DH bought me a dodgy hairdryer!! AIBU?

[GreenDuck1]

Money has been really tight the last few
months, with loads of big expenses coming up out of the blue. My birthday is coming up and DH said he knew what he wanted to get me but that it was over £100. I tried to discourage him but he was adamant it was something I really wanted and that he really wanted to get it for me. This morning I looked on the credit card statement and there was a payment for £160 to a company name that I had never heard of. The company on the statement was actually their website. I thought this must be my gift from DH, and didn’t want to ruin the surprise, but alarm bells were ringing that he had bought from some random company, so I googled the company name and trust pilot. Straight away I saw that it’s only got 3 reviews all written in the last 3 days.

At that point, I went onto the company website, and they’re basically flogging fake Dyson hairdryers for £160. There is free worldwide shipping but returns are at your own expense… to the states! There is no part of me that wants this hairdryer and I think it’s one of these insta influencer type scams!

I spoke to my husband and was upset that we now have thrown £160 away on some tat! I do need a new hairdryer, but with money so tight, I’m upset that he didn’t take basic precautions when shopping online!

He is saying I’m really ungrateful. I’ve tried to explain that I’m just disappointed because I actually could have got an amazing hairdryer for much less money and I’m concerned that we’ve basically just thrown £160 away at a time when we really don’t have that kind of money to spare.

DH is now really upset with me.

AIBU?

I’m not understanding the ‘we’. If it was your gift, surely it’s his money and so it’s up to him how responsible he is with online purchases or not.

We are currently on one income and our money is shared.

Surely it’s not that difficult to understand? Many married couples have joint finances - it’s perfectly normal to consider all money as the family’s money.

Wow, so he's happy to buy an electrical item from a dodgy company which could end up electrocuting and killing you? Or bursting into flames and burning you or your house down? Because that is the reality of fake goods.

Get him to cancel the order. I'm assuming he will have to pay custom tax before it can enter the UK postal system too. Has he thought of that?

I’m sure many of us have been taken in at some time or another by something which seemed like a bargain and turned out to be fake, a scam, or too good to be true. I can name at least two where I should have known better but didn’t put my thinking head on. (One of them takes pride of place on the shelf above my home office desk, reminding me.)

It’s only money, you can make more of it, and £160 isn’t life-ruining in the grand scheme of things. If you aren’t earning and things are a bit miserable you probably haven’t had many treats in a while - and your husband is aware of that and wanted to give you one. Just pitch it that way in your head rather than turning it into an argument.

Okay, so it’s not an actual fake Dyson. It looks like a Dyson, if that makes sense. But there is nothing online to support that it’s a reputable company at all. Hence my concerns.

He says he did research and got a good price. I think he’s seen the price of Dysons etc, and thought this one looks good for half the price.

Okay, so it’s not an actual fake Dyson. It looks like a Dyson,
That'ss still a fake if it's pretending to be one. Can you link it (from a UK non dodgy site)?

vortehair.co.uk

I couldn’t stand not having any money to call my own, even within a marriage and family. The idea of everything being shared and every purchase being a joint decision (including a present for the OH!) would suffocate me.

So that has a dot uk email but I cannot find a physical address on their website and I see a dollar rather than pound sign in their returns section. Are you really sure that's not a fake website?

Its possible he's sent £160 to scammers, and given them your credit card details. I'd contact your credit card to explain the problem and ask them to look into it.
The reviews look like they were written using Google translate.

''The wind is really strong.'' says Chloe. Danielle keeps hers in the bathroom because ''The hair dryer's stylish appearance and perfect color matching make it a pleasing scenery in the bathroom.''.

https://uk.trustpilot.com/review/vortehair.co.uk

You're on one income, money is tight and you NEED a hairdryer?

Cheapo Argos hairdryer is £12, you don't need a £££ Dyson. YABU for this.

Aww I’m a bit disappointed I read it as ‘doggy hairdryer’

thats exactly what I would have replaced my hairdryer with. No idea why you think I wanted an expensive hairdryer.

That has cheered me up a bit!! 😂

Can you cancel the order?

@sashh my husband has emailed the company. They apparently respond in 24 hours. The credit card company have said they can’t help.

What have you read? What is she unreasonable for?

She didn't ask for it!

Oh dear that website isn’t great -

“Going out and going?”

And those first two Trustpilot reviews are a load of bollocks.

YANBU at all.

DH did similar but from Etsy with an airwrap. Luckily we got it refunded via Etsy.

But I think you may struggle if this turns up, it's not advertised as a Dyson, it's a totally different brand and the images show it to be quite different.

It appears to be more of a "dupe" than a scam (although the website has bells and whistles all over it).

Hopefully you can cancel the order or return.

OP - whose income is it? You or your husbands?

This looks identical to the hairdryer I bought earlier this year from Aldi for £20. OP - my mum used to fall for cons like this all the time and when I was trying to sort things out for her, I found that the companies that sell products like this often set up continuous payment authorities on your account so I would get your bank to cancel your card immediately.

Having joint finances doesn’t mean every purchase is a joint purchase or you have no money of your own.