Anyone heard of Kitchen Arts

Mr_Crunch

Kellygem wrote: »

Account Name: T Valentine
Account Number: 91778552
Sort Code: 40-02-03

Thomas Valentine

Sort Code: 40-02-03 is HSBC Camden High Street, next to Camden Town Station which looks like an ordinary branch http://goo.gl/maps/ztttq.

There are 70-odd Thomas Valentines in the UK according to 192.com.

When I returned to the UK a few years ago I had to set up about 7 or 8 bank accounts with different banks to keep under the FSCS limits to keep our money safe. It was a complete pain - the ID and address requirements were similar and onerous for all banks. My point is that the name may be genuine.

If I lived in North London, I would try going into that bank, and paying in 2p cash to that account (initially without putting an account name on the slip, and seeing if I were prompted for a name). It might at least confirm the name, and also if the account is still live. I suggest cash because I would be wary of revealing my own bank details - it is ridiculously easy for scammers to set up paperless direct debits nowadays.

However after that, one probably hits a brick wall, without police intervention.

cherw

I have just saw your request below but unfortunatly to late to for me, I recently purchased a soup maker from Kitchen Arts, paid the money requested but surprise surprise no goods received, i have tried to eamil them on numerous occassions without any good. Now my emails are being rejected. I have given this site to my debit dispute department at my bank to try and retrieve my money back. A warning to all do not purchase from this Kitchenarts web site.

whambamthankyoumam

To all: PLEASE keep reporting your experiences to Action Fraud and get your crime reference number.

The more that do so the quicker the police will investigate.

I would recommend that people refrain from speculating about what the law is or isnt and just continue to tell their version of events to the police and let the investigation begin and ultimately complete.

greedoe

I got duped by these con-merchants for £15, but it's the principle of the thing, not the amount.

I went to go to the website today and lo and behold, it's no longer there. I assume they've reached their scam quota and moved on to another website.

I DID enter my case with the Action Fraud team, but with the little info I have to offer (bank sort code and account number, email address and website) I doubt there will be anything further come of it.

I just feel bad for the people taken for far more than myself.

Mr_Crunch

whambamthankyoumam wrote: »

I would recommend that people refrain from speculating about what the law is or isnt

I would draw your attention to the Ts & Cs of this Website http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/site/terms-conditions where the first condition under 9. Forum/Message Board/Comms with other users is:

9.1 We encourage debate and the sharing of information between our users.

You never know, you might get a contribution from someone who is qualified in law.

willowj

Purchased from this website a while back. Product never arrived. They assured me it had been shipped but then stopped replying to my emails. Good old Paypal sorted it for me. I will NEVER pay any other way now. Paypal were fantastic. Raised the issue with them and had my money back within 2 hours!

yorkie49

whambamthankyoumam wrote: »

HSBC are now making contact with the police to verify the crime reference reports. To all who have contacted me with info - thanks I very much hope that it isn't too difficult to track the perpetrator and arrest him/her.

My wife sent for a george foreman grill of red laser to kitchen arts on 2/3/2013 cost £24-99 we paid by bank draft we also have not got the goods

ML15TH

zeppi66 wrote: »

I then emailed the HSBC Customer Care Team (customer.care.team@hsbc.com) to make them aware of the situation.

A few days later I received a letter from HSBC Fraud Operations, stating that they would co-operate with any police investigation. Basically, that they weren't going to do anything about this criminal act.

I must have missed something here.. didn't they say they WOULD co-operate with the police ? At what point did they say they wouldn't do anything??

whambamthankyoumam

Hi all - So I've been really busy but thanks plenty are reporting this fraudulent criminal act to the police via actionfraud - well done.

HSBC cannot discuss with us about the account or any investigation since it is part of the data protection act but it is safe to say that they are investigating this throughly, cooperating with the police and taking it very seriously.

I do not know whether these criminals or criminal will be apprehended but by reporting our experience for ActionFraud, we are doing all we can.

Please do not believe any posts here that nothing will happen or that HSBC are doing nothing etc neither of these are true.

Let's all cross our fingers that good prevails

:beer:

Mr_Crunch

ML15TH wrote: »

......
We cannot expect any feedback from the police or the bank on this. A crime reference number does not mean that a case is considered a crime, just that it's been reported as one......

ML15TH

The KitchenArts site was eventually taken down, and now is just parked with advertising links.

There is another thread on here concerning Lavertons http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?p=60019029#post60019029. That site has also just been taken down, and now is just parked with advertising links.

You had some links with the constabulary. Have you (or they) any idea what triggers these sites being taken down, other the the perpetrator themselves doing a runner? Is it the police contacting the host provider as a result of complaints? In a bricks-and-mortar situation, Trading Standards or the police would presumably shut a shop down. There is no obvious process in the case of online retailers.

regards