dodgy dealers

We have been fortunate in sourcing most of our requirements for the house and have received some fantastically good service. But you still have to watch out even with apparently honest dealers. We bought and paid for two fitted ovens for the large roundhouse from a discount appliance dealer on the internet just before the VAT increase in early January. No ovens have been delivered, and there have been some very dubious engaged tones and voicemail messages from the company concerned and excuses made so we cancelled the order. We were even promised our money back by email but guess what... nothing has yet appeared in our account. Being suspicious I checked the postal address and found it was a letterbox address. The company registration number on our invoice was apparently for a different company at a different location as was the VAT registration number. Strangely, the VAT number on the website is different from the invoice but is an address with the people we have been dealing with showing up as resident. You can actually check where anybody in the UK lives online anywhere, and for free. You can also check VAT registrations for free online - to whom they belong and at what address. We have been having long discussions with Consumer Direct - the government helpline and finally convinced them that the company is almost certainly trading fraudulently. So it will be dealt with by Trading Standards. There are several reviews by other customers having the same problems as us online now. We think we'll probably lose the money (transaction on a debit card) but there is still hope. We will publicise the names of the people concerned, their companies, and their home address in due course. Watch this space.