Lavertons website - real or not?

Mr_Crunch · 16 March 2013 at 6:01PM

Just an amber warning, because I cannot be sure, but this Lavertons site (Kitchen appliances etc) might be a false site similar to Kitchenarts (thread here: http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?t=4116487&highlight=kitchenarts+co+uk)

I have been looking for food mixers, so found Kitchenarts a few weeks ago which had cheap branded products but I held off because it looked too good to be true, the address (which came and went) was an accommodation address, and it required payment by bank transfer.

Looking again for food mixers I stumbled on www.lavertons.co.uk which has Magimix mixers, both 3200 & 4200 both at £64.84, which is insanely cheap (30% of normal prices).

Now, it may well be that this site is genuine. Indeed it has a Leeds street address and pnone number which appear 'real'. But:

the address seems to be an empty shop http://goo.gl/maps/O4rkQ which is for let http://fawleywatsonbooth.com/available-properties/retail-property-in-leeds/leeds-57-great-george-street.html
there are umpteen other businesses which come up on Google when you search on '57, Great George Street, Leeds, West Yorkshire, LS1 3AJ' and I think that that address was previously used by a mailbox address company which has now moved down the road.
tried the phone number .... "the phone number you have dialled has not been recognised"
a Nominet check http://www.nominet.org.uk/whois/lookup?query=www.lavertons.co.uk appears superficially benign as it has the Leeds address but the domain registrar is Easily.co.uk (same as Kitchenarts) and the nameservers (ISPs) are in the USA (like Kitchenarts) but this time at Westhost,Inc, Utah
It is, like Kitchenarts, listed on Google Shopping.
Tried a dummy purchase .... wouldn't reveal a payment option, it just got stuck.
There were a handful of gushing reviews on Trustpilot, with people claiming to have received goods.
the Lavertons website today has a section on speed of delivery and refunds which sounds suspiciously like Kitchenarts...

I have not reported this site myself because I have not been scammed by it. Indeed, it might be genuine (although why a genuine webstore would wish to be uncontactable is beyond me - email test returned 'no such user' as well). If it is genuine, no doubt the owner can explain why it is uncontactable....

But it seemed strange, and in the light of Kitchenarts, worth making others aware.

BEWARE. If it's too good to be true, it may be...

moaninggit · 16 March 2013 at 8:09PM

n 10/12/12 I ordered a couple of nice T towel holders for a Christmas present, paid with Paypal and waited, Christmas came and went So I Emailed them. NO response, So I have just to phone them and the advertised number does not exist, Paypal has refunded me though. Avoid like the plague.
Zero rating, but won't let me. WHY not have minus ratings too.
10/01/2013 15:49:57Tags: T Towel Lavertons

CrazyChick80 · 18 March 2013 at 3:06PM

http://www.lavertons.co.uk/product_info.php?products_id=10576&osCsid=0db253757257fb035b569ce9e2c35dd6

Well I certainly wouldn't pay nearly £80 for a plastic dish drainer!!!!!!!!!!!!! :eek::eek:

They are having a laff if they think ppl will pay silly high prices. Beware is all I can say........

Mr_Crunch · 18 March 2013 at 5:14PM

CrazyChick80 wrote: »

Well I certainly wouldn't pay nearly £80 for a plastic dish drainer!!!!!!!!!!!!!
They are having a laff if they think ppl will pay silly high prices. Beware is all I can say........

Yes, their prices are all over the place, which is probably another indication is that they are more interested in transactions than whether prices actually make sense. They have my original examples Magimix 3200 (about £180 on Amazon) at both £64.94 and £279.74; Magimix 4200, (about £192 at John Lewis) at both £64.94 and £348: and also the Magimix 5200XL top model (about £250 at John Lewis) at both £64.94 and £483.

They may of course just be totally incompetent! But I think not, all the warning signs are there.

battleborn · 18 March 2013 at 5:51PM

Thanks for the info, I will note to AVOID.

bod1467 · 18 March 2013 at 8:40PM

battleborn wrote: »

Thanks for the info, I will note to AVOID.

Yet you didn't actually thank any of the helpful posts?

meer53 · 18 March 2013 at 10:51PM

I ordered a Kenwood mixer form them in January, it never arrived. I got my money back through Paypal. Paypal told me that my payment wasn't collected by Lavertons, it was just sitting there waiting for them to take it which they never did. They don't respond to emails or phone messages either. Avoid at all costs. There are no physical premises on Great George Street, i work in Leeds, i've looked.

plusman · 16 April 2013 at 1:43PM

I've just come across the Lavertons site and the prices did seem too good to be true. After doing a Google search (and coming across this MSE thread, amongst others), I also found that the 57 Great Georges Street address also appears to be a trading address for Mail Boxes Etc (http://www.mbe.co.uk/leeds/find_us.aspx see details at bottom of this link).
Other people also seem to have had great difficulty in getting items they have ordered.
So it looks like a scam.

plusman · 16 April 2013 at 1:47PM

I should ad that out of interest I created a fake account and attempted to buy something. At the payment stage it said:
"This is currently the only payment method available to use on this order.
Bank Transfer Payment"

Seems ever so slightly suspicious don't you think?

Baking_Mad · 17 April 2013 at 4:19PM

I've just created an account as found a product I needed through google shopping at a very reasonable price. I then got very suspicious when asked to do a bank transfer and did a search on trusted mse. Needless to say I will not be going ahead with the purchase now!!!

I'm quite annoyed that google shopping picks up an illegitimate site though

SaMmY_2 · 17 April 2013 at 10:37PM

I am looking for a microwave... saw this site with unbelievable price for Whirlpool JT366 (£65!!!)

Did a search on google for the company and found this site and thread... thank God I did!!!

Saved me a lot of hassle!

AVOID Lavertons!!!

UPDATE:
Have just seen that the welcome email they sent me for making an account with them has been sent through a third party email service... Gmail has described it thus

"Gmail detected that the email was sent via another mail service. This means that the sender may be using a third-party email service to generate this message."

Don't know how significant this may be but it has certainly made me not trust this website one bit!!

Lavertons website - real or not?

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