Woods-online.co.uk

[Sickofproblems]

Hi all, I ordered goods online last August from the above. Payment was taken but no goods have arrived 6 months later. The online business has gone into liquidation and now redirects to a different site (Classic Intimates.co.uk)

 

What I want to know firstly is this. Is it legal to liquidate one online store without fulfilling orders and then 're-surface' under a different name? From a search on the net it appears that the same directors are involved and there are several other websites operating under the same 'umbrella'

 

It would appear there are quite a few angry customers out there without goods or refunds.

 

Thanks in advance

[dx100uk]

no sadly its not.

 

 

how did you pay them, though last august might be a problem now in terms of anything outside of a small claim.

 

 

itmight pay you to see if the diectors etc etc have any outstanding CCJ's

 

 

dx

[honeybee13]

Hello and welcome to CAG.

 

As you say, the online business seems to have ceased in December, here's a link to an article for reference. I expect people will be along later with comments for you.

 

http://www.lancasterguardian.co.uk/news/local/bra-shop-bucks-the-retail-trend-1-7007569

 

My best, HB

[Sickofproblems]

Thanks for quick replies. I have actually seen the newspaper article linked above. I contacted the 'new' owners Retro and Lace Ltd and they replied with the following :

 

I assume you are referring to Woods of Morecambe Limited. We are however Retro and Lace Limited (which isn't a new company and has operated for a few years now within the lingerie industry) and bought the shop in Morecambe from Woods in October last year and then its domain name woods-online.co.uk in December 2014 to help us grow our business. As such we have not so much set up online again but have created a new online store to help us develop the shop in Morecambe.

 

Reviews online show more complaints, I cn't post the link as I don't have enough posts but here's a few comments

 

 

I bitterly regret not having seen these reviews before placing my order with Wood's at the end of November 2014. Like other customers, they took my money on the same day, but the goods haven't arrived. Why? Because the company is in liquidation. These rogues must have known their business was finished, but they were still happy to fleece innocent customers

 

Wish I had looked for reviews before ordering - exactly the same has happened to me. Placed order, credit card debited immediately, no order arrived, I e-mailed 3 times without any response, eventually phoned, was told they had not received my e-mails, was also told my order had been delayed but was now being processed and sent out - it wasn't. No order received so tried another e-mail, this time they actually replied, they still haven't got my order from their supplier so I have cancelled, it's now 3 days and no credit back on my card. I'm not sure how they are still in business.

[honeybee13]

That's very interesting about Retro and Lace, although it may or may not help you.

 

The shareholder in Woods of Morecambe was Mr Nicholas James Race. On the website I looked at, he's shown as a director of Retro and Lace and the Bra Shop (Morecambe).

 

There's also a company that appears to be still trading, called Woods Distribution Group Ltd and he's a director of that as well.

 

HB

Edited February 23, 2015 by honeybee13

[honeybee13]

Looking at the Classic Intimates, website, Classic is part of Retro and Lace, which also has The Bra Shop in Morecambe.

 

http://www.classicintimates.co.uk/pages/about-us

 

HB

[honeybee13]

...and the Bra Shop on the Prom says it's formerly Woods of Morecambe.

 

http://www.brashoponline.co.uk/pages/about-us

 

HB

[honeybee13]

Woods Distribution Group Limited was registered on 16 May 2014 with its registered office in Lancashire. The business has a status listed as "Active" and it currently has 2 directors. It was founded by Mr Nicholas James Race, Mr Jonathon Malcolm Timmis. Woods Distribution Group Limited has no subsidiaries.

 

Mr Timmis is also a director of Retro and Lace and The Bra Shop.

 

Mr Jonathan Jonathan Timmis was born in 1966 and the first directorship we have on file was in 2001 at Lancaster District Chamber of Commerce Trade and Industry. His most recent directorship is with The Bra Shop (Morecambe) Limited where he hold the position of "Retailer". This company has been around since 17 Sep 2014 and lists its registered address as being in Lancashire. Jonathan has held 6 directorships,

 

HB

[dx100uk]

usual games they play then.

 

 

dx

[Sickofproblems]

Thanks guys, all this I found online which is why I know they deliberately liquidated the Woods online shop and re branded. When Woods went they retained the mailing list but deleted the customer accounts. My own loss is only £30 so not worth any legal intervention but, as their core clientele were elderly I'd guess there's a few customers with big losses. This kind of trading needs to be stopped or at the very least, reported to the relevant authority. Question is WHO would that authority be?

 

BTW I've been a lurker for a while and have found your website full of info, thanx for all yr hard work:-)

[Sickofproblems]

usual games they play then.

 

 

dx

 

Exactly!

[honeybee13]

You could try Trading Standards, although they seem to have mixed results. I can't remember if you need to go via Citizens Advice these days.

 

Or you could try to involve the local paper if you find some other customers.

 

HB

[honeybee13]

Here you go, Lancashire Trading Standards.

 

http://www.lancashire.gov.uk/business/trading-standards.aspx

 

HB

[Sickofproblems]

You could try Trading Standards, although they seem to have mixed results. I can't remember if you need to go via Citizens Advice these days.

 

Or you could try to involve the local paper if you find some other customers.

 

HB

 

Way I see it is they may have been using a website for what basically boils down to 'fraud' surely that's worth a takedown notice of their site from the webhost?

[honeybee13]

That's beyond my experience, sickof. Hopefully more people will be along later with comments for you.

 

HB

[Sickofproblems]

no sadly its not.

 

 

how did you pay them, though last august might be a problem now in terms of anything outside of a small claim.

 

dx

 

I paid by debit card and although my case is outside the period in which I could have claimed 'Chargeback' may help others (I can't add the link at the moment but just Google Chargeback Claims: How to Get Your Money Back

[Sickofproblems]

That's beyond my experience, sickof. Hopefully more people will be along later with comments for you.

 

HB

 

Thanks anyway, you've all helped confirm my findings.

[Anus Horribilis]

Way I see it is they may have been using a website for what basically boils down to 'fraud' surely that's worth a takedown notice of their site from the webhost?

 

The host isn't going to close a commercial website on the basis of your legal opinion. If you think a crime has been committed, report it to the police. But you are wasting your time - these 'phoenix company' things happen all the time, it is very easy to abandon debts and start again. It's morally wrong, but legally untouchable. Sorry.

[Sickofproblems]

The host isn't going to close a commercial website on the basis of your legal opinion. If you think a crime has been committed, report it to the police. But you are wasting your time - these 'phoenix company' things happen all the time, it is very easy to abandon debts and start again. It's morally wrong, but legally untouchable. Sorry.

 

Thanks. It was a long shot anyway.