Jones & Smith "scam" - do not order til you read

I appreciate your post OP
as you say, to warn others
fraud, scam, idiocy, ignorance. However you label it you and others and myself have been duped
also thanks to the poster for the radio 4 article. Useful

I can read. What do you think MN is if it's not social media?

my post is to warn others too. Calm down.

Well it's a scan if an item is not as described and they are expecting people to pay to return it. It goes against Consumer Law in England and Wales.

AS a PP said - never buy anything off social media.

Other giveaway signs are:

• models' heads all cut off the photos
• inconsistent images on the site (indicates pics have been stolen from other, genuine, retailers)
• images that are clearly AI

Judging by the amoint of different company names mentioned here this seems to be proliferating. I was caught out by a company called Harrington & Hale with a photo of a nice shop in London. I ordered nearly £200 worth of clothing before thinking twice and checking the company history online and then cancelling within 20 minutes. Only to be told the order could not be cancelled and I would need to return unwanted goods. I did email back quoting UK law on distance selling and the right to cancel which was ignored by their 'Customer Service' while assuring me they were there to help. This went on for months and when I checked the shipping reference I found it was from China. Fortunately it was delayed so much the shippers said it had timed out.

In the meantime I had found out the head office is based in the Netherlands (are they all the same company?) and repeatedly emailed requesting a full refund. When this was ignored I found out about chargeback which I had not heard about, just in time as there is a 90 day limit if you use a debit card. So I contacted my bank with all the details and they said they would investigate but it may take some time. I also emailed the CS again quoting the law and that my bank were investigating. To my surprise I got an almost instant refund of all my money but with no explanation or apology. That took over 3 months last summer and I do believe some one has used my details to try to get a credit card as I was notified of a credit search so we do all need to be aware of the other implications besides poor customer service or goods supplied.

And finally, when I went back to check if the website was still operating it had turned into an artsy photo of an elderly woman whi is closing down her hand made jewellery business. If thes companies operate worldwide they must make a fortune from customers who just give up on refunds.

Burgundy Shirts thread

I find that a shortcut for knowing if an online retailer is a front for cheap rubbish, is if their name is overtly English or British (eg Jones & Smith) or contains UK place names (eg Ashford England in the about:blank Burgundy shirts thread last year]].

I fell for them too. I bought about 10 things, stupid that I am
Credit card were great though. Gave me some std words to use to arrange full refund and free collection within legal no of days. When they still didn't offer this the Credit card gave me the funds back. Apparently mabel and daisy have disputed it but Credit card company are happy with our stance
Its annoying but yes I should have checked online
I am currently seeing online ads for done gorgeous boots but suspect they will be similar crap
Arrghh

If you listen to the Radio 4 programme linked earlier in the thread, these sites are not just selling a bit of crap pretending to be UK artisan businesses. They do it to sell on your details etc

Exactly. I think there's a big difference between being scammed and just not being very savvy.
These companies are definitely out to take advantage of naive people but you can't really call it a scam.

Credit and debit cards protect you via the chargeback proces but credit cards have S75 also which is more of a legal process. Always go for a chargeback first, it's quicker and has a time limit on it

I’ve no skin in this and don’t particularly care. But, again, I took a quick look at some of the products and the fabric type seems to be provided. If you buy something described as many of the items are, you can hardly complain when something of shit quality turns up. And just my thoughts on the UK address. Many businesses that trade internationally will make a local address and phone number available for customers in that country. A UK customer would be even more upset if they had to call Netherlands for support.

That is true. But she also says what she was sent is not what she expected to receive because they have been duplicitous with their product images and descriptions.

I think our perception of what constitutes a scam differs 🤣🤣. OP was referring to their returns process being a scam but she could easily have checked the policy herself. It’s not hidden.

Of COURSE it's a scam. Have you looked at their registered address? A bog standard residential street in Bognor Regis. Items available on many other similar sites you've never heard of when you reverse image search, branded as Critor, Baobao, Getadme, AliExpres...

How is it not a scam when they are presenting themselves as a British business but have a return address in the Netherlands and their stock is sold on numerous other chinese tat sites?

Agreed, but it’s also true that they work hard to give the impression on the homepage that they’re in Bognor Regis and the Netherlands reality is relatively buried.

The mention of customs and taxes on the shipping details is a dead giveaway though!