Friday, August 18, 2006

Rant about www.exciteit.co.uk - don't use them

I have made many purchases online in my time - and every transaction that I have ever made I have been satisfied with - bar one time I order two PCs from dell - got billed for two and only one turned up. Thats another story though - I can assure you that one had a reasonably happy ending.

On the 28th of June 2006 I placed an order
with Excite IT after searching Froogle and getting the best price from them. (£159.41)

I paid by debit card. (A mistake apparently). Via a service called nochex. Im told funds were released to Excite IT on the 1st of August. A week or so later my AMD dual core CPU had not turned up. Concerned by this I went back to the website to try and get a contact phone number. But could find none. This concerned me greatly. However, I was not at the pulling my hair out stage yet. I emailed Excite IT the following email:

Re: Order Number - XXXXXXXX

I have still not received my order. Can you tell me when it will arrive.
Regards

Garry.


I received the following reply:


Dear Garry

Today I have spoken direct with our supplier of this item and have been informed they have now declared the item discontinued and stock currently is none obtainable.
At this point I urge you to consider an alternative item which I will make sure arrives with you immediately.
Failing this I will honour your request to cancel and refund your order if that’s your final decision.
I would of course completely understand under the circumstance if you wish to do so but I do ask that you take advantage of my services as I am here rectify this situation for you as swiftly as possible.
I anticipate your response
Kind regards
Customer service
Excite I.T


The item is apparently discontinued? this is a brand new dual core chip. So I wrote back:
Other suppliers stock the AMD chip - its new out? - how can it be discontinued.Can you arrange for an immediate refund.
Regards
Garry.

I got this reply:

Dear Sir
As our supplier is not able to provide us with an ETA for this CPU I could only assume that it was end of line.
If I am incorrect in my assumption, I apologize.
You will be happy to know that your refund request has been authorized and is now being processed for you. Please be aware we are running a little behind due to necessary expansion of our offices and fulfilment operation. Due to this refunds can take up to 3 - 5 working days to process. We apologize for the inconvenience caused however once this process is completed you will receive an e-mail confirmation from our payment provider Nochex. Once you have receipt of this mail your funds have been released. Please allow 24/48 hours for you bank to process this payment on your behalf.
We apologize for any delays. If you feel you have waited longer than this time please do not hesitate to contact us on enquires@exciteit.co.uk.
Once again we thank you for your patience

Sincerely
Service Desk
Excite IT.


3 to 5 working days! This is the digital age guys? surely you can do better than that. I waited another 10 days. Then I wrote this:
It has been 10 days since I requested a refund. I still do not have one. This is a major inconvenience for me. Please make the refund immediatley - or I will be forced to report this matter to my credit card company.
I got this reply:

Dear Sir / Madam
Have again forwarded your Email to our accounts department, this time you should receive a confirmation of refund Email from NoChex within the next 3 working days at the latest.
Our apologies for the delay.
Kind regards
Customer services
Excite I.T

Now - I'd had enough. Who were excite it? and why do they keep fobbing me off? why do they not publish a contact number - and where are they registered.

On their site it says their address is:

Excite I.T. Ltd Unit 16
Eckland Lodge Business Park
Desborough rd
Market Harborough
Leicestershire
LE16 8HB



This directory lists their telephone number as:
Customer Service: Tel: 0845 4502321 Fax: 01536 760075
However, I have tried this several times and it has just rung and rung. What next I thought. So I did a whois on the domain name - to see who the registrant was:
Domain name: exciteit.co.uk
Registrant: Excite I.T. Ltd
Registrant type: UK Limited Company, (Company number: 5235682)
Registrant's address:

39 Valley Walk
Kettering
Northants
NN16 0LU
GB

This is a residential address as far as Im aware. But still no luck actually speaking to anyone.

I finally phoned my bank - and have disputed the payment. But still may not get it back.
So in conclusion, Don't ever use this company - they are the crap. If anyone has any further information and can let me know how to get in touch with the owner - or can tell a similar story please comment here.

.

32 comments:

Garry Walker said...

Update!

Nochex have sent me an email saying that my money is being refunded. So maybe they aren't con men - just incompetent.

Garry.

Anonymous said...

Gary,

Have exectly the same problem with Exciteit - even received the same email responses word for word as you!

Ordered a Tomtom sat nav on 7th July as i was going to Europe at the end of the month and they were showing 50 in stock. Waited two weeks and heard nothing so phoned and was told there was a problem with the supplier so I cancelled and bought elsewhere.

As of todays date, they have still not refunded my money so yesterday I filed a claim in the Small Claims Court and would advise anyone else with the same issue to do the same. It was easy to do on line at www.moneyclaim.gov.uk.

Will keep you updated.

Tim

Garry Walker said...

Well I can confirm that I got my money back in full in the end.

So not such an unhappy ending - but very frustrating.

I wont be using them again.

Anonymous said...

Ditto. Placed an order on 29th June and have been prmised a full refund. 11 August was advised, in the same email as you have quoted, that our refund would take 3-5 days. Still waiting. Have just reported to Barclaycard who will TRY to get money. So have sent another email threatending them with Small Claims and reporting to Nochex

Anonymous said...

Dear Mr. Walker,



I came across your blog today on the net regarding Exciteit. If I can introduce myself, my name is Duncan Sibley and I am the Commercial Manager for Exciteit. I’m obviously quite concerned about your shopping experience with us and have had a look in to the history of the issue. Firstly please accept my apologies on behalf of Exciteit; I understand how frustrating it can be when you cannot get a simple answer to a simple question. We are currently undergoing expansion to new premises and as a result our telephone service desk is temporarily unavailable hence why you have struggled to get through to us. In the meantime we are asking customers to email queries where we aim to answer within 20 minutes of receiving them. We expect our support desk to be back up and running when we’ve ironed out the bugs in the new telephone system after we’re settled in to our new facility. We ask customers to please bear with us whilst we undergo this process.



Because we are a new business (less than a year old), and until we implement our new Operations Centre we cannot hold a significant volume of stock, and we are to some extent at the mercy of our suppliers in terms of fulfillment. If they encounter a problem it regrettably has adverse effects on our ability to fulfill customer orders. Supplier stock levels can change at any given moment which is completely beyond our control. It seems that when you placed you’re order on the 28th July 2006 the supplier we used at the time could not allocate stock to this hence the reason why your order did not ship within 3 -5 working days as stated on our website. As per our terms and conditions you were refunded in full within 30 days on the 18th August although ordinarily we would hope to turn refund requests around more quickly.



Please be reassured we do strive to achieve a high competency of customer service in an industry that is somewhat lacking in this area. Once again please accept my apologies on behalf of Exciteit.co.uk for your negative shopping experience. Should have any further queries please do not hesitate to contact me directly.



Kind Regards



Duncan Sibley

Commercial Manager

Excite I.T (Consumer Product Specialists)



Tel: 01536 760086
Fax: 01536 760075


Email: duncans@exciteit.co.uk
Web: www.exciteit.co.uk

Anonymous said...

Garry,
I have had identical problems to both you and others that have left comments here. And surprise, surprise I have had identical comments - almost seems as if a computer is searching for key words and phrases in the emails of complaint and finding the correct fob off response to send.
Frankly, I believe you are extremely lucky to have received a refund.
Unfortunately, I have not and I am now following the small claims action route and reporting the company to trading standards in Leicestershire and Northants, as the company is registered in one but appears to operate out of the other.
This company seems to be one that will not last the course!
I used ebuyer following this, and although I may have paid fractionly more (we're talking pennies not pounds) for the same item, there service is excellent, even in returning an item, getting a replacement and the invoicing/credit side too.
So goodbye ExciteIt, as I expect your time is up, and thank you Garry for confirming that this at least a failing company rather than a fraud!
I never like to find out I've been taken for a ride!
Thanks again,
Richard

Anonymous said...

Garry,

Unfortuately I am in the same position. I placed an order for an Acer Aspire 5600 on the 17th July 2006. A notice was placed on their website saying there could be delays to orders until the 28th July. I sent an email as I wasn't as resourceful as you. I got this reply
"I have been passed your details by our service department who are very
keen to process your order however I have been informed that this
particular item has been held in constraint and orders due in have not arrived in order for us to complete orders."
I replied immediately as panic set in. I never got a response in 20 minutes, more like 3 days. Eventually I gave up and asked for a refund. That was on the 11th August 2006. I got the usual reply, I would receive confirmation from Nochex in 3-5 working days. That was 14 WORKING days ago.
I'm now in the process of starting legal action and just wanted to say I'm happy you got your money refunded and thanks for all the information posted. This will help me immensely.
If I ever get my refund, I will let you know, but for anyone else thinking of using this site....stay well clear!!!
This is the first time out of hundreds of internet transactions that my money has been taken before goods have been despatched...be warned.
Paula

Anonymous said...

Further to my previous message last week I would like to take the time to apologise to those customers who've been affected by Excite IT's on going development and expansion. It is due to this that we have suffered delays in fulfilling some customer orders as well as a backlog in some areas of our customer service operation. At the time of placing orders we do have a pre formatted message within the “my basket” page informing customers prior to purchase that there may be some delays, many or which are unfortunately outside our immediate control.

I would like to ask customers to contact me directly by emailing enquiries@exciteit.co.uk and mark their message for my attention in the subject box. I can then personally assist to resolve any queries customers may have.


Kind Regards


Duncan Sibley
Commercial Manager

Excite I.T (Consumer Product Specialists)

Anonymous said...

I purchased an AMD x2 processor on 30th July, the item showed as in stock on their webpage. After emails to them, they told me the item was out of stock and did I want a refund. I asked them for a refund on 14th July which they agreed to. I also received the reply that I would get my money in 3 working days. I am still waiting; the item still shows as being in stock on their site.

Dave P

Anonymous said...

Garry,

I have had the same experience - I ordered a HP Hard Drive on the 2nd August and to date (5 September) all I have had from them are a list of excuses and even a promise to chase up a refund I had not asked for (maybe I should have). I have emailed Duncan Sibley - I'll see if I get any response out of him.

Will keep you posted if there is any progress ...

Russell

Anonymous said...

I'm having the same saga with Excite IT laced my order start of August, they took the momeny straight away but no sign of delivery as of today 11 September. Have contactedthem through trading standards and am prepared to go to a small claims court if necessary. Usless piles of elephant sh*te the whole company.

Anonymous said...

I'm in the same boat: I placed an order with ExciteIt on the 27th of July, the money was debited from my account immediately and eight weeks later I still have not received my goods. When I emailed them to enquire about the delay all I got was a form email stating:

"Dear Sam,

Unfortunately we are unable to give a static delivery address at the
moment..."

Firstly, what on Earth is a "static delivery address"? Secondly, my name isn't Sam!

Avoid ExciteIT. This is by far the worst online purchasing experience I have ever had.

Anonymous said...

As many people have said, "I have had the same problem".
Ordered 28th July.
Requested Refund 28th August (how patient am I!!!).
STILL waiting for refund 12th September 2006.

Credit card company will NOT help BECAUSE it is a NoChex transaction - primarily because NoChex have no obligation to supply details of their client. And the CC company have no leverage/interest to force them to.

So to me it seems like a scam.

My advice to ExciteIT is to read THIS page as it clearly states how to make a refund:
NoChex Refunds

It takes less time to do that than to continually fob off customers.... therefore have to assume you are a bunch of [insert your favourite derogatory swear word].

PLEASE CAN I HAVE MY MONEY BACK!!!

Anonymous said...

I've had the same experience with this bunch of jokers. Currently waiting for a refund since 1st Sept.

I'm ready to drive down there and kick some ass.

Anonymous said...

Update - I contacted Duncan Sibley on his email address had a response - and he appears to exist. I gave them 7 days to chase up the order I had been waiting a month for, and on day 5 he emailed me to say the supplier was out of stock and would I like a refund. He promised the funds would be in my account within 48hrs, I have just checked and it is there, well within the 48hrs - I didn't think I'd be that pleased to see an entry with NoChex Ltd on my statement again. So they might have caused me to have an additional cash withdrawal fee for their transaction, but I am very relieved to have my money back ... now to see if the suppliers are really out of stock - why am I so sceptical ... I will keep you posted

Anonymous said...

s.smith
you think thats bad i have been waiting since 16/06/06 for a refund of £216 for a returned monitor i keep emailing them & nochex no luck next step small claims

Anonymous said...

Update (15th Sept 2006):
I made contact with ConsumerDirect who were interested to hear the issues experienced with ExciteIT.co.uk.
I am waiting for a call back from the Trading Standards Office.

To my mind the FSA needs to be alerted to this loophole of using NoChex that affords traders anonymity to CreditCard companies, which ultimately pushes the burden of cost back to consumers...

NoChex should be FORCED to allow transparency when a CC dispute is commenced.

Anonymous said...

Gary,

Update to my blog (second on list, Tomtom, sat nav) i contacted Duncan Sibley by email and received a very apologetic response the next day with a promise of a cheque for the Tomtom refund plus the £50 court costs. Was a bit sceptical but to be fair, the next day I recieved a cheque for the full amount, which has cleared, and also a personal letter of apology from the MD!. Would still never use them again, but they do appear to be administratively incompetent rather than dishonest so everyone should get their refunds in due course.

Tim

Anonymous said...

I too have had similar experiences. 1st Purchase was a DVD writer in April, non-delivery, no response to multiple emails, until I requested money back. The order was cancelled and it took futher multiple emails and phone calls until I eventually received a NoChex refund mid September nearly 6 months later! However their explanation and apology seemed reasonable at the time. I too run an ebusiness, so know sometimes things don't go to plan and so did have some sympathy. Therefore placed another order with them, giving the benefit of the doubt. This order was placed 23rd August for urgent delivery... Nothing... No reply to emails, phones not being answered... Eventually got a reply and was told about expansion as per previous posts. Promised business would resume by 8th Sept... Still nothing and back around the email loop again. My sympathies would have possibly continuted if customer support had bothered to reply in a timely manner. But does seem like complete business incompetence! Or do you have another 'Stock' response Mr Sibley? Proove me wrong and I'll more than happily add a positive comment.

I would just like my motherboard please, but will have to cancel shortly as cannot wait forever.

But glad to hear people are receiving refunds though.

Anonymous said...

Oh my God, likewise everyone else.
ordered 1/8/06, and despite numerous emails, and foboffs, still not received goods. Have emailed Mr Sibley today, will wait for reply.

Anonymous said...

I ordered from them two days ago for just under a hundred pounds. I know its only been two days but since then i have read these posts and am starting to panic now!!

Has anyone else had positive dealings recently?

Anonymous said...

Hi folks, further to my mumps and moans, my problem is now resolved, thanks to Duncan Sibley. He replied promptly to my email, and sourced my item from another supplier, and sent it next day. Happy days, but hopefully he sorts out the rest of his team, to improve their response and service..Gordon

Anonymous said...

Well after getting in touch with Duncan Sibley, he managed to find my item from another supplier and sent it next day. A very nice bloke. Its a shame he has got some very poor staff working for him.
It really doesnt seem that this is a rip off merchant, just a very badly organised one. Nevermind, sorted now;-)

Anonymous said...

Yep, I'm another victim of exciteit. What can say; ordered a motherboard in August; cancelled in early October and now they are not even emailing me back in November. Yes I feel the best thing for this company to do is disolve.

Anonymous said...

Hi ,
i cant believe this is still occuring. Order cancelled 4th October still no refund 30th November. The problem is you dont find out until it's too late and google, exciteit scam!

Anonymous said...

Ordererd a £62 wall bracket 4th Sept. Excite couldnt supply one and 2 weeks later i cancelled the order. Got an email confirming cancellation said "3-5 days" for my refund to appear.
3 months later Im still waiting. 2 more emails from staff confirming the refund has now taken place a GARY QUINN and KEVIN MITCHELL sent those mails. STILL NO REFUND!!!!
Have hit a brick wall with Nochex. They have tried chasing the phantom refunds up for me. In the end they have mailed: "Thank you for your reply. We can confirm that the payment of £62.31 you sent to 'payments@exciteit.co.uk' on 05/09/2006 has not been refunded.

With regard this matter, thank you for bringing this to our attention.

At Nochex we take cases of fraudulent activity very seriously. In all cases we launch an investigation and take the appropriate action (please note though, as per our terms: We are not responsible for any goods or services paid for by you using the Nochex service).

As I’m sure you can appreciate, for data protection reasons I’m afraid that we cannot divulge details of our investigations (nor can we disclose any personal details to you about any of our customers). The exception to this is in connection with investigations by the legal authorities. As such, if you believe you have been the victim of crime (deception, fraud or other) then we urge you report it to the police. In these instances, they can file a Data Protection Disclosure form with us and we will then full co-operate with them.

Lets see if Duncan can sort this one out, seems a few of you have had some success there.

Anonymous said...

Gordon McQueen, previous customer, and after intervention and apologies from Duncan Sibley, I received my goods. HOWEVER, I made the mistake of placing another order, and despite numerous emails, and a renewed promise from Duncan Sibley, I have now cancelled my order. In essence, this Company is a complete JOKE, and should be avoided AT ALL COSTS. If anyone wants further details of these cowboys, please fee free to email me at gordon.mcqueen@hagemeyer.co.uk

Anonymous said...

I have exactly the same problems as everybody else on this blog. Excite IT are CRAP nver use them. They promised a refund on the 16/10/2006 and I am still waiting for it to arrive and it is now 21/12/2006.....

Anonymous said...

Sorry to hear about everybodys problems. I am also ashamed to admit that I work for Excite IT and have not been paid by Paul Graham since October. That is two months without pay including the Christmas period.

Excite IT is in administration. A new company Excite IT Business is being created so at least Paul Graham the MD saves his bacon. I don't know if you will all get your refunds (and there is a lot as Excite IT were selling on Amazon) of if us employees will get our wages.

Watch out for exciteitbiz on ebay because it is the same company. they can't get credit with suppliers so how they are going to honour orders on ebay is beyond me.

I will post more as soon as I can.

Anonymous said...

Sorry to hear about everybodys problems. I am also ashamed to admit that I work for Excite IT and have not been paid by Paul Graham since October. That is two months without pay including the Christmas period.

Excite IT is in administration. A new company Excite IT Business is being created so at least Paul Graham the MD saves his bacon. I don't know if you will all get your refunds (and there is a lot as Excite IT were selling on Amazon) of if us employees will get our wages.

Watch out for exciteitbiz on ebay because it is the same company. they can't get credit with suppliers so how they are going to honour orders on ebay is beyond me.

I will post more as soon as I can.

Anonymous said...

Excite IT is now formally in administration and Excite IT Business will follow shortly.

Doubt anybody will get their money back. Suggest you take it up with Paul Graham Personally.

PAUL CRAIG GRAHAM
FLAT 10 PRESTON COURT
UPPINGHAM
LEICESTERSHIRE
Mobile: 07805075036
paulcg200@hotmail.com

2nd Address
39 VALLEY WALK
KETTERING
NORTHAMPTONSHIRE
NN16 0LU

ARTHUR ALAN KEMP
Financial Director
74 FERNDALE
YAXLEY
PETERBOROUGH
CAMBRIDGESHIRE
PE7 3ZW
Mobile:07811354635
ARTHUR.KEMP@MEMO.IKEA.COM
excalibur1234@hotmail.co.uk

Anonymous said...

Sorry to here about your experience with this outfit of crooks, I know of people that were owed monies from Mr Graham prior to setting this business up. They took him to they small claims court any his mummy bailed him out. - What a guy!!!!