Hattons current pre-owned discounts, a warning

[GWR-fan]

If making a discounted pre-owned purchase with the current sale listings take care if you place the items in your trunk as the price shown on the listing may not be the price that you are actually charged.  I noticed the anomaly the other day and found that if I went to checkout rather than adding to the trunk that either the price remained at the stated discounted price or the item would disappear and show no items in your cart.

 

This morning unfortunately I was caught out.  I added the item to my trunk and only after pressing confirmed did I notice that the price of the sale item had increased and yet the amount shown afterwards  in my items in my trunk was actually shown as the discounted price,  GBP100.83.    The sale price was GBP121.00 (GBP100.83 after VAT),  however,  the amount that I was charged was GBP161.67 after VAT (GBP194.00  with VAT).    The sale price had mysteriously increased from GBP121.00 to GBP194.00.  However, my credit card was charged the much higher price (GBP161.67) instead of GBP100.83,  resulting in an overpayment of over GBP60.00.   I have requested the store to investigate the matter.

 

Edit:  the order confirmation email received shows the selling price as GBP100.83 (after VAT removal) and yet my credit card was charged GBP161.67.

Edited March 17, 2023 by GWR-fan
Additional information

[GWR-fan]

Curious if others are having an issue accessing the Hattons website.   All afternoon I have been getting the following return

"HTTP Error 500.30 - ANCM In-Process Start Failure"

[Bob83a]

I am getting the same error.

 

Re pricing ok trunk items.

 

I suspect that to keep things simple Hattons have to charge VAT on items added to the trunk, until it is actually shipped to an eligible address then the VAT cannot be deducted. If they took the VAT off earlier it would then be an issue if the Item was shipped to a address not eligible for the VAT deduction.

 

But of course this would be a problem for non UK residents as the initial charge would include VAT.

[GWR-fan]

Bob83a,

          thankyou for the clarification on the error message.  I was concerned that the issue may have been at my end.

 

VAT is deducted on eligible pre-owned items prior to being added to the trunk as well as items processed through the checkout.  The store software knows the purchaser's country and delivery address and so deducts VAT prior to the sale progressing.  The issue is not VAT,  the issue is that the store lists one price but when an item is added to the trunk a higher price is charged on your card.  Look to what I actually wrote.  A discounted sale on the pre-owned list was GBP121.00.  I was charged GBP194.00 minus VAT,  coming to GBP161.67.   I have an order confirmation email showing the sale price minus VAT (GBP100.83) and yet I was charged GBP161.67.   VAT on GBP121.00 is only GBP20.00.

 

I must assume that you are not eligible for VAT removal and so not aware of how the system actually works for purchasers outside the UK.

Edited March 17, 2023 by GWR-fan
Additional info

[GWR-fan]

I think that I will avoid the Hattons website until they sort out website problems.  On three separate purchases tonight after adding items to my trunk and pressing confirm to initiate payment,  a screen showing page not found was displayed.  In all three cases charges were made against my credit card as verified on my netbank account and no items were added to my trunk.  I did not receive order confirmation emails for the purchases so do not know the order numbers to quote for reference.  The items that I purchased are still showing as instock on the pre-owned pages.

[woodenhead]

Have you informed Hattons of this?

[spamcan61]

1 minute ago, GWR-fan said:

I think that I will avoid the Hattons website until they sort out website problems.  On three separate purchases tonight after adding items to my trunk and pressing confirm to initiate payment,  a screen showing page not found was displayed.  In all three cases charges were made against my credit card as verified on my netbank account and no items were added to my trunk.  I did not receive order confirmation emails for the purchases so do not know the order numbers to quote for reference.  The items that I purchased are still showing as instock on the pre-owned pages.

I noticed an announcement from Hattons on FB a couple of hours back that they'd taken their online shop offline temporarily, so presumably they're trying to fix it.

[spamcan61]

Stop the press: it's back online

 

Edited March 17, 2023 by spamcan61

[GWR-fan]

Many thanks,  the website seems to be fixed as further purchases without hassle.  Still awaiting multiple refunds.

[GWR-fan]

With their usual courteous and friendly service the store have refunded me the overcharge on the train pack purchased.  Surprisingly,  the matter was dealt with on Saturday.  It appears that the store's payment process did not recognise the discounted prices in the pre-owned sale and this caused a little IT chaos.

[GWR-fan]

It seems to becoming a more common experience.  Over the weekend the store advised that an Oxford diecast model showing two in stock was not accurate and thus they refunded me for the second item as unable to supply.  This morning I awoke to another refund message.  The Hornby train pack that caused a few emails back and forth because the system overcharged me GBP61.67 on the sale price and they refunded me the overcharge on last Saturday,  well this morning's message was a refund for the GBP100.83 paid for the train pack (after the refund on the overcharge) as when the wharehouse went to pick the item it was nowhere to be seen.  Of cause there was the usual apology and "the IT department will be fully investigating the issue" response.  While the store states that such incidents are very rare,  I do seem to be monopolising the situation as for me it is becoming more commonplace.

[Rich_F]

Used to be a regular Hattons buyer. Haven't bought anything since the end of 2022 as I'm getting fed up of their practices, incorrect listings & inaccurate condition descriptions. 

 

 

[woodenhead]

@GWR-fanis that because you are buying all the secondhand Hornby sets?

 

You appear to be their biggest customer 😀

[GWR-fan]

1 hour ago, woodenhead said:

@GWR-fanis that because you are buying all the secondhand Hornby sets?

 

You appear to be their biggest customer 😀

 

To my shame I tend to agree.  The saving grace for me is being able to place items in my trunk,  thus a cnsiderable saving on postage costs.  Once the trunk exceeds 1kg it is actually cheaper to use DHL than Royal Mail.  I generally will build up a trunk to around 5kg before shipping.  The exception is trainsets as generally due the size limitations these must be shipped individually. 

 

Edit:  international shipping is not inexpensive,  so when the store is unable to supply an item paid for then why is there no compensation for the shipping costs involved.  In the case of a train pack weighing around 1.3kg the cost is around GBP28.50 when using DHL.   The store simply refunds the amount paid for the item with no consideration on additional shipping costs incurred,  nor international exchange rate fees imposed by credit card companies. 

Edited March 21, 2023 by GWR-fan
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