Free gift not received from Afibel after 4 months of broken promises

[Supersnipe53]

My wife received a fashion catalogue from Afibel Ltd last November promising a luxury coat allegedly worth approx. £80 in return for an order over a certain minimal value. The ordered goods arrived after an extended interval and only after several premium-rate progress enquiry phone calls.

 

 

However since then we have been fobbed off and downright lied to as to when the coat might be coming. First we had to wait for a claim form (which never came), then we had to write a letter to say we never received the form, then we had to wait for the end of the promotion (31st January), now we are told that they have no idea when the coat will come as it will be despatched by their French parent company.

 

 

In the meantime we have had a series of catalogues of the Damart / Readers Digest type - each offering a ludicrously expensive free gift in return for a very small order. The most incredible of these came yesterday, offering a Singer Sewing Machine worth £179.99 in return for a modest order.

 

My wife has today posted a letter given them a 14 day ultimatum to deliver the coat, with failure to do so resulting in the seeking of Trading Standards and Media assistance.

 

Have any other forum members had similar problems with this company?

Edited March 14, 2014 by citizenB

[rebel11]

Hi Super

 

Some complaints against this company are found on various sites on the internet.

[Supersnipe53]

Dear rebell - thanks for your reply, sorry for delay in coming back. I've found a few complaints about debt issues but none about Afibel's ludicrous competition and free gift offers. However there is a brilliant summary of their dirty tricks on the Grumpy Old Sod website. Apparently I can't post the link until I've done 10 posts, so I guess you'll have to Google it. Worth reading for its no-holds -barred criticism. And it gives the full postal address (rather than the PO box number they hide behind) and that of the French parent company. I have spoken to the national Citizens Advice Bureau and they say they have passed details on to Trading Standards. Why oh why can't we any longer talk direct to local trading Standards Offices?

[rebel11]

It's all down to the current Government, when things don't need changing, they change them.

 

Dear rebell - thanks for your reply, sorry for delay in coming back. I've found a few complaints about debt issues but none about Afibel's ludicrous competition and free gift offers. However there is a brilliant summary of their dirty tricks on the Grumpy Old Sod website. Apparently I can't post the link until I've done 10 posts, so I guess you'll have to Google it. Worth reading for its no-holds -barred criticism. And it gives the full postal address (rather than the PO box number they hide behind) and that of the French parent company. I have spoken to the national Citizens Advice Bureau and they say they have passed details on to Trading Standards. Why oh why can't we any longer talk direct to local trading Standards Offices?

[Mr.P]

My wife received a fashion catalogue from Afibel Ltd last November promising a luxury coat [...]

In the meantime we have had a series of catalogues of the Damart / Readers Digest type - each offering a ludicrously expensive free gift in return for a very small order.

 

Oh dear... Afibel gets a mention on http://www.thinkjessica.com/shocking-facts.htm - Not surprising Mrs Supersnipe is now getting Damart catalogues as I dare say she is now on the mailing list for all the other dodgy mail order firms.

 

If you have a read of Afibel's terms & conditions, I would expect you'll find the offer of a "free" coat is subject to stock and availability - In other words, only one was allocated and Floosie in admin got her order in first.

[Supersnipe53]

Dear Mr P. Thanks for your reply, and again sorry for delay in responding. I looked at the Think Jessica site you mentioned and saw many heartbreaking stories of elderly people spending fortunes in the hope of big prizes promised. Funnily enough you were correct about receiving catalogues from others like Afibel - this morning my wife received a similarly-styled one promising £142,000 from Phyderma, Paris, (although the orders go to a PO box in Dublin) which is also an outfit mentioned by Think Jessica. Anyway there was a number on the site for Action Against Fraud and I had a long chat with one of their guys who will pass the info to the Police national anti-fraud intelligence squad. I was given a report number and password and they will eventually give some feedback.

[Coopzz]

I advise everyone to stay well away from this 'Afibel' Company.

I ordered 2 pairs of slippers for my mum as a Christmas present on the 24th November 2014, after sending them several unanswered emails I phoned them last week and they told me the slippers would be delivered at the end of next week, which is this week beginning 11th January.

I tracked the order this morning 12th Jan. and it had changed to 'available in 4 weeks', I phoned them again this morning and they said it would be another 6 weeks, that's over 3 months, I have now cancelled the order.

In between this they have sent me a load of rubbish in the post about I am one of five people receiving a 'Gold Jewel' with my next order.

AVOID THIS COMPANY LIKE THE PLAGUE.

[MiniECHO]

I used to work for this company and they deliberately target the elderly who they know will believe the advertising and get on the phone to a premium rate number. Half the calls i received were complaints. They do nothing illegal and they do genuinely pay out on the draws, but the advertising is aggressive and very intimidating to people who quite frankly they know they can bully and abuse to fill their pockets. I personally got fed up with defending any of their bull**** offers, the quality of clothes and the bombardment of elderly women who claimed they had won or wanted to know when they were going to receive their cheque.

 

They have a high staff turnover (in other words no one stays for very long) they dont stop mailing even when you request to stop. All legal though.

[dx100uk]

no its not legal

 

 

dx