Hi Choice Community
Pls some advice
I recently off the cuff purchased Item no [071142000000] 65” Blaupunkt 4K Ultra HD Smart TV on 14/10/19 from TVSN. l was really impressed by the sale pitch. TVSN stated they were the only ones in Australia selling this TV as they had secured all stock. You won’t get a TV the same as this for under $2500 they explained and also if not happy with your purchases simply return for a full refund. Well after a few days whilst waiting for delivery l decided to do some research. I found that the TV was a “discontinued” line something they failed to tell the customer and that BingLee were also selling the same model. Arrrr suspicion set in. I found many top branded TV’s of similar description and some with better functionality for under $2000 and cheaper.
So decided to cancel my order order on the 17/10/19. I received confirmation from TVSN on 18/10/19 that the order has been cancelled and once they received the TV from their freight company a refund would occur. On 28/10/19 l called TVSN again as my refund had not been received and was bluntly told by their CSO your order has not been cancelled which l strongly denied as l had an email of confirming this… Do date and after many many calls and emails my refund has not occurred. I don’t have a TV and I don’t have my money. Can anyone please help or advise in anyway how l can investigate or get help with recouping my full refund $ 1048.80
TV $999
Del $ 49.80
Total $1048.80
PS I have referred this matter to the ACCC as l believe there have been misleading information.
Thank you in advance Regards Tony
Welcome
You will need to contact your State office of Fair Trading to see if they can help. Also you can take action in your State’s Civil & Administrative Appeals Tribunal to try to recover your money.
You should keep a diary of all contact you have with TVSN and try to always make your contact by registered letter or email as then you have proof of delivery. If you haven’t already send them a letter requesting the refund and give them a reasonable period in which to respond eg 7 days or 14 days. Advise that you will escalate the problem to Fair Trading/Civil Admin Tribunal if they do not refund in that time. Send this letter by Registered Mail so you have proof.
If you are a member of CHOICE you can also access the CHOICE Help service to find letter templates etc that may help you.
If you paid by Credit Card you may also be able to apply for a Charge Back by your Bank. If you paid by Paypal you may be able to raise a dispute.
https://www.commbank.com.au/support.banking.chargeback-explained.html
Welcome to the forum and it a shame that TVSN is giving you the runaround.
How did you purchase (assume by credit card as this is the payment method outlined on the TVSN website)?
If you purchased by credit card, the easiest option may be to request a charge back with your credit card company. As you have paid for the goods, cancelled the order and have not received a refund as outlined in the email from TVSN, a credit card charge back should be possible.
It is best to get onto the bank/credit card provider as soon as you can and before lodging a complaints with Office of Fair Trading as this process can take some time and does not necessarily guarantee that the monies will be refunded. Office of Fair Trading may direct TVSN to refund the monies, but this is not enforceable unless you take TVSN to the small claims tribunal/court.
It appears to be a discontinued model so it is possible that TVSN is the outlet the importer of this particular brand of TV is using to get rid of remaining stock they were unable to sell through normal channels.
This statement could be true at the time that the purchase was made (14/10/19) and if the TV is a discontinued model as outlined above.
It is possible that TVSN has all remaining new stock in the country and are currently the only sellers of this particular model.
However, they have not had exclusive rights to be the only seller of the TV in Australia…which you have found out as in the past it has been available through other retailers.
Rather than a postscript at the end, that should be your immediate next step if you paid either way. If you paid by debit card ring your bank to see what rights they attach to yours, and if you paid by EFT (usually a bad move) fair trading and ‘the process’ are you main avenues for a refund.
Unless you paid by credit card or paypal and get a charge back, and if you have not already done so, send TVSN a formal letter of complaint per the ACL stating what transpired, their guarantee, your evidence of cancellation, and exactly what you want them to do, and by when. Make sure you get a return receipt of some form to show they received it.
There are so many of these American style shopping ‘services’ now, most that sell questionable products be they last years, shonky, common and ordinary, ‘as seen on TV’, or over-hyped. Their programming is psychologically designed to create excitement and urgency so many customers order now, think they got a deal, and are happy unless they are dissatisfied once they have a product in hand.
Plz let us know how you go.
