Novel postcard app fails to deliver
● Customers left disappointed after paying out for conversion service
Hundreds of customers have complained after a postcard app run by Scots entrepreneur Luke Heron has left them out of pocket by taking money for goods that have not been sent.
Customers of Mr Heron’s Bypost iphone app claim they have not received goods they have paid for or refunds have bounced in their bank accounts – and have reported the firm to Citizens Advice and Trading Standards.
Meanwhile, the Registrar of Companies has lodged an “application for striking off ” for the firm run by Bridge of Allan-based serial entrepreneur Mr Heron, under section 1000 of the Companies Act, which allows a firm to be shut down if there are “reasonable grounds” to believe that “no business is being carried on”.
But this was suspended in July, when a formal objection to the action was raised.
Some customers who have bought credits for Bypost, which converts electronic messages into picture postcards, say postcards have been sent late or not at all; others say promised refunds have not materialised. Many said they had been convinced to buy credits in bulk, which they are now unable to use.
Customer Sarah Goldson said she had ordered four cards two months ago, as well as £30 worth of credits. The cards have never been sent.
“For a time it worked brilliantly,” she said. “Initially, I bought a few postcards and I was delighted with them, so then I bought a lot of credits in a job lot. It was after that they stopped sending.”
In an email to Ms Goldson last month, Mr Heron apologised and promised a refund. However, shortly after Ms Goldson saw the payment arrive in her Paypal account, she found it had “bounced” and the money disappeared.
Another customer, Clive Daniels, wrote on the company’s Facebook page: “Still not a single card received. Now escalating issue to Trading Standards as I type.”
Mr Heron told The Scotsman that he expected to leave the company as a result of the problems.
He said: “The service has been very very poor of late. A number of postcard deliveries have not been as prompt as they have historically been.
“We are working hard to resolve the issue and once resolved we will naturally work hard to restore the trust of the users we have let down.”
He added: “As for the future viability of By post; it has considerably more of a future than I do within it. by post will get on top of these issues.”