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?

definitely scam website "recently launched its new motto: "Vortehair - make you hair health". Bad grammar total giveaway, also there is an ACTUAL dyson rival called 'VorteXhair' (uk.trustpilot.com/review/vortexair.co.uk). Try and cancel if you can, asap, but sadly i feel your chances of getting the money back are close to nil. Contact your bank.

Also, reviews on TrustPilot clearly not from native english speaker(s?) "I have medium-length hair and a lot of hair. Hair dryer can be blow-dried within 6 minutes. The wind is really strong. I like it very much" "The hair dryer's stylish appearance and perfect color matching make it a pleasing scenery in the bathroom."

Yeah, the website was clearly not written by native English speakers. I looked through it and don’t see where they are claiming that you can return it to the US. They just vaguely say that you have to return it to them at your expense. I’m almost certain that it will come from China and that is where you will have to ship it back.

I second this! You can even get them refurbished directly through Shark with the warranty for even less. I had the Dyson but find the Shark Flexistyler (simialr to the one linked) 100 times better.

It's a totally real company I've ordered from them before!

I’m sure this is the hairdryer DH bought me last Christmas, he too apparently did lots of research!🧐
I tried to be grateful for it while quietly trying to return it, I didn’t get anywhere with that and just started to use it. It was actually really good for maybe a couple of months when one morning it started smoking and cut out.
At that point I bought myself a Shark to replace it.

Even the genuine Dyson hairdryers are awful. I’d be so annoyed with this

Good for you. Count yourself fortunate you can afford to do that.

OP has said money is tight, so this is how they are tackling it.

For a refund on the credit card you would have to either give enough time for the item to arrive (typically 14 days unless stated otherwise) or have proof that its a scam. You would have to (seems its been tried) to contact the seller first in all instances.

if the item hasn't arrived you should get a refund. If it arrives as described you wouldn’t get a refund.

A real company selling cheap Chinese clones for genuine prices until the reviews get so bad they shut down and open again under a new name...

No hair dryer user ever is concerned about whether it matches the bathroom!

I struggled to find any reviews about company and the name is clearly a rip off of vortex hair dryers.

website clearly not written by native English speaker. They also deduct the cost of shipping from your refund ( they don’t say how much shipping costs, so they can make that up)

god OP- I’d be furious. I understand your frustration

The website is so obviously fake, as are the reviews. So sorry that's a lot of money to lose. Fingers crossed he used PayPal they have never once sailed to reimburse me when I got overly excited by a too good to be true item.

Oh come on, it's not hard to imagine a married couples finances being joint is it?

My son bought a new vacuum cleaner without asking which is clearly copying a Dyson. It’s the best one I’ve had so far. Give it a go first

And risk setting your house on fire with dodgy Chinese imports?

missing the point of the thread but why didn’t he just get you a decent, genuine hairdryer from Boots for £40?

What are you supposed to be grateful about exactly?

He didn't buy it with his own money since it's a) on a credit card and b) your joint account.

It's obviously a dodgy knock off and not the real thing.

He thought he was being clever.

And he's the one sulking.

I'd be insulted by all that quite honestly.

Sounds like DH made a mistake trying to do something nice for you. Frustrating, but try and focus on his good intent, rather than the mistake.

If it’s on the credit card they usually offer protection against dodgy websites, give them a call to get the transaction cancelled.

Well my son is an electrician and can’t see any issue with it.

You remind me of my MIL.

My DH and I have always had a joint bank account. That doesn’t mean we have to consult each other on every purchase and we never do so before buying personal items, clothes, gifts etc. We just trust each other enough to know that the amounts spent will be commensurate with our income.

When our children were babies and I was a SAHM I told my MIL what I had secretly bought my DH for his upcoming birthday. Her response was "You say you’ve bought it for him but it’s his money really, isn’t it!" It sounds as if you might have said that too.

That's more luck than judgement. Lots of cheap chinese electricals are fine. Some aren't. No way to know which.

They’re married so it’s one income usually?

Definitely fake, the grammar on the website is off.

I would wait until it arrives.
Contact the company and ask for an immediate refund as it’s fake.
If they don’t refund, they won’t, go through your credit card.

the credit card company will want proof you have tried to resolve with the seller.

That’s a bit of a worry

You are ungrateful.

I have naturally curly hair and use a hairdryer every single day - my current one is £30 and the best I've ever had.

If money is genuinely tight you wouldn't even be looking or mentioning Dyson - your husband tried to do something nice, probably after feeling guilty that he can't buy you a real one.

Claim from your bank - they'll refund the money as its a fake.