Cashback countdown

By RICHARD DYSON
Updated:

 

THOUSANDS of customers caught up in the Texas cashback fiasco face an anxious wait for their money. More than 4,000 will be watching the post for cheques for up to £5,000 - the fulfilment of a tenyear marketing pledge by former DIY chain Texas Homecare.

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In 1992, the trusting customers bought into a cashback promise by Texas. 'Buy a kitchen now and every penny you spend will be refunded in ten years!' screamed the advert. 'The most incredible kitchen offer ever made.'

As the years passed, the Texas name vanished in a series of mergers. Customers' hopes of ever seeing their cash rose and fell with each twist. The saga featured big-name firms and epic legal battles on both side of the Atlantic.

Under the terms of the cashback deal, customers had to submit a certificate and other documentation last month. Within days, letters of rejection were being received by irate customers who were convinced they had complied with every rule.

Financial Mail traced the elusive trail of companies behind the pledge and two weeks ago was rewarded with a promise from hotel group Hilton, owner of Texas during the promotion in February 1992, that nine out of ten claims would be paid.

Hilton said the cheques would be sent in April. How many customers were rejected, and on what grounds, is unknown.

But what is depressingly clear is that the history of cashback deals, once hugely popular with some top retailers, is strewn with broken promises and outof-pocket customers.

The phenomenon came from America in the early Nineties and was taken up enthusiastically by car dealers, furniture stores and electrical chains. All the schemes were similar - customers-paid for their goods, sent for a certificate and were told to keep it safe for a set period - usually five years. The promoter promised customers that if they submitted their certificates in accordance with a set of rules, they would get their money.

But things quickly went wrong. In 1996, the Office of Fair Trading warned customers to steer clear of cashback promotions. Cashback Consortium, the company behind the Texas deal, was already out of business.

Another promoter, Intervest Capital, the Essex-based offshoot of a Nevada business claiming assets of $540m (£378m), was wound up in 1997 after a Government probe.

Thousands of Intervest cashback deals were offered and some have yet to mature. One apprehensive customer is George King, 66, a retired computercentre manager for drinks firm Allied Domecq.

In 1997, George spent £5,500 double-glazing his home in Tamworth, Staffordshire, in a fiveyear cashback deal with Tudor Windows and Doors.

George must submit the paperwork in June. But as the backer was Intervest, he believes his chances are slim.

'I had doubts at the time,' says George, 'but the salesman was convincing, so I believed him.'

Tudor is no longer at its 1997 address in Dorridge, Warwickshire. George's documents instruct him to claim through a London-based firm of solicitors, Caplans, which was acting for Intervest.

But senior partner Richard Caplan says: 'Everything is being forwarded to the receiver for Intervest. There is nothing more to say.'

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