Offerbank- is it a dodgy site?

iAMaLONDONER

http://offerbank.com/uk/samsung-galaxy-s5-4g-16gb-black.html?_store_switcher_=off&gclid=CNv-wY-_mr4CFQeWtAodlCIAsw


Is this a scam? I'm rather weary of how cheap it is! How can it avoid UK VAT?

wealdroam

iAMaLONDONER wrote: »

http://offerbank.com/uk/samsung-galaxy-s5-4g-16gb-black.html?_store_switcher_=off&gclid=CNv-wY-_mr4CFQeWtAodlCIAsw


Is this a scam? I'm rather weary of how cheap it is! How can it avoid UK VAT?

From their contact-us page:

OfferBank HQ
No. 103, Blue Tower, Sheikh Zayed Road, Dubai, United Arab Emirates, P.O. Box 64289.

Where do they say they avoid UK VAT?

From their Shipping / Delivery page:

Customs, VAT and other Duties will be paid by us, what you see as product's price is the final and landing cost, you won't need to pay any additional fee.

You must decide whether you do business with them, but consider how you will force a company in Dubai to do the right thing if things go wrong.
From their T&Cs:

...any access to or use of the Website will be governed by the laws of Dubai and the United Arab Emirates applicable therein.

keyser666

wealdroam wrote: »

From their contact-us page:



Where do they say they avoid UK VAT?

From their Shipping / Delivery page:


You must decide whether you do business with them, but consider how you will force a company in Dubai to do the right thing if things go wrong.
From their T&Cs:

A lot kore stringent conditions in Dubai both personally as a consumer and b2b having lived there don't thick there would be too many probs but I wouldn't be buying from an overseas source

LilElvis

It can avoid vat by declaring the items as warranty repairs and putting the value as about 10% of its true value. You might get lucky ... or you might get caught. If the latter then there will be little/no chance of them refunding you. Eglobaldigital.co.UK managed this for quite a while, but have now changed their t&cs. With that company I was lucky, but many have ended up paying more than the rrp when they have been hit with customs charges.

Unless I'm being particularly stupid I also can't see anything on review centre or trustpilot - nada. Also not a good thing. The only reviews I can find online are from very Asian sounding posters so also possibly dubious.

Personally I wouldn't risk it.

flipperni

Your samsung warranty may not be valid here in the uk if it an item is bought outside europe.

MiKi_2

Having searched for reviews for offerbank.com, I have found the following sites:-

Resellerratings.com
shopperapproved.com


At resellerratings.com, "Offerbank.com participates as a Merchant member, monitors feedback, and resolves issues."

iAMaLONDONER

wealdroam wrote: »

From their contact-us page:



Where do they say they avoid UK VAT?

From their Shipping / Delivery page:


You must decide whether you do business with them, but consider how you will force a company in Dubai to do the right thing if things go wrong.
From their T&Cs:

I won't do business with them as I have trust in UK based businesses- not so much for Dubai based ones!

paddyrg

The saving isn't as dramatic as they show BTW, it's not £699.99 on the shelves more like £550/£560 inc VAT to go the legit route, get a UK warranty, etc.

richrose

I ordered a Samsung Note 3, at an excellent price, which turend up in 2 days...happiness.

However......the phone is "rooted" i.e..... amongst other things... Samsung official updates are not possible and some Apps will not work eg Sky Go, I'm not actually sure the phone is genuine....sadness.

I have contacted their customer services and am awaiting a response...watch this space, I wouldn't order anything in the meantime. I'll keep the forum updated.

paddyrg

Blimey, you can't get a package across Dubai in 2 days, let alone postage to the UK. Suggests someone here is doing the sending, and if so, why rooted? I'd probably apply your own ROM if yours is unsigned, it may have had nasties installed.

moocherx

I took a risk and ordered a dual-sim HTC one, as it was £300 (including Fedex 2-day shipping and customs fees), compared to £500 on the HTC website.

The phone is here, it was trackable all the way. It's an original phone, new, boxed. It seems the actual product may have been manufactured for the Russian market, but on setting up with American English and updating to KitKat 4.4.2 all of the UK settings and UK language are installed and it's working great.

I will definitely use them again, without hesitation.