Kellys Vegies

KELLYS VEGIES CHARGED ME £250 FOR LEAVING THIS REVIEW!
I love the idea of supporting local independent business, but sometimes their ignorance, arrogance and greed happen to stay in the way. Such is the case with Kelly’s Vegies.
MY EXPERIENCE: My experience with Kelly’s Vegies was less than smooth… As a matter of fact, Kelly went as far as threatening me with court action on two occasions were I to try recovering the unfair charges he had made to my card. That experience caused a fair amount of distress, so I took a few weeks after my last communication with him before leaving this review, in order to talk facts, not emotions.
Like the other ex customers recommended, READ THE TERMS AND CONDITIONS! It is very important, as you will be referred to them every time you try talking to a human. While reading the T&C two times very carefully is the ideal scenario, in a real world, most of us don’t have time to get into detail and at best only scan them. Kelly has apparently recognised that, employing various catches and charges which while mentioned in the T&C, I’d classify as hidden, misleading and unfair.
I ordered a «no obligation free trial box», skimmed through the T&C and completed my application. Thus I did agree to and was bound by them. After I received the first box, I had another look and noticed that there was a strict 4-​day window to cancel the subscription, otherwise a whole bunch of charges would have been applied. Since I would have not tried all the veg in such short period (and what I had tried was not up to a satisfactory standard), I decided to cancel with the intention to resubscribe later if the rest of the box was fine.
I called and expressed my wish, explaining my reasons: not happy with the quality so far, too short a cancelation window, non-​organic produce priced at «organic» prices. Kelly was nice and cooperative over the phone and it was a smooth call. Only to find out a few days later from my bank statement that my card had been charged for the value of the first «free» box (£13.50). He hadn’t mentioned anything about charges over the phone, neither did I receive any kind of email notification or invoice. It seemed like a mistake to me so I got in touch with Kelly to ask for explanation. He replied that because the T&C state that the produce is non-​organic, me mentioning organic means that I hadn’t agreed to the T&C and therefore he was entitled to charge me for the first «no obligation free box». I found that odd and attempted to call a few other times.
Meanwhile he had charged me another £20 because his driver «couldn’t find the crate» which I had left outside for them to collect. When I finally got through, although I listened to his explanation, when it came to me to speak, Kelly was rude, patronising, arrogant and impatient. He was unapologetically standing by the fact that he had all right to charge me. Despite the fact that under no point in his T&C was it stated that a «free box» might not be free. We exchanged a few more emails in which he threatened that if I disputed the charges with my bank «a court order will be put in place».
Eventually it turned out the driver did collect the plastic box I had left outside, but they still charged me £20. I had to write emails and talk to a very rude Kelly in order to have that resolved (the £20 was refunded). However, the £13.50 charge for the «free» box was not refunded. Kelly deleted my account from his website and sent an email to let me know he had blocked my email from further communication.
THE PRODUCE: Talking about the produce itself, it was hit and miss… the cauliflower was good, fine beans were ok, courgettes were bitter and the pears were tasteless. Overall I would rate the quality of the box 2.5 out of 5, and definitely not worth the price tag (especially with all the hidden charges added).
They have recently amended their T&C to say that if their customers post a «derogatory» review, a charge of £50/​day will be applied. After The Daily Mail on Sunday published an article on the issue with this ludicrous clause, and a backlash of discontent by the public was expressed, the company removed the charge from their T&C. More about that could be read on the site of The Daily mail on Sunday (
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I hope this review will help fellow-​customers and supporters of independent businesses make an informed decision if they come across Kelly’s Veggies.
P. S. Some issues were recognised by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) which deemed Kelly’s ads misleading. (
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