TheHut

For me, thehut is shut!

I have bought quite a lot of items from thehut, especially over the last 6 months, mostly through Group-on, and without any difficulties until an order on 3/12/12. The Group-on voucher was to buy a choice of Razor scooter for £39.99 which I bought as a christmas present for my young son. After much difficulty, and having to enter bank card details ( though they said I would not be charged ) I finally redeemed it on the day it was valid from, or so I believed. Anyway, the scooter arrived a few days later and I had no reason to question anything until I got my bank statement at the end of December. As expected the money for the voucher had come out but then I noticed that a few days later thehut had taken out the full amount of £79.99 for the scooter as well. I tried to call customer services at thehut ( which you would expect to be an easy process ) and after laborious searching for a number, I eventually got through to the automated 'we are experiencing a high volume of calls etc.' and gave up after 15 mins which cost a further £10 + on my phone bill. Foolish I know but after a few mins you think you might just get through. I could find no simple way of sending a message to them unless via FAQ's of which none related to my query, so I sent a detailed one through the closest FAQ, waited for a reply and heard nothing. After 2 weeks I searched for the message to send it again and could find no record of it on my account or anywhere. I have never come across a company so difficult to deal with and you begin to think you are bangin your head against a brick wall. I called Group-on to try and retrieve the money back for the voucher at least, but they couldn't help because it's validity had run out 2 weeks before I got my bank statement. Double Whammy!! This review might be a bit long winded, but not as long winded as my experience with thehut. I realise they must be a busy company, but can any business afford to lose such potential ongoing custom? I mean, I know I must be only one of thousands of people who have had, or are having trouble with a purchase from them. Surely they stand to lose a lot of money because of this. Anyhoo, best of luck to all who are willing to take the gamble.