hehe V, i see ur making full use of the cheerleader emo now! hehe
yea, mayo, def get the refund and sign up when and if ur ready
Browse Forums Building A New House Re: lessons learned - simonds 22Jun 30, 2008 5:04 pm Newbies hehe V, i see ur making full use of the cheerleader emo now! hehe twice!!! It's kinda fun though.....might get addictive... Built Porter Davis "Dromana" 2007. lessons learned - simmonds 23Jun 30, 2008 5:44 pm Once a transaction hits your credit card it has definately been transacted through your credit card account. There is no grey area with this. So the guy is telling you porkies. I would definately follow up on the refund post haste and even go over this guys head. It probably isn't the first time he has tried this on with a prospective client. That type of behaviour is just not on. I think you will find the bank will back you up with this one.
I was in banking for 12 years and my husband has been in banking for 20 years! Good luck!!!!! Building with Porter Davis since October 2007 - what a nightmare!!! Re: lessons learned - simonds 24Jun 30, 2008 5:52 pm Totally agree with all the above. Why should you potentially be paying interest on a payment you never authorised, either??? If that's their company ethos , I'd be demanding my money back immediately and looking elsewhere for the builder of my new home!!! Solidarity, not solidity.......The Lexicon of Life Re: lessons learned - simonds 25Jun 30, 2008 5:54 pm I personally think this is highly illegal, especially since there is no signature on the yellow cc slip. I would make sure all my communication was via email, not telephone. And if they have not refunded your credit card - call the police, not the credit card co. They have stolen money.
I wasn't aware that you had to give a deposit then and there if you were only 'interested' in a house.....sounds a bit ******* with a touch of the 'high pressure selling' to me. Re: lessons learned - simonds 26Jul 09, 2008 4:29 pm here's an update...
so we've requested for the refund (in letter, mind you:P) about a week ago and after several attempts to follow up on even just the acknowledgement of the request, we finally tried calling the mernda village display office today to speak to the sales agent. we were in luck because he actually answered the phone and informed us that the request has already been processed and that we will get a cheque back sometime this month or next. WHAT THE?...a month or two to get a refund? it only took him probably a minute or two to charge our credit card, but it actually takes a month or two to get it back. what's even worse is that he can't even reply to our countless emails nor return our phone calls to inform us that he's received the request and that it's already being processed. the funny thing is, we called again after a few minutes and this time the assistant picked up. when we asked for the guy, she said that today is his off day to which we immediately replied...we just spoke to him a while ago. and then she said, we must have called on his mobile, which we then said, NO, we called this same number and he was the one who picked up. finally we overheard the guy on the background saying the same thing to her which is that the refund is already being processed and the cheque should reach us this month or next. she then added she'll just send us the number of their accounting dept for us to follow-up if necessary because it's already out of their hands. Re: lessons learned - simonds 28Jul 09, 2008 6:00 pm A month?! Or two!! That is outrageous. A credit card refund is not made by cheque, it's done via a reversal through the company's EFT-POS systems. It should have been credited to you card within 24/48 hours of your request.
I would talk to your card issuer right away. And call the builder's HO and start making a fuss. Why should you pay either card interest on the charged amount, or lose the bank interest if you pay the full card balance? But why would you (anyone) hand over your card to someone you may not be making a transaction with? Sorry, but that's just asking for trouble, from unauthorised charges as in this case, to potential ** with your card. Re: lessons learned - simonds 29Jul 09, 2008 7:24 pm Im glad to hear you caught this clearly *** person out. But they should be refunding your credit card or reversing the entry as you will have to wear any interest charges incurred by your account. You should think about doing this through your bank rather than simmonds. This is clearly attempted ** and it should have been handled as a reversal or credit back to the card. I mean lets face it last time he tried to tell you that even though the transaction was showing on your account it hadn't actually been processed. Wrong again!!!!
I would also report it to their head office/regional office. This guy needs to be stopped. Building with Porter Davis since October 2007 - what a nightmare!!! Re: lessons learned - simonds 30Jul 09, 2008 7:30 pm Sounds really shifty. The fact that the guy * to you says something's not quite right with this picture. I agree that they should be able to recredit the charge immediately to your credit account.
As they do not have your signature on their copy and you did not authorise the charge, I would be calling their account department and saying if the charge was not credited back into your account within 24 hours, then I would be contacting the police, consumer affairs, and my bank the very next day. What they have done is not only unethical, but highly illegal. Has the charge shown up on your credit card account as having gone to Simonds or to another entity? Just something to consider. Re: lessons learned - simonds 31Jul 09, 2008 7:35 pm I agree with Bubaloo!
You definitely have to take it up with the bank. Otherwise you would have to pay interest on unauthorised charge. Plus it is illegal, it also seems like they are trying to avoid your calls! Just tell them you are in financial hardship or something......actually, you don't need to explain at all...it's your money! You must give them a time frame..say 5 working days to reverse charge or else!!!!! Re: lessons learned - simonds 32Jul 10, 2008 10:51 am soooooo *******...would def go to ur bank and kick up a fuss with simmonds....esp cos u have to pay the interest in the mean time...cos u wont get the check in a couple of months....
really really ******* Re: lessons learned - simonds 33Jul 10, 2008 9:18 pm Mel&Em Sounds really shifty. The fact that the guy * to you says something's not quite right with this picture. I agree that they should be able to recredit the charge immediately to your credit account. As they do not have your signature on their copy and you did not authorise the charge, I would be calling their account department and saying if the charge was not credited back into your account within 24 hours, then I would be contacting the police, consumer affairs, and my bank the very next day. What they have done is not only unethical, but highly illegal. Has the charge shown up on your credit card account as having gone to Simonds or to another entity? Just something to consider. we checked the charge slip again and we did sign it. however, he agreed not to charge it until we give our final go-signal. don't think we can really bring this up with the bank anymore because of the signature. today their west sales manager called us to reconfirm that the refund is already being processed and to assure us that it only takes long because of the multiple approvals that it has to go through. he was actually nice and was very open to discuss the whole situation with us. we know it's quite troublesome to deal with the credit card charges first ourselves, but guess it serves us right for trusting these people too much. we've definitely learned our lesson and for sure we won't be too willing to provide card details and our signature next time...unless we're really ready. Re: lessons learned - simonds 34Jul 11, 2008 9:13 am If I were you I'd call consumer affairs and find out if it is legal for them to refund via cheque, I was sure there was some sort of condition where you are entitled to the same method of refund as you paid. IE Cash for cash, credit for credit etc...
If they are able to do credit card processing they are able to do refunds! I'm glad we decided not to build with simonds! Re: lessons learned - simonds 35Jul 11, 2008 2:19 pm Holy crap.. I would be so annoyed with this guy. Even though you signed the slip, I would be so put off by them ****** and not returning phone calls/emails etc. Take your $$ elsewhere.. and let him know!
I would be demanding a reversal on the credit card transaction - not a chq! disgusting!! As you said, at least now you wont be doing that again. Good luck with finding your home. |