The Express Guide - better late than never

This case was referred to us in June. This is the complainant's letter:

I have been working part time from home as an architectural and design consultant for the past eight years. Year after year I always receive calls from a "marketing" company offering an advertisement.

In early October, I received a call from Wesley Ellul, who, I later got to know, is an actor. He convinced me to meet him and discuss a proposal regarding an advertisement. I gave him the Lm47.20 fee and we agreed that he would call me to confirm the proof before publication. I attach a copy of the invoice.

I had never heard of The Express Guide, but he showed me one which, he said, was published earlier that year. Anyhow, a year passed and I never got a call. Finally I called him myself and he told me that he wasn't working with the company any more. I called Mr Ellul again and he gave me two numbers. One was ringing but the other was also not available.

After numerous calls, in June 2006 a lady told me that the publication was being printed and will be published in August and I would receive a copy. August passed, New Year's Day passed, and I received nothing. I called again numerous times to no avail. Finally, last April I got through to a lady who said that the publication is ready and that I would be receiving a copy. She even asked me for the address, which I gave her.

Now it's the end of June. Almost two years passed and not only did I never see this publication but I never saw any other similar publications. In all honesty, it's useless publishing it now since I changed my company name, address and even work format, so the advertisement is now redundant.

I expect a full investigation on the dubious operations of this company and a full refund. (Nyal Xuereb)

I sent a copy of this letter to The Express Guide on July 18 and I received the following letter from Mr Ellul:

Hope this finds you well.

I just wanted to let you know that we have resolved the issue with Mr Xuereb and given him a full refund. His advert was, in fact, published. However, he is perfectly justified in his complaint as there were considerable delays in the publication of the book The Express Guide to Professionals.

These were due to two main reasons. Firstly we had to get approval from the respective governing bodies. We believed this process would take a month. However it took almost 11 months. Then, when we finally got the approvals, our printer, whom we had paid in advance for the printing, closed down and left us high and dry and several thousand pounds worse off - money which we never managed to get back.

However, as we believe in integrity, we still published the book at a huge loss to make sure our clients received what they were promised.

I hope this satisfactorily closes this case for you as, with the traumatic 12 months we have just endured, any negative publicity would be greatly harmful to our chances of rebuilding our business. Very best regards. (Wesley Ellul)

First of all, I disagree with Mr Ellul's concluding comment. While bearing in mind what he was up against, I dare say that, thanks to his staying power, determination and integrity, we can consider this a positively concluded case. Indeed here follows confirmation by a formerly dissatisfied customer to a completely satisfied one:

I refer to the article in The Sunday Times Customer Service Column of August 5, entitled The Express Guide. I am pleased to inform you that I have received a letter of apology from James Calvert of Info Express, along with a copy of the Express Guide to Professionals and a cheque as reimbursement.

In his letter, Mr Calvert explained how the printer they contracted (for the Express Guide) shut down without giving them the prints for publication, which explains how I never saw any copy around. At this stage I publicly thank Mr Calvert for the professional way in which he dealt with the situation and look forward to further business through another publication.

I would also like to thank you, Mr Muscat Inglott, for your assistance and the positive difference your column made. (Nyal Xuereb)

Indeed a positively concluded case. I thank Wesley Ellul and James Calvert for their co-operation.