I am writing about my experience of Hampers Express to try and stop anyone else using them and having similar problems to mine.

I placed an order on 16/12/06 for a hamper for my mother, who I would not be seeing over Xmas. I arranged delivery for 21/12/06. I had a phone call that morning to say that delivery was now delayed until the week after Christmas. As it was so close to Christmas it would not have been possible to find another supplier to deliver before Xmas, so I agreed to a delivery on 28/12/06. I had to phone them back as the original call was before 9am and I did not think about changing the message - to Happy new year and asking about financial compensation. I was then told that I would not have to pay the delivery charge.

My mother did not receive the hamper on 28/12/06 and when I contacted the company on 29/12/06 to find out what was happening, I received appalling service.

I had no apology, I was told that they would look into the matter and phone me back, which they did not do. After several hours, they were unable to tell me if an attempt had been made to deliver the hamper, or whether it did not actually exist. At 4.50pm on 29/12/06, I asked for a refund. I was told by the staff member that this would not show up on my statement for about a week because there was a bank holiday coming up!

I found the email address of, allegedly, the company director, on the website and emailed him to express my upset at this appalling service and I got a barely understandable reply, talking about delivery the week after new year.

This company has ruined Xmas and new year for me and my mother.