Fake GHD website missing order?

leighton40

I very stupidly ordered GHD hair straighteners from ghdhaircom(full stop)com thinking it was a genuine website. The more I look at it the more I know I've been ripped off. The site claims to be American. I placed my order on 9th August 2009, on 13th August I received an email advising me of a delivery tracking number. The website is for a Chinese delivery company which made me worry. On top of that it also didn't recognise the tracking number. I emailed them ("GHD" website) via their website on the 13th August to ask what was going on with the order as the email claimed the order had been delivered. No response. I emailed them again via the email address quoted on their website, and I got an email back advising the email address is not recognised. This made me worry so I did a bit of google research and pretty much every review I read was that the wesbite is dodgy. There's no telephone number to contact them, emails are hardly ever responded to and when they are, they are responded to either in Chinese or in very poorly worded English. Orders again are very rarely delivered and when they are, fake GHDs are provided. I emailed the site yet again (pointless I know) asking them to cancel my order. I've also contacted my bank asking them to investigate but they said it may take up to 3 months to get my money back (if I do at all)- I paid with debit card. I know I was stupid but I really can't afford to lose this kind of money. I'm desperate for any help or advice!

MrCarrot

Sadly you should have used a credit card. I rarely use a credit card, but I have one for such purchases (until recently, where Barclaycard wouldn't re-issue my card, but that's another story).

Trading Standards will probably be of no use if the company is not UK based. Unfortunately I don't think there's much more you can do :exclamati other than chalk it up to experience.

I did a whois on the domain name provided and it certainly looks like a chinese company. There is a chinese phone number, but I doubt it would be worth the cost in phoning it and trying to get a response in English.

In the future I would advise the following:

1) When buying online, use a credit card, NOT a debit card

2) Research the company beforehand. Also, make sure they have a phone number and address on their site.

3) Try and purchase from UK companies as opposed to those abroad

4) Send them an email prior to placing your order with a question about the product, and gauge how quickly they reply (if at all). This kind of gives you an idea of how responsive they might be should you have a problem with your order. No reply to a sales enquiry could well mean there would be no reply to a complaint after they've got your money.

Katie1_2

This site, like many others, sells cheap ghd's which of course always fail to be delivered. Warn others, so that they aren't victims of this scam

clou_3

hi,in january of this year i bought some pink kiss ghds from a website called niceghdhair i payed £70 when they arrived i tried to register them with ghd to be told they were fakes i emailed the website repeatedly and got no joy i emailed them every day untill i was unable to get on the site one day it had been closed down,today i looked again only to find the exact website under a different name ghd online and they have changed there email address from [EMAIL="niceghdhair@gmail.com"]niceghdhair@gmail.com[/EMAIL] to [EMAIL="ghdservices@gmail.com"]ghdservices@gmail.com[/EMAIL] it is the same company, when mine came they came from china and i just knew i had been ripped off but on there website they had official ghd suppliers and i fell for it they must be conning thousands of people

pinkshoes

ALL GHD rip off sites claim to be official suppliers!

In fact, the official GHD site even has a checker to see if a site offering them for sale is genuine or not:

http://www.ghdhair.com/beware-imitations/website-checker


They also provide a list of all their genuine sellers...

Venkman_2

ghdhaircom.com - Caution! Unknown retailer website.

Uh-oh. I would just keep emailing - They will answer in the end

KeithP

Venkman wrote: »

Uh-oh. I would just keep emailing - They will answer in the end

Really?

What makes you say that?

If I was a scammer, I wouldn't answer any emails either.

Meepster

KeithP wrote: »

Really?

What makes you say that?

If I was a scammer, I wouldn't answer any emails either.

Dammit, that's where I'm going wrong... :eek:

hollydays

These ghds are HALF PRICE!! Think-hair-heat- fire -baldness.
I think i would have spotted that they "accpet "visa cards being a slight giveaway too.