Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Only the apps you allow.

Meet the Other Phone.
Only the apps you allow.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Refund… is this a scam?

35 replies

DollyDaydream55 · 09/03/2023 16:43

I have cervical osteoarthritis/spondylosis. My recent MRI showed it is degenerating (obviously) and is now involving all of my C1-7 vertebrae and T1-3. So, it’s worse in the past 2 yrs after a previous scan. It’s really painful as I feel like my neck/upper back is incapable of holding my head up; I’d love to remove it at the end of the day for a rest.

I’ve spent £££ on pillows and recently tried a latex one. It was a good deal, a British company with an address in Kington, Herefordshire. I bought it on their 30 day trial offer. It’s very poor quality and unsuitable so, I contacted them and tried to arrange return within just a few days. It was £53.00.

Yesterday, I received an email saying “please return it via tracked mail to …. Thailand”. I queried it and they said the Herefordshire office is purely for admin and all returns need to go to Thailand. I explained that the shipping to Thailand, plus a £15.00 admin charge, means no actual refund would be due. They’ve said this is non-negotiable.

I’m quite upset. There’s nothing I can do, is there?

OP posts:
Identifyingasadolphin · 09/03/2023 16:47

I would feel gutted too.
I would turn detective and leave warning reviews everywhere - Trustpilot, Facebook or other advertising routes or business pages they use to help other potential customers.

Vegrocks · 09/03/2023 16:49

Check the t and cs op

Viviennemary · 09/03/2023 16:49

Report them to trading standards. And if you paid by credit card you might get a refund from them.

Vegrocks · 09/03/2023 16:51

Viviennemary · 09/03/2023 16:49

Report them to trading standards. And if you paid by credit card you might get a refund from them.

No point doing this if t and cs make clear the process

coffeecupsandwaxmelts · 09/03/2023 16:52

You're entitled to a refund under Distance Selling Regulations as you bought online.

mdh2020 · 09/03/2023 16:55

You should be able to claim on your credit card or Paypal. I find the latter very good when companies try to play silly games.

IamSmarticus · 09/03/2023 16:56

Which company is it, how certain are you that they are British?

ChilliBandit · 09/03/2023 16:57

I think I’ve found the company and if it is this one their website alone looks dodgy as hell. I am not sure their returns policy is legal. It’s not very clear either way.

Refund… is this a scam?
Original poster
DollyDaydream55 · 09/03/2023 17:03

This one. I guess the “flag” icon and Herefordshire mislead me. I couldn’t see anything which mentioned returns must be shipped halfway across the world. Still can’t!

Refund… is this a scam?
OP posts:
Vegrocks · 09/03/2023 17:05

What’s the link op? That looks like it links to suppliers

ChilliBandit · 09/03/2023 17:06

The admin address is a residential house on a new build estate. I wonder if the residents know that their address is being used. I hope so as it’s a common scam to use random addresses to set up companies. The website just has random legalese copy and pasted. Sorry OP but I think it is a scam. Can you do a chargeback?

ObamaLlamas · 09/03/2023 17:06

Oh OP 🤦‍♀️ it's so obviously a scammy website. Did you pay by credit card?

IamSmarticus · 09/03/2023 17:07

Sorry, it does look dodgy. The customer service telephone number is a Thai one.

RNBrie · 09/03/2023 17:08

This exact same thing happened to me with a sofa cover from China that I thought I'd ordered through a UK based website. I did a credit card charge back which was rejected because I had not returned the item as per the Ts and Cs on the website, the company had told me to return to China but would not respond to my request for the address - credit card company didn't care AT ALL. I'd not followed the Ts and Cs so case closed.

So - then I tried sending it back to the UK address on the website and submitted my proof of posting to the credit card company - but they came back and said they considered their original response to be the final word and my only option was to complain to the financial ombudsman - which I did. The package was later returned as "not accepted" by the UK address - it was just a service address which the business rented...

Meanwhile, I set about finding out who owned the company (Companies House) then I located him on LinkedIn and worked out roughly where he lived from where he went to school. I then bought a copy of the electoral register and found his address - which turned out to be his mum's address. I also found his personal email address on a Gumtree advert for dog walking (!!). I then sent him an email explaining what had happened and offering to return the sofa cover to his home address as it was just up the road from me. In a matter of minutes he issued me a refund.

A few days later, I was contacted by the financial ombudsman and explained what had happened. He worked out that the only thing I was still out of pocket for was sending the sofa cover back to the UK address. So he then pursued my credit card company for the postage cost which they duly refunded. He agreed that their handling of my case was wrong - BUT that I should have returned the sofa cover to the UK address before my initial charge back request so I could have sent proof of postage and complied with the website Ts and Cs.

For anyone who is interested, the company was sofaguards.com/ and they are still selling 100% waterproof sofa covers that are not waterproof at all!

IkBenDeMol · 09/03/2023 17:09

The spelling and grammar alone on that website image you posted is enough to have alarm bells ringing

Vegrocks · 09/03/2023 17:09

Clear as day op

and HQ in Berlin

Refund… is this a scam?
Vegrocks · 09/03/2023 17:09

And nothing about a free trial

Valid8me · 09/03/2023 17:09

The reviews on Trustpilot are dreadful and many others have said that they were expected to return items to Thailand. Sorry OP.

ChilliBandit · 09/03/2023 17:12

@RNBrie - that is some fantastic detective work! Bet you frightened the life out of the scammer

SoupDragon · 09/03/2023 17:15

There is the same thing website/logo with an Irish flag so I think it's totally dodgy. the T&C on that site do say "items must be shipped back to the original warehouse your package was sent from"

ChilliBandit · 09/03/2023 17:17

How are you meant to know the items will be shipped from Thailand if the only address on the website is a UK one? It can’t be legal to expect customer to somehow guess any returns will be to Thailand.

Original poster
DollyDaydream55 · 09/03/2023 17:21

RNBrie… that’s amazing. No wonder he was quick to refund!

I feel such a fool now but, when your desperate, you think… “worth a try”! 🙄

OP posts:
moose62 · 09/03/2023 17:24

I was caught out by this 'scam'. I ordered something from a 'british' website. Received something totally different from China and they refused to refund it. So now I always to a review search on any company I have not used before...especially ones on Facebook.

Vegrocks · 09/03/2023 17:24

ChilliBandit · 09/03/2023 17:17

How are you meant to know the items will be shipped from Thailand if the only address on the website is a UK one? It can’t be legal to expect customer to somehow guess any returns will be to Thailand.

The location of return is irrelevant

they stated £15 return in their t and cs

and that is how much it is costing the op to return 🤷‍♀️

ChilliBandit · 09/03/2023 17:25

Vegrocks · 09/03/2023 17:24

The location of return is irrelevant

they stated £15 return in their t and cs

and that is how much it is costing the op to return 🤷‍♀️

Show quote history

Of course it’s relevant. A return to the UK would cost much less than a return to Thailand.

Swipe left for the next trending thread