A complaint: Office Shoes

Okay so this is me definitely complaining. What OFFICE has done is not illegal but it sure feels like it should be. Unfortunately they protect themselves by saying that essentially no contract is made between you and them until they post the goods, and you have no other choice but to accept this! Anyhoo let me tell you what happened.

So on 4th June I ordered these shoes from Office online:

Oooh, Aaah, Cute! Yes I felt the same way. They were on sale from £60 to £25 and I felt like after all my hard work I deserved to spend a little!

1. I get my order confirmation

2. I wait and wait and wait, since I PAID for 2 - 3 day delivery.

3. I hear nothing from Office and quite frankly did not realise that 6 days had passed.

4. On 10th June My funkyberry vibrates and I pick it up: You've Got Mail

5. I read the following message:

Dear Mr Funke Omisore

This is an automated email to confirm that due to limited stock availability the following item(s) could 'NOT' be dispatched to you from Office Shoes.

JIMINY CRICKET LACE UP - BURG/

This order has been cancelled and your credit / debit card will not be charged or will be refunded for the item(s).

We apologise for any inconvenience caused.

Office Shoes

The Distance Selling Regulations 2000 cover goods or services sold without face-to-face contact. They cover:

the internet
television
mail order, including catalogue shopping
phone and fax

The regulations say that:

you must be given clear information about the goods or services before you buy
goods must be delivered within thirty days unless agreed otherwise
there is a ‘cooling off period’ where you can cancel the contract to buy for any reason

If they had limited stock they really should have a system that does not get ones hopes up in thinking that they have bought shoes when they really have not.

I am most disturbed by the fact that they called me MISTER and this is not the first time I have shopped with them... I have always been a Miss and did not get a sex change.

I tried to find something in contract law or unfair contract terms (UCTA) to make this work in my favour. All I would get if I did win was money and I really wanted the shoes. SO now I am sad, sad that the shoes that I had already put outfits on reserve for will not be posted to my house.

Please do not buy things from OFFICE online and actually expect them to actually come. In store they have a 'no refund' policy which is another thing I do not like about them. They sell stunning shoes every now and again (if you can get past all the trainers at the door).

Rant over. I'll probably delete this ~~when~~ if rational thought kicks in.

4 Response to A complaint: Office Shoes

Michael

14 June 2010 at 13:24

LOL - feel better after that rant? ;-)

Office's "no refund - only credit" policy in store is a touch irksome (but doesn't their fantastic collection of shoes make up for it?)

Nah, you're right - it doesn't.

Nice try re. the failure to give clear information about goods route, but I'm not sure it would have stuck. Still, might have been worth a try... they might have tried shutting you up with a store voucher... then again?

Oh well - lesson learnt, I guess: stay well clear of office online.

But most importantly, what shoes did you go for in the end? ;-)

Funke Omisore

18 June 2010 at 08:51

I do actually. It was just what I needed to get it out of my system.

I didn't buy any shoes in the end, was too confused about whether they had taken money from my account or not. Also wasn't prepared for a double disappointment... who knows when their readily available online stock will run out after you have already purchased it. :(

Unknown

18 January 2013 at 11:02

Hi,
Sub:VERY VERY DISAPPOINTED WITH OFFICE

I have some thing to complain about OFFICE. I have placed an order before Christmas for Caterpillar boots as a gift for my husband. Its been a month and I have been trying calling up OFFICE and they said the order has been cancelled because of low stock. They have again asked me to place an order by phone after checking the availability of stock which I have done. 3 days after placing the order, I checked again with the customer service about the status of my order and they said its in process. After a while, I called up again just to know that my order has been cancelled.

I am so disappointed by OFFICE as they did not even feel the need to send me an email about the cancellation of my order. All I can say is OFFICE is losing it's customers and it is getting Negative feedback from many people due to its irresponsible behaviour towards its customers.

Miss Andrews

21 March 2014 at 10:33

Office are awful! I am so disappointed with them after I have just returned the boots I had ordered for the FIFTH time. I first had to send them back because the first pair they sent were the wrong size but beautiful and perfect. I returned them and within a week I got a the replacement pair. Obviously I was excited so I opened them thinking I would get to wear them for my one year anniversary dinner with my fiancé but oh was I wrong! They were badly damaged and two different sizes. The next pair came once again within a week and one of them was badly damaged and same goes for ever other replacement after that. When you are spending £200 on a pair of soft leather boots am I wrong to think they should come in pristine condition WITHOUT scratches or have glue marks and holes all over them??