10% Deposit taken from my account: £70

[franco22]

Hello

I applied for finance to buy a laptop yesterday, I have not received an acceptance letter or contract agreement, Hitachi Capital (the finance company) told me they were still considering my application but I just found out from my bank that PCSpecialist is in the process of taking £68 from my account.

Is it standard practise to deduct funds from a customers account before we enter into a purchase agreement? Do I have the right to demand that you follow your finance terms or refund the monies back into my account?

Considering Hitachi hasn't gotten back to me in 2 days I was just going to assume I was declined and I was actually in the process of transferring money to my bank account so that I can purchase the laptop outright without using Finance. Now I'm not so sure if I'm willing to do and I have no doubts that PCSpecialists won't sort this out but I feel very betrayed that this happened. I had to call my bank and the credit fraud team to find out where this money is going and I received no communication from PCSpecialists to let me know what's happening or the finance company that they use.

I don't know if you have cash flow problems but "borrowing" 10% deposits from customers who haven't been fully approved for financing shouldn't be the way to go about it.

I may also recommend that this day and age it might be worth you having your offices opened on Saturday, there are lots of options for businesses to hire cheap labour to work Saturdays such as: School work experience, Interns, Apprenticeships, Job centre work experience, People aged up to 19 or 21 who I believe are only paid up between £2.50-£4 an hour. I don't wish to tell you how to run your business but it's quite shocking that you are closed on Saturdays in 2013.

 

[Rakk]

I think that when you pay by finance that when you press the order button, the deposit goes straight to PCS, and until either Hitatchi or you tell them it's not going ahead they will not return the money - since they probably assume Hitatchi are still looking into it.

I would phone Hitatchi if you have had no response - PCS may not have had a response either and may be just waiting on a response before anything can be proceeded with or returned.

PCS do also state that if finance is declined then it can take upto a week to return the money
From this page: http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/finance/

If your application is declined your deferred payment will be immediately aborted. An immediate email will be sent to your card issuer but unfortunately not all banks accept this email notification and the shadow may remain on your account for up to 1 week.

PCS offices are open on a Saturday - though only until 1pm

 

[keynes]

Is it standard practise to deduct funds from a customers account before we enter into a purchase agreement?

Yes, it is mentioned in the T&C of the finance agreement.

I don't know if you have cash flow problems but "borrowing" 10% deposits from customers who haven't been fully approved for financing shouldn't be the way to go about it.

They are not borrowing and it seems unfair for someone to speculate that a firm is having cash flow problems. Other retailers like overclockers using Hitachi finance follow the same procedure.

 

[franco22]

Keynes, with all due respect I have used overclockers for about 8 years and I have never run into that problem. (Feel free to look my name up on the forums).

In my profession, t's and c's are extremely important, of course I knew they would be taking a 10% deposit, I just don't understand why would they take a 10% deposit without even knowing if I'll be able to purchase the item or not. As I said in my original post, I've decided to not use the finance option and just buy the laptop outright as Hitachi emailed me twice asking for address history/etc and I personally can not be asked with something at the time I thought would be convenient to use but has now turned my weekend quite sour.

I'll call them on Monday and see what they say, if they are willing to rectify this mistake, they can have the £700 worth of business I was willing to spend, if not overclockers have a very similar model.

 

[Rakk]

In my profession, t's and c's are extremely important, of course I knew they would be taking a 10% deposit, I just don't understand why would they take a 10% deposit without even knowing if I'll be able to purchase the item or not. As I said in my original post, I've decided to not use the finance option and just buy the laptop outright as Hitachi emailed me twice asking for address history/etc and I personally can not be asked with something at the time I thought would be convenient to use but has now turned my weekend quite sour.

In which case you definitely need to let PCS know, because unless you tell them they will not know that you've decided not to go ahead with the finance.

 

[keynes]

Keynes, with all due respect I have used overclockers for about 8 years and I have never run into that problem. (Feel free to look my name up on the forums).

Overclockers also uses hitachi finance. I used hitachi twice, on the first occasion I decided not to take the agreement and the money was debited from my account as soon as the application was made and credited back after a few days.
On the website it indicates that it may take up to 1 week for the money to be credited (in my case a couple of days).

 

[Boozad]

When using Hitachi finance the deposit always goes to the vendor whether finance has been accepted or not. I've been through it enough times to know, including a declined finance application for a PCS machine three years ago. I received my deposit back when the finance was declined.

 

[ubuysa]

<snip>

In my profession, t's and c's are extremely important, of course I knew they would be taking a 10% deposit, I just don't understand why would they take a 10% deposit without even knowing if I'll be able to purchase the item or not. As I said in my original post, I've decided to not use the finance option and just buy the laptop outright as Hitachi emailed me twice asking for address history/etc and I personally can not be asked with something at the time I thought would be convenient to use but has now turned my weekend quite sour.

<snip>

I can understand your surprise at having a 10% deposit taken before the finance was agreed, but I think you're making a mountain out of a molehill. You accept that you read the T&Cs and knew that a 10% deposit would be taken, but you assumed (always a dangerous thing to do) that it would only be taken once the finance was agreed. I think it's been clearly pointed out to you that PCS have followed exactly their own T&Cs and any beef you have is with Hitachi Finance. Also, as has been mentioned, if you wish to change your method of payment you need to tell PCS immediately.

Buying from PCS for the first time is stressful for all of us, it was for me too. You're committing a lot of money to a company you know nothing about. I found these fora to be extremely useful prior to buying but it was still a heart-in-mouth moment when I transferred several hundred pounds into their bank account with nothing to show for it. It's also very frustrating (as you'll discover) waiting for your computer to be built and tested and, should you be one of the unfortunate few who have a problem after delivery, it will be even more frustrating to have to send it back for repair.

I sympathise, we all do I'm sure, but you catch more flies with honey than you do with vinegar. PCS are good at what they do, they're not a huge company and the few people that work for them deserve a weekend off like the rest of us. That's one way they keep their prices down of course. I have discovered that PCS keep their word, they do exactly what the say they'll do and if things go wrong they will put them right as quickly as they can. They are not looking to screw you, but they are a business and an agreement to purchase, even one subject to finance authorisation, is a contract and they are entitled to take a deposit as soon as that contract is made.

 

[moosEh]

Keynes, with all due respect I have used overclockers for about 8 years and I have never run into that problem. (Feel free to look my name up on the forums).

In my profession, t's and c's are extremely important, of course I knew they would be taking a 10% deposit, I just don't understand why would they take a 10% deposit without even knowing if I'll be able to purchase the item or not. As I said in my original post, I've decided to not use the finance option and just buy the laptop outright as Hitachi emailed me twice asking for address history/etc and I personally can not be asked with something at the time I thought would be convenient to use but has now turned my weekend quite sour.

I'll call them on Monday and see what they say, if they are willing to rectify this mistake, they can have the £700 worth of business I was willing to spend, if not overclockers have a very similar model.

Hello there franco22 I would like to confirm we have not taken your 10% deposit. As the flow chart shows for finance orders, this deposit is shadowed (or marked).



Also to confirm we open the call centre 9am to 1pm every saturday with very few exceptions.

 

[Androcles]

Hello there franco22 I would like to confirm we have not taken your 10% deposit. As the flow chart shows for finance orders, this deposit is shadowed (or marked).

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Just to clarify for the OP. This is a fairly standard practice for online companies that take a deposit on finance. The money has not been taken, basically the amount has been frozen in your account so that it cannot be spent by mistake before the finance is approved, it's done to protect you as well as themselves, how would you feel if you forgot about it and accidentally spent that deposit and then got overdraft charges when they claimed it? i know that i wouldn't be very happy about it at all.

 

[nathanjrb]

Just to throw in my penny's worth. I bought my PC (£2300) on finance through PCS and found the whole experience very straightforward and hassle free. As others have mentioned, the deposit is merely held in limbo.