On 19 Oct 2004 09:31:53 -0700, (jasonoc)
wrote:

Hiya all. Just tried to order from www.discountcentralheating.co.uk (a
boiler) and they say that they will only accept CASH on delivery. No
cheques or visa. This sounds a bit odd to me and i was wondering if
anyone here has ordered from this company? before.
Thanks in advance.

Jason




In that case avoid like the plague.

You are covered by the Distance Selling Regulations that apply to
on-line traders. However they don't seem to have their terms and
conditions of business on their web site so could claim that they only
sell to commercial customers and hence avoid these regulations.

The more serious point is that they don't accept credit cards which
means that you don't have any protection under the Consumer Credit
Act.

I can understand not accepting cheques because they don't know who you
are and the validity of the cheque. There are ways for traders to
validate cheques, though. One could offer to give them a cheque for
clearance ahead of delivery, but given the situation, I would not
dream of doing that.

Given that in consumer law your contract is with the immediate
supplier and not the manufacturer, then if anything goes wrong, you
have very little redress.

Since there are ways to accept payment for on-line transactions with
credit card via a bureau or even PayPal, there is absolutely no excuse
for an on-line trader not to accept credit card payments. They may
argue that there is a cost involved, and there is - 3 to 6%.
It really makes no sense to make this kind of saving if it results in
a major hassle to address an issue

They are not significantly cheaper than typical on line suppliers
either.

For example, a Worcester Bosch 40HE condensing boiler costs £1175 inc
flue kit and VAT from this outfit.

You can buy the same thing from Discounted Heating (who do accept
cards and have some track record) for £967 + £52 for flue (exc.)
Total £1197.

Given the circumstances, I would look elsewhere, including your local
heating merchant - ask if they can match the price.


..
..andy

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