Help, please - French company obstruction

General Discussion
1

I’m having an ongoing problem with the French company ALLOPNEUS - the biggest supplier of tyres etc in the country. Anyone got any suggestions of what I could do to bring it to a head, and get my money back?
The amount involved is tiny - €28. I ordered a set of new registration plates online for my car on 13th March 2020.
They took the money from my bank account; but have never delivered the goods. On their website this order is still showing as “dispatched”, but not “delivered”.
The next problem is that they use the ‘3D Secure’ online payment security system [so-called]. This requires a Security Code to be sent to your mobile to authorise the payment. I did not have my mobile with me at the time; could not enter the authorisation code; and so ‘annuléd’ the order.
I then placed it again a few hours later, when I was reunited with my phone. This order [with a different facture no.] was delivered within 3 days.
Despite this, ALLOPNEUS took the payment for both orders from my bank. What’s the point of ‘3D Secure’? This is a warning to all of us.
I have asked ALLOPNEUS to therefore refund the payment for the first order. They say ‘It’s a personalised item; we cannot refund’. I said - ‘But you haven’t delivered the item’. They said ‘It’s your bank’s mistake, ask them to refund the payment’. I write to my bank - they say ‘Not our fault, the company should not have proceeded with your order without 3D Secure Authorisation’.
Catch 22
So far I have sent relentless emails over the subsequent 3 months to ‘Customer Services’; spoken to ‘Customer Services’ by phone; identified the Company Director responsible for ‘Customer Satisfaction’ on their website, and sent him a personal e-mail - but it turns out this person is no longer in the company employ, so no response from him!
I have also asked a French friend, who has a little side-line helping people who do not understand the machinations of French Law, to write to the company on my behalf. Under Covid restrictions, ALLOPNEUS ask for all contact to be made via their ‘Contact’ page on their website [email] rather than physical letters. No response.

Anybody got any suggestions? This is a battle of principle - I’m not going bust for the want of a €28 ripoff. But equally, it’s not worth getting into legal fees . . .
So what to do?

2

Do they have a Facebook page - you could post something on there to draw attention…
Maybe you have Protection Juridique Vie Quotidienne and you could consult your insurer?

3

What about sending them a formal letter by registered post? Here’s a template

1 Like
4

Excellent points, Graham - thank you. I don’t do FB personally (that’s another discussion!) - but I have, in my emails, ‘threatened’ them with negative posts on TrustPilot and Que Choisir - water off the proverbial duck’s back.
I will check my insurance - not sure about Protection Juridique. I’ll get back to you.

5

Graham - Not sure about my cover - my Groupama ‘Confort’ policy includes “Assistance Vie Quotidienne / Allo travaux / Info juridique”.

6

Thanks Jane. I have followed this company’s requirement to use e-mail only during the Covid restrictions. I use Mailtrack, so every message has been recorded delivery. They still ignore the messages. Maybe a post-delivered letter is a good next step - I’ll do it in the morning!