www.decks.co.uk AKA SAPPHIRES LTD

This company managed to provide my worst ever internet shopping experience, and, believe me, I've bought a lot of stuff over the internet.

I was looking for a Microkorg XL synthesizer. Decks.co.uk showed up on the Google results, offering an attractive price. I clicked on the ad and made the purchase. The item was shown as in stock and was scheduled for next day delivery. Not long after completing the transaction I got a phone call, telling me the item wasn't really in stock after all. It seems their indications of availability on the website are just ploys to lure in the punters. Once they've got your order, they tell you the truth. The item wasn't available and would take a few days to order in. Did I want to wait? I knew I was going to be very busy in the next few days and probably wouldn't have time to play with the keyboard anyway, so, foolishly, I said yes.

Later, I got a phone call telling me delivery would occur on the next Monday. I made sure I would be there all day to receive it. It never came. I sent an email to the company. No response came. I left it, assuming it would turn up the next day. It didn't. Or the one after that. Or the one after that.

Ten days after I had originally placed the order, I then sent an email to the company and, wow, this time got a reply, but only to tell me to call them. I had already had to make one phone call in relation to this order (returning the first call they had made to me to tell me the item wasn't in stock). In my view, no one should ever have to make a phone call to follow up an order made online. I sent an email telling them just to cancel the order instead. They said I would need to call them to cancel the order! Absolutely outrageous! Refusing a cancellation request! I asked why. They invented bogus excuses, saying, preposterously, "there was some doubt about the ownership of the card". This was a outrageous invented lie. The delivery address for the item and the registered card address were identical. I told them I wasn't calling them again and that the item was cancelled. They said they would not proceed with the cancellation and that I would have to have the charge reversed through my credit card company.

It's absolutely incredible to me that a company could take payment for an item, not deliver it, apparently have no intention of delivering it and refuse to refund the amount they have taken from it. This is outright robbery, pure and simple. I actually did report this company to the police, but was told that "no criminal offence has been committed as yet." Meanwhile, the charge reversal process with my credit card company is winding its course.

Decks.co.uk is a disgraceful excuse for a company and its unprofessional mail-order manager, Adrian Musto, isn't fit to manage a kebab stall.