Is flow-deals.com a scam site?

Oswulf

My elderly mother (she's in her eighties) ordered a tumble drier from flow-deals.com.  She saw their advertisement on Google and assumed it could be trusted.  She then went on to place the order by 'phone.

The machine was supposed to be delivered on Thursday, and then Friday, but still no sign of it.

Of course, the money was taken from her bank account.  (She paid by debit card.)

I'm highly suspicious of the site:

(1) The domain was registered in April this year

(2) It offers more than 64,000 products

(3) It's registered to an accommodation address

(4) There is only one director

(5) Its accounts show a registered capital of one pound, and no activity to October 2019

(6) I can find no human reviews whatsoever of the business.

Does anyone have any experience of this company (negative or otherwise)?

And at what point should one definitively decide one's been scammed? (I want to buy her a replacement tumble drier, but wouldn't want her to end up with two should this site prove not to be a scam.)

Thanks

Blackbeard_of_Perranporth

I’m afraid it looks like your mother has lost her money.

Browntoa

Unless I'm wrong she would have paid via PayPal . Open a dispute with them as goods not received

Oswulf

Browntoa said:

Unless I'm wrong she would have paid via PayPal . Open a dispute with them as goods not received

Nope.  As I wrote, she unfortunately gave her debit card number over the 'phone.

Browntoa

Missed that. There seemed to be no contact details on the site like telephone numbers

Chargeback via the bank then 

Sandtree

There are certainly warning signs there with the use of  forwarding address and the director and sole shareholder being in Finland. However they have identified the company behind the site, they are VAT registered and the VAT code matches the company. There be nothing on Companies House since October isn't a worry, most small companies only file once a year.

I would have said it felt like someone has done a drop shipping website from their bedroom and has tried to do things right but the director was born in 1983 and so maybe more attempt at extra money from the kitchen table instead.

If you remain concerned then inform then that you wish to cancel your order and if they aren't prompt in giving a refund then do a chargeback via your bank.

davidmcn

Oswulf said:

(1) The domain was registered in April this year

(2) It offers more than 64,000 products

(3) It's registered to an accommodation address

(4) There is only one director

(5) Its accounts show a registered capital of one pound, and no activity to October 2019

(6) I can find no human reviews whatsoever of the business

None of that indicates a "scam" - it's just a new, small company. But if it is a one-woman-band, you need to have realistic expectations of the level of customer service. A one or two day delay in delivery is hardly cause to panic.

AW618

davidmcn said:

Oswulf said:

(1) The domain was registered in April this year

(2) It offers more than 64,000 products

(3) It's registered to an accommodation address

(4) There is only one director

(5) Its accounts show a registered capital of one pound, and no activity to October 2019

(6) I can find no human reviews whatsoever of the business

None of that indicates a "scam" - it's just a new, small company. But if it is a one-woman-band, you need to have realistic expectations of the level of customer service. A one or two day delay in delivery is hardly cause to panic.

Is it likely that a one-woman band operating from a  domestic address could offer 64,000 different products, including large white goods?

davidmcn

AW618 said:

davidmcn said:

Oswulf said:

(1) The domain was registered in April this year

(2) It offers more than 64,000 products

(3) It's registered to an accommodation address

(4) There is only one director

(5) Its accounts show a registered capital of one pound, and no activity to October 2019

(6) I can find no human reviews whatsoever of the business

None of that indicates a "scam" - it's just a new, small company. But if it is a one-woman-band, you need to have realistic expectations of the level of customer service. A one or two day delay in delivery is hardly cause to panic.

Is it likely that a one-woman band operating from a  domestic address could offer 64,000 different products, including large white goods?

Yes, there are lots of people doing drop-shipping. It's probably not a wise choice to use them, but doesn't mean it's a "scam".

After all, even the likes of Curry's are effectively drop-shippers - they don't have warehouses full of tumble driers etc, they just take their order and send the manufacturer round to deliver it to you.

mattyprice4004

AW618 said:

davidmcn said:

Oswulf said:

(1) The domain was registered in April this year

(2) It offers more than 64,000 products

(3) It's registered to an accommodation address

(4) There is only one director

(5) Its accounts show a registered capital of one pound, and no activity to October 2019

(6) I can find no human reviews whatsoever of the business

None of that indicates a "scam" - it's just a new, small company. But if it is a one-woman-band, you need to have realistic expectations of the level of customer service. A one or two day delay in delivery is hardly cause to panic.

Is it likely that a one-woman band operating from a  domestic address could offer 64,000 different products, including large white goods?

Easily, if they're all shipped from elsewhere. Do you think these 'Feel Younique' and 'Avon' reps with their inventory of thousands of products have them all stacked up in their living room? 

shaun_from_Africa

AW618 said:

Is it likely that a one-woman band operating from a  domestic address could offer 64,000 different products, including large white goods?

I could start selling from my house today and could legally offer about 12,000,000 different products simply by drop shipping from Amazon UK.
https://sellercentral.amazon.co.uk/gp/help/external/G201808410?language=en_GB