Useful External Links" where I think it really belongs, but I was blocked from doing so. Mods, could you post or copy it there please if you deem fit? Ta

Thanks for your insights into the procedures! Now for the $64,000,000 question---------- Would you please be prepared to say what is involved in the so-called "manual intervention" involved in dealing with Unpaid Items,etc? And maybe your opinions of how well the charges made to the Account involved relate to any extra work created as aresult? It is something most users of this site would really LOVE TO KNOW!