Is this a buying scam?

joysivercat

After adverts kept popping up on my social media I bought a selection of items from Ocean Club. Bracelets, and a cuddly toy, all with QR codes to track ocean animals and the promise of helping the oceans. When the order arrived several items were missing and what was there was poor quality. 

Although the items were sent from a warehouse in the UK when I emailed the company for the returns address - it was in France. The company has a different name GECOM, and won’t give any more details, they can’t even give a phone number. Lots of conditions, I have to pay for the postage and put it through customs. 

I just wonder how many other people on the lead up to Christmas will be caught out this way. £85 spent on presents I’m embarrassed to give from a company that had excellent media presence, shipping out whatever from warehouses in the UK, knowing it costs individual customers too much to ship back to addresses in Europe. 

born_again

Got a link to the website?

powerful_Rogue

joysivercat said:

After adverts kept popping up on my social media I bought a selection of items from Ocean Club. Bracelets, and a cuddly toy, all with QR codes to track ocean animals and the promise of helping the oceans. When the order arrived several items were missing and what was there was poor quality. 

Although the items were sent from a warehouse in the UK when I emailed the company for the returns address - it was in France. The company has a different name GECOM, and won’t give any more details, they can’t even give a phone number. Lots of conditions, I have to pay for the postage and put it through customs. 

I just wonder how many other people on the lead up to Christmas will be caught out this way. £85 spent on presents I’m embarrassed to give from a company that had excellent media presence, shipping out whatever from warehouses in the UK, knowing it costs individual customers too much to ship back to addresses in Europe. 

More then likey yes.

flaneurs_lobster

a company that had excellent media presence

if by this you mean pop-ups on Facebook then yes, this is more than likely a "buying scam".

soolin

Social media adverts- that's a red flag straight away. 
Not quite the same but this is a current thread with another social media dodgy shop - and there are dozens more just on MSE alone.

Olyndra London Online Order — MoneySavingExpert Forum

Devongardener

Never buy anything through a social media link. If it’s something that you really want then do an internet search to find their website.  Check any reviews, check returns policy and find where they are located.

flaneurs_lobster

soolin said:

Social media adverts- that's a red flag straight away. 
Not quite the same but this is a current thread with another social media dodgy shop - and there are dozens more just on MSE alone.

Olyndra London Online Order — MoneySavingExpert Forum

Does seem to be a bit of a trend - advert on social media which features place name in UK as part of company ident = dodgy company almost certainly not UK based.

soolin

flaneurs_lobster said:

soolin said:

Social media adverts- that's a red flag straight away. 
Not quite the same but this is a current thread with another social media dodgy shop - and there are dozens more just on MSE alone.

Olyndra London Online Order — MoneySavingExpert Forum

Does seem to be a bit of a trend - advert on social media which features place name in UK as part of company ident = dodgy company almost certainly not UK based.

They usually really ramp up at Christmas so I expect a lot of these threads. I’m a light user of social media but a Quick Look at Facebook just now I found  half a dozen in just a few scrolls through the feed.

i hope this year though we won’t see the return of those utter scam AI animals that supposed.y play and react to people, but are actually just cheap and nasty stuffed toys. 

Incidentally for anyone unaware of just how scammy some of these sites are, check out some of the YouTube bloggers, many of them buy from the scummy sites and use it as content to show the difference between the advert and the reality.