Please, just go elsewhere. You may save a fiver or...

Please, just go elsewhere. You may save a fiver or so with this company, but it really isn't worth it.

So I bought a refurbed iPhone SE on 22nd April. It hadn't arrived by 12th May, and as this had gone way beyond the 10-working-day delivery time promised, I decided to cancel my order. Customer services were apologetic, saying that the delay was due to staff shortages caused by the outbreak. This is fair enough, of course, but there was no mention of this when I bought the product in the first place. Doing so would have been more considerate, but it wasn't the end of the world for me.

When I cancelled the order, I was told that it would take 14 working days to receive the refund. Is that normal? I got no reply to this question when I asked, so assumed that this long wait was also due to the Covid crisis.

So yesterday, 3rd June, after this second waiting period was up, I asked where the refund was. I received this message:

"Owing to the current Government guidelines a few of our departments are working with limited staff numbers and some refunds are taking longer than usual. I have requested our finance department to look into your order and they have advised that you will be receiving your refund on or before the 13th of July. I am aware this date is longer than our standard timeframe but I can assure you we are all working to ensure services to our customers are uninterrupted as much as possible. We appreciate your patience and are apologise for any inconvenience caused."

So in other words, after OVER THREE WEEKS - the financial department finally 'looked into my order'? And then give a new date of 13th July, over a month later? But I'm sure most consumers would agree that it's the tone that's the most infuriating - it's kind of like "Yeah well what do you expect, we're in a crisis you know". Shocking service really, I wonder if I'll ever get my money back at all.

And worst of all: I'm still getting marketing emails from these jokers, which suggests that they're trying to get as many sales as possible before the crisis crushes them. Very dodgy indeed.

And the punchline? I bought the same phone from a rival company for about a fiver more... and it was delivered THE NEXT DAY!

So please, just used a trusted company ok?