10 replies to this topic

[Jim Difalco]

Rarely do I make impulse buys but an ad on ESPN caught my eye. I clicked on it and there was this highly detailed 8 cylinder model engine that could be put together as a kit with moving parts. Since I basically do not have a life outside of making controllers I would buy this as a project to force myself to take some time for myself besides going to some concerts.

 

You would also get a discount for ordering a higher quantity. I thought I would buy 6 of these to give to all my retired racing buddies like Kallio, Pollack and Gelman etc.

 

Can you tell from the pictures below which picture was on the companies website and which item came in the mail? It should not take you long.

 

 

[Tex]

[slotcarone]

That's crazy!

[stoo23]

Oh dear,.. as Tex said !!

I had seen them advertised on Facebook and watched the video of one being un-boxed and built, probably as you had.

 

So many BS companies out there these days.

 

I recently got Scammed, whilst buying a small light-weight portable Oxygen Concentrator,... supposedly Supplied and 100% guaranteed, Shipped from the US, only to find it was (supposedly) being Shipped from China.

Supplied with tracking info' etc but nothing ever turned up and follow up emails were a circular treatise in obfuscation,.. lol

I simply sorted it out with the bank after providing them with evidence of multiple reports of others around the world being scammed by the company.
They simply initiated a refund of the funds via internal banking communications.

 

Not sure about the US but here, with Westpac, if it is inside 2 months, it is pretty straight forward.

 

Might be worth following up with your bank

[Cheater]

Hope you paid via PayPal or credit card and get your money back.

[Dave Crevie]

This is the type of scam that would get me. But the tip-off is that they offer a quantity discount. Typically the ad will say something like that for $59.95 you get an 8 piece set of pots and pans, but for an addition charge for shipping and handling you can get a second full set. That additional charge could be the same as the price of the first set. C'mon. How many people could actually use two identical sets of pots and pans. Well, you would be surprised to see how many people do order the second set, thinking they are getting a super deal.

 

Hopefully you will get all your money back. And I mean all of it. Generally, shipping and handling, and tax, are non-refundable. And a lot of these companies survive on the shipping and handling and any tax money they collect above the required amount. If not, you have two recourses. Contact the FTC. They broke the law by not giving you what they advertised. This is false advertising and falls under bait and switch. Or you can do a little research to see if any class actions have been filed against this company, and if any of those cover this specific item.    

[Jim Difalco]

I quickly called my credit card company and I sent the pictures of the items to their disputes department. I did not bother to try and contact the actual company as my research showed they ignored requests for returns or to credit customers accounts. What was weird was they sent me an email the next day asking if I really meant to order 6 of them. If I did not respond in two days they would ship the order.

 

It was less that $200 so that probably should have given me pause to think how I could get such a quality model for that cheap. But hey, it is China and you see incredible deals from Temu and other places. I just did not do my homework by checking out the company. It is probably good I did not respond to their emails as they have been accused of phishing emails and stealing information. I also cancelled that credit card so they could not go and sell off the card number to the dark web or other criminals.

[Dave Crevie]

Good move. Now there is a paper trail of your actions. Print and keep any correspondence you get.

 

Phishing, and now smishing, is another risk of buying from a company not supported by a larger entity like Amazon, Wayfair and the like.

[alainprost22]

Jim,

 

Thanks for thinking of me.  That was a nice gesture ..

[Mr. M]

Interesting, saw the same ad. Do you think the nice color picture is a CAD model?

[Jim Difalco]

I just did a Google image search and the real item is right on Amazon, $669. Sorry Al, this is a bit out of my price range for an impulse buy.

 

 

https://www.amazon.c...B09ZLLHZVN?th=1