Couples' big days wrecked by Wrapit

AT LEAST 3,000 couples and their families will be hit by the collapse of the wedding list firm Wrapit, highlighting the perils of pre-paying for goods in shops before receiving them.

Weddings can easily cost the bride and groom and their family more than £20,000. You can get married in Las Vegas, in an air balloon or at the bottom of the sea. Scottish castles are popular romantic venues, with packages for 80 people at Edinburgh Castle typically costing between £12,000 and £15,000.

But weddings aren't cheap for guests either, who typically spend £256 on presents, according to financial website Fool.co.uk.

So when a wedding list company such as Wrapit goes down, it is a disaster for the couple and their guests alike. And the fiasco follows the earlier and similar Farepak scandal, when a pre-paid hamper firm collapsed leaving 150,000 families facing a miserable Christmas.

It also underlines the dangers that friends and families face when they find themselves pressurised into spending money with organisations of which they know little.

With wedding lists, the bride and groom choose which retailer holds the list, and then wedding guests check it out and pay in advance. With wedding costs so high, presents are vital to help young couples recoup some of their expenses and start a new life together.

Typically, couples sign up for wedding lists at reputable department stores such as John Lewis or Debenhams.

Wrapit, which had centres in Glasgow and Aberdeen, was set up by managing director Peter Gelardi and former fashion journalist Pepita Diamand in 2000. But customers have been plagued with poor service almost from day one, with newlyweds complaining about not receiving more than £1,000 worth of items off their lists.

When brides-to-be visit showrooms or outlets, they are impressed with the swish premises and high-quality sales operation, and pass on details to friends and family. The list on the website is easy to use, and it is simple to select and pay for items.

However, once the list closes, the nightmares begin. Months later, up to 200,000 young couples are still waiting for up to a third of their presents.

Last week accountancy firm KPMG, which has been appointed administrator following Wrapit's collapse, said more than 2,200 couples would receive no gifts on their wedding day, and a further 800 would only get a few items which were already in the storerooms. Anyone else with outstanding claims would receive nothing.

Essentially, the company went bust after allowing administration costs to rocket and is left with debts of £6.5m, with no money whatsoever in the kitty to provide those 3,000 couples with their presents. It owes its bank HSBC £3.2m and other suppliers £1.5m. Consumers are due the remaining £800,000.

However, if you paid by plastic you may be protected, provided you contact your bank and the liquidators quickly.

Under section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act, if you pay for goods on your credit card which you do not receive and are worth more than £100 then you can claim the money back from your card issuer.

Visa debit cards also have a reimbursement scheme called chargeback, which provides unlimited compensation, provided specific steps are taken. You must, for example, apply for compensation within 120 days of when the goods were due to arrive.

As a further concession, Lloyds TSB says in the case of Wrapit it will consider reimbursing credit card customers who have lost more than £20, and Visa customers will be compensated in full.

HBOS said all its debit card customers have Visa cards so should be protected in full, and that it will listen sympathetically to calls from credit card victims who have lost less than £100.

RBS says, irrespective of the amount, it will help customers pursue claims. However, where credit cards have been used the normal compensation is for goods worth more than £100.

It may be possible to make legitimate claims against other retailers, as some of the Wrapit units were posted in other department stores.

A spokesman for the Office of Fair Trading's Consumer Direct service said: "Look carefully at precisely who the contract was with. If the transaction was conducted on the premises of another store it will depend who the contract is deemed to have been with."

Finally, compensation may be forthcoming if you have insured the wedding against loss. Mark & Spencer, for example, says it will compensate couples who took out its wedding insurance policy. M&S premiums start at £59 and provide compensation of £2,500 or more for loss or damage of presents.

The most common claims are for damage to wedding clothes, compensation for wedding photos which need to be retaken, cancellation due to illness or bereavement, caterers failing to turn up at the reception, lost wedding rings, wedding transport failing to turn up and cancellation due to the venue being double booked.

We've lost £3,000 of presents

VICTORIA Brodie chose Wrapit for her wedding list because a friend had used the firm, writes Teresa Hunter.

"I also wanted a more personal and flexible service than you tend to get from the department stores," says the 31-year-old marketing manager from Glasgow.

Her wedding day on July 12 was wonderful beyond her wildest dreams, when she became Mrs John Brodie.

But on her return to work, news began to emerge of the company's financial difficulties, before its final collapse. Last week liquidators KPMG confirmed there was no money in the kitty to compensate those who were due gifts. The Brodies have lost everything.

Victoria said: "We had 80 guests who had spent around £3,000 with the company. Our main concern has been explaining to them what has happened and trying to help them get their money back."

Customers using the Wrapit service visited a showroom to draw up their list then went back after the wedding to finalise it, at which point orders were made.

Victoria says: "We liked it because it was very flexible and allowed you to swap items later.

"And I have no complaints about the pre-wedding service. They even sent an e-mail two days before the wedding wishing us good luck.

"That all seems a bit hollow now as they must have known what was going on. I'm also a bit cross that they contacted us a week before the wedding asking if we wanted to put more items on the list, as it was getting full. In other words they were trying to get people to spend more money with them even though they must have known about the difficulties."

Victoria didn't take up the offer, but her guests continued spending with the company by buying gift vouchers instead of simply handing the happy couple a cheque. This money too has been lost.

"Our problem was we never actually made it back to the showroom to finalise the list, so we have lost everything."

The couple are hopeful that some of their friends and family will receive refunds, having paid either on Visa debit or credit cards. Unfortunately, about £800 worth was paid for by Switch which they have been forced to write off.

Victoria adds: "We hope the banks will be flexible, because otherwise we will have lost pretty much the full £3,000 worth."