ACHICA ?

[phoebus]

As ACHICA is a Mumsnet Partner - (and I have nothing but the highest esteem for you, Mumsnet!) - I foolishly trusted them, as they seemed to have lots of great stuff for sale on their site, so I signed up as a 'member' a few weeks ago. - Wish I hadn't now!! - Of my 2 orders, things have gone badly wrong in both cases:

• First order (small) took forever to arrive, and then, when it did, one item was smashed. Lo and behold, I discovered that they have got NO PHONE LINE on which you can ring them to discuss any problems!! - the only way to 'communicate' with them, is laboriously and indirectly, via an 'online helpdesk' and it takes them at least 2 days to get back to you via email. OK, well I did this, and eventually I got a reply promising to send me a replacement. Which never came. So a subsequent laborious 2nd email from me a couple of weeks later, got another slow, emailed reply to say, oh we haven't got that item after all, so now we'll give you a refund. (But they'd never bothered to let me know that! I'd had to chase them up for that info) . And that refund has still not arrived, after a few weeks.
  

• Second order (much larger, around £500) I thought better of the next day, so I emailed the so-called 'Helpdesk' to cancel it a few hours later, as I was well within my rights, and their given timescale, to do this. Received a reply to say that was fine, they had 'cancelled it and had refunded my credit card in full'. This was two weeks ago. My credit card statement arrived today, and - guess what - it shows the full amount which they HAVE TAKEN, despite their promise not to. I've rung my card provider who assure me that I have not had this refund. Once again, search as I might, I cannot find any phone number for Achica Customer Care or complaints etc! The lack of this vital channel should have warned me at the outset.
  

Anyone else been taken for a ride by ACHICA? Are they just extremely incompetent, or actually a load of crooks?

[Jeanettejeanette]

I have been chasing a refund from Achica since I placed the order and cancelled it on 12 th September and I believe if it wasn't for PayPal I would still be chasing my payment of £907.99 I don't have it to hand yet but it is in my PayPal account after many replies all telling me different things. I have bought some things in the past but I have had problems getting refunds from them before. Why no telephone number? I am sure they used to have a number. I feel that the way my money has been held on to that this company are actinging very shady and they don't recognise the Distance Selling regulations. Just my opinion. Or is it just mine?
The person who gave me varying accounts of where my money was called himself Craig.

[joeyG1]

I recently placed an order on Achica for over £100 and I received only part of my order, after 5weeks of waiting for the deadline delivery date I contacted Achica to find out where my order was. I was told that it would be a further two weeks before my order would be dispatched after two weeks and still no order I contacted Achica again only to be told that I would have to wait a further four weeks for my order to be dispatched. It was at this point that I told them I wanted to cancel my order and get a full refund, but that I also wanted to be compensated, they offered me a £10 Achica voucher and refused this as I felt that this was insufficient, they then offered me a £15 Achica voucher which I accepted, however, I would still have to pay for the postage and packing for any order that I placed which I felt was a complete con. I also asked them for £15 compensation in cash as I did not want to deal with Achica again and I was told that this was not part of their policy and it could not be done. What really got to me was that once I used my £15 Achica voucher I still had to pay £4.99 postage and packing so I argued the point about the P&P being an unfair cost to me as I was the one who had been put out to that I was told that Achica felt that this was suffice compensation for not receiving my goods that I had paid for immediately after purchase. Achica should not take money from anyone's account until they are about to dispatch the order. I am not saying they are con people but I would suggest that they are posh con people..............

[slrc]

I had ordered a coffee table on March 12 and it still had not arrived by July. I cancelled the order but stupidly gave them another chance. I ordered several items on July 9, all with estimated deliveries no later than August 10. It is now October with most of the items not delivered. Every time I contacted them, they could not tell me 1) where my order was or 2) when it would be delivered. I was out over 1,400 for nearly 3 months when I lost all patience and cancelled that order too. I have separately searched for items on the site and found them cheaper or at the same price direct from the suppliers (who deliver within days, not months). Don't waste your time and money. Go somewhere else.

[Astazee]

I have had the worst experience with Achica. They simply ignore all emails to "[email protected]" and will not reply in relation to a faulty product. They originally said they will collect them and then I will get a refund "eventually" when they decide after they take back the items but now that I said yes please collect the items they have been ignoring me for weeks!

[Mashandpeas]

Have just read this thread - and checked reviews on Trustpilot - and will now NOT be placing my order with Achica. Phew.

[Member966103]

Also an Achica victim. PLEASE DO NOT USE THEM AS I THINK THEY HAVE MONEY ISSUES. I have requested a refund and they replied within their 48 hour SLA (Service Level Agreement) that the refund would take 3 working days. This was last Saturday 10 October 2014. Yesterday on the fourth working day refund not received so I chased. Reply today again within their 48 hour SLA that the payment had not yet settled and that the IT department have been informed and that I would be notified once the refund had been done. No estimate of time to resolve this given. However this is utter flim flam, footle and flummery. I think they are deliverately holding onto my cash as they don't have enougth and I have told them that I dont believe their cock and bull story. DO NOT USE ACHICA. DO NOT USE ACHICA. DO NOT USE ACHICA. DO NOT USE ACHICA. DO NOT USE ACHICA.

[HoneyDragonMumshnet]

We're not allowed to voice negative opinions about Mnet on here. They threaten to sue.

[Member966103]

I am not voicing a negative opinion about Mumsnet I am voicing a negative opinion about Achica. Is that a problem?

[HoneyDragonMumshnet]

No I'm thick, we're not able to voice negative opinion about Achica on Mnet Achica threaten to sue Mnet

Sorry

[laffan1]

I ordered £31 pounds worth of tea towels and other kitchen items and four months later they have still not arrived. Has anyone else struggled to receive goods from Achica?

[babycat45]

On the 31st Oct I spent £97 on 6 rolls of wallpaper with Achica - on the 5th November a package arrived - Ah HA! I opened the suspiously small packet only to find 1 roll of said wallpaper and no delivery note. I emailed their 'help desk' only to be told 48 hours later to check my shed as Hermes has delivered. I had to point out the obvious that I had already been to my shed to collect my 1 lonely roll off wallpaper and that i was not disputing the fact that nothing had been delivered, I was complaining as I was missing 5 of the said rolls of wallpaper. I still have not had a response from them, so have left them a message on Facebook and am just about to pick up the telephone to trading standards, to inform them that this is pretty much theft.

[katimini]

Same issues here.. ordered 2 chests of drawers on 10 October, one for dd who had none left for her clothes, and one for guests coming to stay.. when I realised they weren't coming as promised, emailed and got the standard "sometimes things take longer to get to them from their suppliers.." to cut a long story short, I got a few more pushes forward with delivery dates, and when I realised they had had my money for almost 6 weeks and still no sign of the chest of drawers, I demanded a refund and cancellation. In the meantime in my frustration of still having no chests of drawers, I googled the name of the products ordered and.. found them in one search on another website, considerably cheaper and with a one day delivery policy!! Ordered them on Thursday lunchtime, they arrived, well wrapped and promptly, on Friday afternoon! unbelievable.. so basically Achica holds and invests people's money for weeks (in sleek website and tv ads, should have been a clue really..) whilst being overwhelmed with orders and too many suppliers most probably, to do a good job. conclusion: neither the 70% discount nore the "luxury goods" advertised (at least not for all their products, by far), just sleek marketing which pushes people into impulse buying!! So I might use them as they used me by browsing their interior designed displays and buying the products elsewhere...

[spike3128]

I was a customer of Achica from years back, when they had just started out and the website was basic, no mobile version and little in the way of email. Back then, you used to pay for your item and it arrived, beautifully packed, within a few days. Now, they do not give a toss about customer service.

I haven't ordered from them for over a year, and against my better judgement, when some glass lampshades that I'd been after for ages came up on a sale I ordered them and some funky lightbulbs to go with the shades.

Some six weeks after paying for the lampshades, I today came home from work to find a large cardboard box in a puddle outside my house. This was my Achica parcel (thanks Yodel - you make a well-matched business partner to Achica and probably advise each other on customer service).

I opened the soggy box to find one strip of bubble wrap around the two boxes of glass lampshades (the boxes are about 30cm cubed, and weigh about 1kg each). By some miracle only one lampshade was smashed to pieces (I have the cuts and blood on my carpet to prove that the lampshade arrived broken), and I just know what response I will get to my complaint to Achica's "customer disservice" department. They'll say they only order sufficient items from the manufacturer to fulfil the orders they've received. This time, it just isn't good enough for me.

To add to my distress, I opened the funky lightbulb boxes (casuallly thrown in the bottom of the box with the lampshades with no protection except for a tightly fitting cardboard box around the bulb - they were outside the carelessly thrown bubble wrap), only to find that both lightbulbs are covered in greasy fingerprints. They do not look new, they look like some hooky piece of tat from a disreputable market stall, and certainly NOT worth £9 each.

I've been messed around so much by this company. About 18 months ago I ordered a terrarium (sort of tiny, indoor greenhouse) from them. This arrived in just the manufacturer's box with an address label stuck on it. There was just no point even opening the box, I could hear the clinking of smashed glass without doing that. I asked for a replacement, but was told I couldn't have one and eventually I got a refund.

Some 3 months later the same offer was on, so I ordered another terrarium thinking, "surely, they'll have learned how to package up something fragile?" But no, same thing again - no packaging, smashed item, painfully slow refund.

I honestly believe that the combined IQ of everyone working at Achica is less than my shoe size (6, by the way). Surely they want to make money, not take customers' money, order and pay for goods from suppliers, and then have to give a refund to the customer? Where is the business sense in that? Are they relying on making a profit from having the use of my money for 6 weeks before having to refund me? REALLY? Is that their business model??

My advice to anyone suckered into a "good deal" from Achica is STEER WELL CLEAR, THEY ARE A BUNCH OF MORONS WHO CAN'T EVEN SEE HOW THEIR BUSINESS MODEL IS A FAILURE.

Should Achica threaten Mnet with action because users are putting up honest reviews of the shoddy service they are receiving from this company, then they should be ashamed of themselves, and actually put the money they would spend on court action into employing people who give a sh*t about their customers.

[jacquih01]

I have ordered some items from ACHICA this October 2014 but when I didn't receive them, I started emailing. They said that Yodel can not deliver to my house as there is no access. However I live on a quiet suburban road with loads of parking and no gates etc, so this is a mystery to me. In fact I have since taken in a package for my next door neighbour from Yodel?! I have explained this time and time again with Achica who have said that I can have a full refund - However, I have explained countless times that I do not want a refund but just my order (xmas presents). This has been ignored each time - their emails always end with 'if there's anything else I can help you with......'. They have also thrown in a voucher off, which makes no sense if I place another order and use this voucher if they simply can't deliver to me!

[Deborahjhough03]

I placed myfirst order on the 9th March ...no email confirmation so I contacted their customer service ,,,oh your order was declined but we took money in error , it's with our accounts may contact your PayPal to get it into your account at their convenience ....what on earth !!!

[barb1234]

Have had loads of probs with order of nearly £300 placed in October 2014 and despite numerous emails and subsequent phone calls it is still not sorted yet! I have, however, found a phone number you can ring, it is not customer services but they do pass on your message to them and the response time is quicker than email. Head office number is 0203 0088310.

[Finnimp1]

I agree with you. I've just had to return some towels that were not the colour I expected and the quality was poor and I've had to pay £17 for the privilege of returning them. Never again.

[silvertabby]

I would like to add that I too am having a nightmare with ACHICA, and have decided to post this. I ordered, bought and paid for a large luxury Garden Gazebo on March 29th 2015. I only ordered from Achica because I found out that they would deliver this item to my holiday-home which is in France, and it seemed that they were going to be very helpful in this. But since then I have had very variable response to all my contacts - they have NO geographical address, and worse still, they have NO telephone number. I am desperate to get in contact with Achica, because this Gazebo is going to be taken in by my kind neighbour in France, as I am not there at present, yet I cannot get Achica to give me a Despatch Date or the Tracking Number. I cannot ask my kindly French neighbour to sit in waiting day-after-day, when we don't know whether the Gazebo has even been despatched. I am finding the terribly long waits after each online contact of mine totally unacceptable. One has to use their "message" system, and eventually someone responds - but this takes DAYS! But I cannot get them to confirm a Despatch Date, nor a Tracking Number. I have now (as of yesterday, May 8th) informed Achica that I wish to cancel my Order and I have demanded a complete refund - but again, I have had NO response from Achica. I shall now contact my Credit Card company, and see if they can suggest anything to help. I also intend to contact my local Trading Standards people - maybe they can suggest a remedy. All in all - a very bad mistake to attempt to buy from Achica. If I had realised before I bought that they have no genuine contact details (i.e. phone number/address) then I would have steered well clear - sadly, I realised this far too late.

[JoLSmith]

WHAT A CON!

Ordered a runnner and a pillow about 8 weeks ago! It still hadn't arrived so I chased. I was told twice it would be delivered within 3 days and guess what - it never arrived. I complained today and have been told the package is lost and I will get a refund!! NOT GOOD ENOUGH! ACHICA have failed to deliver on several occasions now and I've had enough. I've asked this to be escalated asap as I want those items!

Bloody waste of all my time having to chase and with a 4 month year old baby I don't need the stress of it all. SORT it out Achica!

[Mandel]

I felt I should add to the thread about Achica as it is 2015 and the last review was a few years ago.
Unfortunately nothing has changed. Nothing has improved!
I have been using Achica on and definitely off for a few years and decided to give them another shot this year. How stupid of me.
As previous comments state, the deliveries are never on time and there is no telephone line.
When I commented on the latter in my email correspondence to them, their excuse was that it would mean unacceptable waiting times to be answered and then help itself would take time meaning others would be left hanging on for even longer. PATHETIC! I commented that having dealt with other online shopping sites, that should Achica actually bother to correctly train or even employ staff, then this would not be the case.
I am still awaiting items from my order and no doubt there will be some excuse given as to why I will not be receiving the goods as promised on time. Bare in mind the order is placed weeks in advance.
There is still no communication should the delivery be delayed and getting in touch with customer services via the email system is slow and painful as responses can take days
My advise-- STAY AWAY. FAR AWAY. Do Not be tempted by any offers as they are not always such great offers and the honesty and efficiency of this company is dubious

[Batfink73]

Hi to all still looking for an ACHICA phone number here it is - please pass on
0203 0088310

Rubbish company, rubbish customer service - shop elsewhere

[joasmum]

Been having terrible trouble with Achica today. To be fair, deliveries arrived within the window stated on order but tracking has been a nightmare. Two rugs I ordered were pretty poor and not as described. Discovered the lack of a real service centre. All the same they arranged a collection and promised to credit but nothing's happened, no contact from courier as promised and no sign of when it will. I used the ruth@achica email below and got a bounceback from worldstores. I'd guess they're part of that group. If only I'd known before. Previous experience with worldstores was dire to say the least! Never again ... again!!!

[Batfink73]

Google IDLEROSE/achica address and telephone number comes up - Hanover place!
Don't take no for an answer with achica their customer service is appalling

[Utterlynatterly]

Similar experience. Ordered a coffee table. Took over 3 months to arrive (and then only because I chased after the due date had passed). Table arrived damaged. That was 10 days ago. The first delivery company who came to collect said they would not collect as it was 2 parcels (instead of the1 Achica told them) and was too heavy. I have been waiting over a week for another delivery company to get in touch. Just received a letter from them saying they had been trying to contact me but could not (I must have had my phone switched off for the last week;)). So frustrating. I have had to take a half day off work to wait for the first failed collection. New courier company telling me they cannot commit to am or pm so have to take another day off. Will not use again. They have almost £400 of my money since February and don't seem in a rush to give it back.

[Footloose21]

Bad experience with Achica. I ordered a personalised print in March but by middle of May still not arrived, despite money going out of my bank straight away. Queried status of order on May 22nd (no helpline with anyone to talk to of course) & had reply to say that item no longer available. I wonder how long it would have taken Achica to inform me of this? Bear in mind that they already had my money and presumably were getting interest on it. More worryingly, the print that I wanted was back on their website again. How could this be when I was told that it was not available? Are they running a scam?
Money (no interest of course) is meant to be going back into my account within next 5-7 days, fingers crossed.