Product not delivered. Refund not received. Avoid Photobox!

“Product not delivered. Refund not received. Avoid...”

Written on: 20/08/2012

I once ordered a photo print jigsaw puzzle from Photobox and I never received the product nor the subsequent refund I requested and was promised from Photobox.

I created an account, uploaded a photo and ordered the product. Money was debited from my account and I was given a delivery date. Photobox missed the first delivery estimate by a week so I emailed customer support who told me that it would be delivered soon. I waited a further 2 weeks and still no delivery so again I emailed customer support who apologised and told me the product would be delivered by the end of the week. Again the delivery was not made so I emailed support again. This time they told me that the photo had not uploaded correctly and told me to try again. It took them a whole month to realise they didn't even have the photo I sent to them!

The jigsaw was a present for a birthday which had been and gone, so I didn't want the product anymore so I asked for a refund. Photobox told me they would refund me within a week. I waited for 2 more weeks with still no refund. I emailed support again, and this time I was told that the money had been refunded onto my account. But it wasn't my bank account, it was my Photobox account! They never had any intention of refunding me the actual money, only locking it within their own company. I then emailed complaining saying that I wanted the money put back into my bank account as I wanted nothing further from them. Photobox told me that they would refund the money back into my account, but they never did. There was nothing I could do. I either had to order something else from Photobox or just lose my money. I didn't want to risk ordering anything from them so I lost my money.

Absolutely disgraceful business practice from Photobox. Disingenuous and completely incompetent. It might be time to contact Watchdog and get Trading Standards involved.