electrical-shopping scam?

GlynO

Hi,

Has anyone bought anything in the past from electrical-shopping (dot com)? My wife bought a pair of headphones (£90) from them in Dec 2011 and they have been fine until a week ago when they developed a fault.

I put in the above address, but was redirected to another website (with a different address). I phoned up the number I had on the invoice and an automated message stated that the number had changed.

The new number was the main number on the redirected website so assumed they had changed the branding, but they were the same people. Phoned up and after some very weird, evasive conversations, I was told that electrical-shopping was nothing to do with them. The support leader refused to give his surname.

I contacted the manufacturer who stated that the above were not authorised to sell their products and felt there was a good chance the headphones were counterfeit. I'd have to send them in to confirm. Nothing more they could do till then.

I've contacted the Consumer Helpline (waste of time) and Trading Standards (I don't think they're going to do much either) and my CC company (they won't do anything).

Basically left with a non functioning pair of probably knock off goods that we spent £90 on. But no-one seems to think that this sort of activity is a problem?

Basically set up a website, sell goods on it (at best without permission at worst selling knock offs) and then close it down, redirecting the website and phone number to a new website and phone number. I'm assuming they are connected - why redirect if not?

Anyone else dealt with them?

I'll send them in to the manufacturer, but chances are they will seize them and there's nothing I can do. Anything else I can do?

vuvuzela

http://www.whois.com/whois/electrical-shopping.com
Shows the domain is registered to :

RGB Electrical Superstore
Ilford
Seven Kings Showroom
543-549 High Road
Seven Kings, Ilford Essex IG1 1TZ
UK

GlynO

Many thanks for that - is it possible to get a history of changes? It was updated in May 2013. The redirect goes to a website with the details of the Registrant - does this mean they are the ones that originally registered the domain? (hence the query about history) If so, they are lying about no connection.

ILW

Chances are the company was just liquidated and then started up again.

Sparhawke

This is what I got, and you can get a historical look up, but it costs about $50 so is likely not worth it on the domaintools webpage I used.

Email Search:
is associated with about 436 domains
is associated with about 506 domains
Registrar History:
2 registrars
NS History:
7 changes on 5 unique name servers over 10 years.
IP History:
15 changes on 10 unique IP addresses over 8 years.
Whois History:
45 records have been archived since 2001-08-16 .
Reverse IP:
1 other site is hosted on this server.

Registrant:
RGB Electrical Superstore
Ilford
Seven Kings Showroom
543-549 High Road
Seven Kings, Ilford Essex IG1 1TZ
UK

Domain name: ELECTRICAL-SHOPPING.COM

Administrative Contact:
Gray, Michael
Walled Garden
Ayr, Ayrshire KA6 5LA
UK
+44.1292571460
Technical Contact:
Gray, Michael
Walled Garden
Cushats
Ayr
Ayr, Ayrshire KA6 5LA
GB
+44.1292571460

Registration Service Provider:
Web Age,
44 1292 571460
http://www.webage.co.uk
Webage Ltd may be contacted for domain login/passwords, DNS/Nameserver
changes, and general domain support questions.

Registrar of Record: TUCOWS, INC.
Record last updated on 23-May-2013.
Record expires on 16-Aug-2014.
Record created on 16-Aug-1999.

Registrar Domain Name Help Center:
http://tucowsdomains.com

Domain servers in listed order:
NS.WEBAGE.CO.UK
NS3.WEBAGE.NET
NS4.WEBAGE.NET
NS2.WEBAGE.CO.UK

Domain status: ok

GlynO

Thanks everyone. I'm going to the local Bose shop near me - they said they would be able to say if it's not good quality counterfeit - if they're not sure, I'd have to send it to head office. They did say sometimes people are pleasantly surprised as it's genuine! Here's (sort of) hoping.

GlynO

ILW wrote: »

Chances are the company was just liquidated and then started up again.

It just seems so easy to do - and leave whoever bought goods on their own. Trading standards didn't seem too bothered about it, so you can see why anyone with little in the way of morals feels they can get away with just about anything.

Total frustration in the way everything seems stacked against those that pay their way and abide by the laws of the land.

vuvuzela

GlynO wrote: »

Thanks everyone. I'm going to the local Bose shop near me - they said they would be able to say if it's not good quality counterfeit - if they're not sure, I'd have to send it to head office. They did say sometimes people are pleasantly surprised as it's genuine! Here's (sort of) hoping.

How much cheaper were the headphones than on other sites ?

ILW

GlynO wrote: »

It just seems so easy to do - and leave whoever bought goods on their own. Trading standards didn't seem too bothered about it, so you can see why anyone with little in the way of morals feels they can get away with just about anything.

Total frustration in the way everything seems stacked against those that pay their way and abide by the laws of the land.

You could have paid a bit more and got them from an authorised dealer. Cheap deals only make criminals and counterfeiters money because people use them.

The customer is not totally blameless.

Sparhawke

Some things are so preposterously overpriced though by official dealers that they themselves create the problem. Does anyone remember 6-7 years ago when the only place you could buy hearing aids was in the authorised shops? Now you can buy them at the back of any magazine in the world and all over the internet at a tenth of the price.

Many of them are white label too, meaning they are exactly the same.

GlynO

ILW wrote: »

You could have paid a bit more and got them from an authorised dealer. Cheap deals only make criminals and counterfeiters money because people use them.

The customer is not totally blameless.

I agree, but they weren't much cheaper - poss £15 than other sites. They were an old model and being replaced which brought the price down.

If they were half the price, then yes, but a small percentage is surely competitive pricing? The website that this URL brings up now is an authorised BOSE dealer (checked Bose website) and they are 10-15% cheaper than some other online stores.