Tweet
The run up to Christmas has traditionally been the busiest time of the year for high street retailer Woolworths. This year, however, it is in administration and customers who have bought gifts from the store are wondering where they stand.
What happens if I have ordered something from the website and it has not turned up?
Internet forums have been teeming with concerned Woolworths customers yet to receive promised orders. Anyone who managed to find the Woolworths' customer service number would have been greeted with the worrying answerphone message: "With respect to any outstanding orders, our administrators are currently reviewing whether these orders can be fulfilled".
Appointed administrator, accountancy Deloitte, said it is "urgently looking at" the problem of non-delivered goods. "If we can fulfill those orders then we will; if we can't the customers will get a refund so will not be out of pocket," it said. Everyone awaiting a delivery should hear from Deloitte, but if you are yet to hear anything the number to call for outstanding orders is: 020 7706 5000.
I have vouchers for the store, can I still use them?
Yes, at the moment it is business as usual. However, if the chain is wound up you and anyone you have bought vouchers for as a gift can still use them in B&Q and Comet.
I have been saving via Woolworths' Christmas bonus card. Should I spend that now?
The Christmas bonus card is a bit like the infamous Farepak Christmas hamper scheme. It helps spread the cost of your Christmas purchases by letting you save money on a card as and when you choose during the year. You can put any amount of money on to the card whenever you shop at the store and Woolworths gives a little back. If you save £49 on the card it will let you spend £50; the bonus increases in stages up to a balance of £240 and over when it will add a £10 bonus to the card.
When Farepak collapsed in 2006, thousands of savers lost the money they had saved over the year. You do not have the same protection in these Christmas savings schemes as you do when you save into a savings account, where funds of up to £50,000 are protected by a government scheme should the bank or building society go under. If you have money on the card you should redeem as soon as possible as the stores' future is uncertain.
What are my rights if an item I buy at Woolworths turns out to be faulty?
This could be a problem if the store does close down after Christmas. "It really is tough luck," says Professor Geoffrey Woodroffe, author of the Encyclopedia of Consumer Law. "If the goods are defective, rather than dangerous, the only claim is against the seller - so if the seller has gone under the administrators are unlikely to meet that claim."
If you took out an extended warranty (a type of insurance product) at the time of buying a product from Woolworths you can still claim on this. "These warranties are usually an expensive waste of money, but there is some virtue in difficult times such as these to taking out this sort of extra protection when you buy something," says Woodroffe.
Alternatively, if you managed to buy something in Woolworths for more than £100 and used your credit card to pay for it, you can claim from the credit card company if goods are faulty.
guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2008 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
More...
