Shiply

Breach Sale Of Goods act

I used Shiply recently having seen lots of good reviews for them and when the system works, what they do seems a great idea. Basically they are a ''middle man'' service for you to find a cheap way to transport goods. They will put what you need transported out to tender and let transport providers offer quotes. I used their service and accepted a quote to have a car transported from Somerset to Lancashire.
Unfortunately, the transport provider twice let me down due to vehicle problems (and he provided me with garage receipts to prove this). I was then left in the position that unless I drove the car to Lancashire myself, I would face a bill of over £500 for late delivery. The transport company cancelled the contract and having received no service I requested a refund from Shiply. They refused stating that in their terms and conditions (clause 7) they don't give refunds under any circumstances. This is clearly in breach of the sale of goods (and services) act and also is considered an unfair term in contract law. I contacted them to inform them of this and they have refused to respond in any way. The deposit included a site usage fee and a deposit they claim they send to the transport provider - this is untrue, they only send the transport provider his deposit once I leave feedback after the job is done. So they are also holding his deposit that I paid and refusing to refund this also. I contacted trading standards who wrote back confirming that Shiply are in breach of the afore-mentioned laws and that they have had many complaints about Shiply. They recommended I take Shiply to my local court and confirm they will provide me with their findings. As a result my recommendation is to find another provider of this type of service and avoid Shiply. You only find out how good or bad a company is when things go wrong and expect that company to at the very least comply with the trading laws. Shiply do not