website trading problems

[DvJ]

The internet trading company with the address kickassclothing.co.uk (also advertising on Myspace) has a long trail of complaints from dissatisfied customers. The failure of the website owner to provide basic consumer rights has culminated in a successful case in the county courts - read on.

 

The website kickassclothing.co.uk displays no name or business address - only a post box number. The website has sections relating to Terms and conditions, Returns Policy which are meaningless, but look plausible to the targeted sales market.

 

The information necessary to follow a county court claim against the website are given here and are provided following a successful case at Crewe County Court 1n 2008.

 

The website owners name and address is:-

 

James Martin

11 Abbotsbury Close,

Crewe,

Cheshire.

CW2 6XD

 

Go to moneyclaim.gov.uk to start your small claim. The only costs you incur will be £25 which you get back if you win. James Martin will give you your money back - and he will pay the court fees and bailiff costs. What a nice website owner ! I'm sure he made the bailiffs a cup of tea

 

Following the successful county court case Mr Martin may have some problems obtaining credit. However, he quoted a substantial turnover from the website so any further claims would be well worth pursuing.

 

Trading standards at Crewe can be contacted (find the website on google) should you be hesitant about the online small claims process.

 

Finally - some advice - don't purchase anything from any website that fails to provide a full business address. Any website having just a PB number is a sure sign of problems to come.

 

Good luck and have some fun - should you wish to pursue a claim against kickassclothing.co.uk.

 

David von Janowski

Edited October 1, 2008 by DvJ
spelling error

[Conniff]

Yes the website is trading against the rules, but to give your post credibility, can you post the case number at Crewe County Court and the date.

[DvJ]

Case number = 7QT74878.

Case enforcement number = FWWDD479.

Transaction number = 19161.

Defendant / Debtor = kickassclothing.co.uk (Mr James Martin)

Date = 4th July 2008.

Amount £100.

[DvJ]

...and the online moneyclaim (small claims website) address is moneyclaim.gov.uk. The process is straightforward. One piece of advice - research the business you are claiming against - contact trading standards - and use the internet to find out as much as possible about them. Look for similar successful claims, confirm the business address or alternative addess to serve papers - (may be useful for the bailiffs later too). If the address is NOT correct your case can bounce and you will lose your £25. There are now across boarder agreements with trading standards so that if you are conned by a foreign company you may still be able to pursue a claim.

 

Most important - make sure you have a justifiable and legitimate claim to pursue. Ok

[Conniff]

Why I requested the court details is they have a 100% feedback on ebay and there are only 3 mentions of them not doing refunds that come up in searches on various engines.

 

They are breaking so many laws, no terms and conditions (T&Cs of using the website do not count), distance selling regulations, no email address, using a PO Box number and not a geographic address and countless others.

 

Information that must be on your website

 

 

The following is the minimum information that must be on any company's website:The name, geographic address and email address of the service provider. The name of the organisation with which the customer is contracting must be given. This might differ from the trading name. Any such difference should be explained – e.g. "XYZ.com is the trading name of XYZ Enterprises Limited."

 

 

 

 

It is not sufficient to include a 'contact us' form without also providing an email address and geographic address somewhere easily accessible on the site. A PO Box is unlikely to suffice as a geographic address; but a registered office address would. If the business is a company, the registered office address must be included.

• If a company, the company's registration number should be given and, under the Companies Act, the place of registation should be stated (e.g. "XYZ Enterprises Limited is a company registered in England and Wales with company number 1234567")
  
• If the business is a member of a trade or professional association, membership details, including any registration number, should be provided.
  
• If the business has a VAT number, it should be stated – even if the website is not being used for e-commerce transactions.
  
• Prices on the website must be clear and unambiguous. Also, state whether prices are inclusive of tax and delivery costs.
  

 

You could also send details of the court ruling along with the breaches in the companies act to the domain they are registered with: Domain name registration from 123-reg and ask them to take their site down.

 

There are also a lot of very legitimate companies that have websites that do not comply with the companies act, but it has not been widely advertised and no doubt will be changed when they are made aware of it.