Used an untrustworthy site - Any advice please

Monzo Chat
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Saw something on social media which looked good for a christmas present, so found the item via google and bought it.

Only then, did I look at Trustpilot and realise it’s a borderline scam. Some people saying the delivery took ages, some people saying they received nothing at all

I know it is my fault for not doing my homework on the company. But, on their website it clearly states they can offer a refund providing it hasn’t already been shipped. You can probably guess the rest.

Upon buying the item I immediately requested a refund… no reply… then a day later they have given me a shipping number. I have entered the tracking number into the Chinese couriers website, it basically just says they are expecting the parcel off the merchant.

I paid using Paypal, thankfully it was only cheap but they must be making a fair bit of money by doing this.

Any advice please ?

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If it was through PayPal you’ll be covered by their buyer protection if it never shows up. Wait and see I guess and file a dispute with PayPal if you don’t receive it.

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Well, you don’t know it’s a scam yet so you’re pre empting what some feedback on the internet is telling you.

Don’t take everything for gospel, if you’ve purchased something and it doesn’t turn up within 14 days, speak to the merchant, if no response, raise a dispute with PayPal* for goods not received.

If the product arrives and it’s not as described, speak to the merchant to resolve, if no response after reasonable time and efforts, raise a dispute with PayPal* for goods not as described.

You don’t know if it’s not trustworthy yet, other than a delay in communication from the company (1 day isn’t sufficient time for anything, I’d expect at least 3-5 working days).

*edited from monzo to PayPal as PayPal handled the payment.

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There is a huge swathe of AI generated shop sites down the rounds. They all do Chinese drop shipping and the ads appear a lot on social media especially Twitter.

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Yep. Just a heads up for anyone else. If you see anything on Social media being advertised from these random companies using .co.uk domain names, do your research. Don’t let the same happen to you or anyone else.

Thanks for the advice, I will have to wait it out then. Should have known better

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See loads of scams through the socials at work, ads and people, so just never entertain it as it’s most likely going to be a scam.

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Firstly you can’t blame yourself. Anyone who says they never fall for these is, probably, a lier. And thank you for letting us know about it.

Secondly, a few things that I check on sites like this that might help for the future. These are not foolproof of course.

  • Does it show a uk address. If there isn’t one it’s a red flag for me
  • Shipping time. At least they’re honest here, 3-15 business days screams China. So it may yet turn up.

Thirdly. I don’t know much about PayPal protection, but do you have a route via your card company.

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Literally watched a deep dive video about this sort of nonsense earlier this week:

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Just a quick update. Seems as though it is a genuine retailer as the tracking shows updates via the courier.
My main concern was putting my details into a potentially malicious website, however it seems as though they are not a scam site after all

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Open a revolut account and use their single use disposable cards for those types of purchases :muscle:t3:

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Safiya is hilarious. The only ‘influencer’–type person I watch.

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Sounds promising. I guess it’ll depend on what arrives before you’ll know for sure. Good luck!

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I’ve fallen for similar a few years back. Saw a nice jumper on Facebook ads, bought it, took forever to arrive cos it came from china, quality was terrible.

Was it a scam? You could probably argue either way but I don’t think the company had any interest in customer satisfaction or repeat business.

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Item arrived today as described :santa:

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A .co.uk domain is not a sign of a untrustworthy website and neither is advertising on social media.

You should do your research regardless of these things. Even for established websites/brands - for example:

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