Not sure if anyone else here has come across these chaps before - but following a bad experience I've done a few internet searches and spotted I'm not the first by far.

I have today issued legal proceedings in the county court against Kachi-Do Limited for failure to deliver my order after more than two months (no emails, calls, or letters have been replied to) and reported them to trading standards. This is a matter of public record - so there is no problem in sharing.

If anyone else has suffered a similar experience - and there are those that have - could you report your experience to trading standards. The more complaints there are the quicker the site can be closed down.

Cheers,

Loki

Did you get anywhere with this Loki in the end?

In the exact same boat now myself, waiting on an order I paid for, for over a month now and zero response from Kachi-Do to my attempts to contact them.

Very poor and unprofessional service!!! not sure what I can do as I live in Ireland.

Hi Cuilium,

Yes and no. I issued proceedings and then they dissolved the company. The company was officially dissolved on 10/11/2009. Here is a link that gives you the information on the company...

wck2.companieshouse.gov.uk/874e47b22b02c...925cc20e/compdetails

I could apply to the court to have the company re-instated and proceed with the case, but I took a deep breath and decided it wasn't worth the hassle / extra expense or aggrivation. I did however report them to trading standards in the hope that they would at the least take the website down.

Before I go on (if you're in Northern Ireland - the laws are the same as here, so) if you bought your purchase with a credit card they are obliged to refund you. If you used a debit card, your bank probably has a system for dealing with this and they may refund you. If your from southern ireland you may have to check on the law. I'd be surprised if you didn't have something similar. This is probably your best shot at getting your money back, then you can buy your products elsewhere.

I do not live far from Kachi-Do's premises (I used them because they were localish and I wanted to support a local martials based company, anyway) I weny up there and it is a residential property - somone's house.

What they have done with you is definately a breach of the Fraud Act 2006 and as there is only one director the police may be interested (with pout looking it up, I am pretty sure they have committed a criminal offence under the Act). I think the criteria for theft are prbablt met too. If you don;t get anywhere with your bank, if you point this out, they may be inclined to give you a refund.

If you issue proceedings in the civil courts you will reach a stalemate as they have disolved the company. I may enter judgment now and go up there and demand payment. I sincerely hoped they would take down the website of their own volition if not because trading standards made them do it.

Kachi-do was started (so my research suggests) by the father of a karateka who made some contacts through his sons art. I cant recal if he registered his son as the director / owner of the top of my head. The father however has other business interets which aren't doing badly and the house they live in is worth a fair bit. In other words, there really is no need for this. They know enough about business to do things properly and have enough money not to shaft people like you and me. At least they could have taken down the site. It really is regrettable and what is worse, it is a martial artist doing it to another martial artist.

If you need anymore information let me know. I have a file on this (as you might have gathered, and law is what I do for a living). Your best bet is to get in touch with your credit / debit card provider.

If enough people come forward as victims of Kachi Do, there may be something more that can be done. If your inclined to do so, report them to trading standards. The more complaints they get the more likely they are to do something about it.

Best wishes,

Loki

The web site is still up and they are still taking money off people (like me) fortunately I paid by credit card and can get my money back. Will report them to trading standards ASAP Need to get this message out to as many people as possible

Yeah. I'm sure they've had a lot of trade. They could wasily have taken the site down / stopped taking payments.

There is an add on for firefox & IE called web of trust which allows you to rate sites and leave comments and will warn you if you visit a dodgy site also worth putting the word out on social network sites (if you use them). Will also pass on to my Sensei to warn the club members. Has anyone got any other suggestions/ideas?

hi i too ordered from kachi do having been really impressed with the site.having ordered and paid i then stumbled across a lot of negative comments on the internet about there business practice.i contacted kachi do immediately telling them my concerns and told them i was a member of several large martial arts forum communities and would post on all what villains they were.shortly after i received an email with an apology and a credit for two items totalling £45.00.my order arrived by courier two days later and the credit did appear on my credit card statement.i may have just been lucky but it may be worth a try for others?hope this helps

Hi Loki,
I have recently placed an order with Kachi Do without realising their terrible service. They took the money immediately and it has been a couple of weeks now without any further contact. I have called them dozens of times, left messages and written to them and still no contact. I last sent them a message cancelling my order in line with their terms and conditions however they have not even acknowledged that.
I am a member of the largest Aikido society in the UK, so I intend to make sure that all members within my organisation are aware of this company's trading practices. I also intend to write to all their own suppliers such as Budo Nord, to let them know how their distributor is treating their customers.
I know I will get my money back eventually, as I paid with a credit card, however my aim is to ensure that other martial artists are warned of the type of service this company provides; so if you like paying immediately for goods and then have to wait weeks for delivery without any response to emails/phone calls then based on my experience this is certainly the company for you.
So if Mark or Shirley Lord are reading this post, if I have received a typical retail experience (and from the amount of online posts it seems this may be the case), then you really need to reconsider your business modus operandi as the martial arts community is too small for you to hide and too unforgiving for you to enjoy any commercial success.
J Hunter

I have one word for you guys...."Watchdog".

Still same old problems. I have a student who recently ordered from them and then had to cancel it after a month of hearing nothing.
I have then placed the order myself as I have a trade account with them and thought I'd be ok. Money was taken straight away, but no goods received and that was around 6 weeks ago.
despite many emails and calls, no answer or reply.
Ther customer service was always poor, but they appear to have given up altogether now. When I have spoken to Shirley in the past, she seemed more intent on telling me about her family problems then dealing with the matter in hand.
Seeing as they continue to run the website and sell gear, then I assume that they are still ripping people off and are trading fraudulently.
Mark and Shirley Lord should be ashamed of themselves.........