Dodgy Online Companies

BenjaminClarke

kaMelo said:

I appreciate that, not all companies are VAT registered either. It wasn't a tick box exercise as such but a list of things that may give you more confidence in a company, the more of them the better.
The basics being at least a UK address and phone number.

They have an address based in London and they have a UK phone number.

BenjaminClarke

eskbanker said:

BenjaminClarke said:

I shall just stick to Amazon from now on.

FYI - despite the .co.uk address, they're an American company, not a UK one at all, so best get reporting them to Google too (and HMRC, and FBI, and BBC, and....)

They're actually based in India. I have reported them to Action Fraud, which is the answer I was looking for. I wish people who didn't know would simply shut up and let the people who do know answer the relevant questions. I have no time for waffle to be honest, I am a busy man.  

schiff

The lockdown is clearly getting through to people. There seems to have been more instances of posters getting stroppy with each than is normally the case. MSE forums have always surprised me that they are usually so well behaved. It's a shame.

eskbanker

BenjaminClarke said:

eskbanker said:

BenjaminClarke said:

I shall just stick to Amazon from now on.

FYI - despite the .co.uk address, they're an American company, not a UK one at all, so best get reporting them to Google too (and HMRC, and FBI, and BBC, and....)

They're actually based in India. I have reported them to Action Fraud, which is the answer I was looking for. I wish people who didn't know would simply shut up and let the people who do know answer the relevant questions. I have no time for waffle to be honest, I am a busy man.  

Whoosh!  My largely flippant comment related to the fact that Amazon aren't a UK company, despite having a .co.uk URL, i.e. don't be swayed by domain names.  It's not exactly difficult to acquire UK addresses and phone numbers either.

Not looking to stoke the fires any further but frankly you're kidding yourself if you believe that reporting an Indian company with a flimsy (or even non-existent) UK presence to Action Fraud will actually solve anything.  The answer that you received early on, despite not being one you wanted to hear, is the right one, i.e. that customers do need to take responsibility for doing some basic due diligence when shopping online, rather than expecting that unspecified authorities, in a notoriously unregulated environment, will offer some sort of safety net....

Blackbeard_of_Perranporth

Question. Why should diligent customers and banks pay for people’s ignorance?

Zanderman

BenjaminClarke said:

sheramber said:

Only limited companies are  on Companies House register.
Not all businesses are limited companies.

This company is claiming to be a limited company based in the UK. It's fraud, please can you read all post before making daft comments? Thanks. 

Are they?  Where do they claim to be a UK limited company?

kaMelo

BenjaminClarke said:

kaMelo said:

BenjaminClarke said:

kaMelo said:

BenjaminClarke said:

and I can't be bothered to have to do research on a company before I buy from them. 

Without wishing to be rude, that is exactly the kind of attitude that leaves you wide open for less than honest people/companies to exploit.  
Then when it all goes wrong people whine about getting scammed, how it's not their fault and expect their bank to bail them out. All because they couldn't be bothered.

Not meaning to sound rude but I couldn't care less what you think about my attitude. I am not asking for anybody else to regulate, I am simply saying that I won't be. Is that OK with you? 

Where have I said I expect my money back? Please point that out! All we have seen thus far is that members of this forum can't actually read and follow simply English. I don't expect my money back, I am asking about how I can complain about such a company? I am asking if there is anything one can do to complain? Please try to keep up... if you don't know the answer then just stay out of it. 

I was genuinely not wanting to sound rude, I guess it failed.
In terms of what can you do is dependant upon what you want to achieve. As you've clearly stated it's not about receiving your money back, there is not much else you can do other than leave them a virtual black eye by bad mouthing them on Trustpilot (Other review sites are available) There is no UK authority who has any impact on an Indian company.

Going forward no one is suggesting you regulate anything, it's not about that it's about protecting yourself.  There is nothing wrong with using a small company with their own website but as you've found out not everything is as it seems.
Having a ".co.uk" domain means nothing in itself, anyone in the world can register one of those.  Read a companies  "About Me" page on their website. do they have a UK address, UK landline phone no, registered on Companies House, UK VAT No.  UK returns address,  What does a search show on that company, (other than it's own website and trustpilot) and always look past page one on the results. Things like that. 

So you are saying that every time I want to buy an item, even an item for less than £100 I should first check their about page (they had a London address and UK phone number), then I should check with companies house to see if they're registered, then check if they have a valid VAT number, then I need to go to Google and search said company to see what their reviews are like? 

Sorry but that is just not gonna happen for a cheap item like that. If I were spending over £100 then it may be worth it but for small items I shall just stick to companies that I know. There should be better regulations surrounding this type of thing, it should not be down to every day people to self regulate. Can you imagine having to do such things when buying your food shopping? When you go into a supermarket do you do background checks on all your meat and fruit to make sure it has been grown correctly or is even what it says it is? Thankfully our food is very well regulated so we don't need to do such a thing. 

It turns out these websites can be reported anyway, which was all I wanted to know. FYI they're called Action Fraud and they look into dodgy scam websites such as this one. 

Now here is a tip for all forum members: if you don't know the answer to the questions being asked then don't bother saying anything. Just admit to yourself that you don't know the answer to the question and leave it to someone who does know what to do. 

Thanks. 

Action Fraud, with respect, is merely a data collation exercise, no one is investigating or looking into anything.

As for the rest of you whine, give me strength.
You know what, you are correct that I know nothing so I'm leaving it to everyone else to help you so you can whine at them too.

burner03

How about taking a bit of personal responsibility rather than your entitled snowflake mentality? Just a thought! 

sheramber

BenjaminClarke said:

sheramber said:

Only limited companies are  on Companies House register.
Not all businesses are limited companies.

This company is claiming to be a limited company based in the UK. It's fraud, please can you read all post before making daft comments? Thanks. 

Please point out where they claim to be a  limited company.

born_again

Blackbeard_of_Perranporth said:

Question. Why should diligent customers and banks pay for people’s ignorance?

They don't.
Chargebacks are claimed back from the merchants bank. Who will of course take it back from the merchant. As well as charging a fee for all the work