Last year (2nd April 05) I ordered stuff online from a reputable company some of which were birthday gifts for my boyfriend. The goods came to $224.55 which was almost immediately taken from my account and on the 04/04/05 the status of my order was changed from 'Pending' to 'order accepted'. I was expecting that, having paid $62.99 for international shipping, it would arrive soon. After a couple of weeks passed I emailed and then received this reply

"I am just writing to enquire as to the status of my order, as it has
been 2 weeks since the order was accepted, and the status is still the same.
Is there any estimate as to when my order will be dispatched?
Thanks.

Hello ~
Items ship promptly in the order which payments
are received ~ If for any reason you would like
to cancel your order prior to receiving the items you
are welcome to do so ~ Just let us know
We are shipping as fast we can"

That was the last I heard from them. I emailed them repeatitivly with no reply. The company also deals on eBay (they have since closed the account) and had a lot of negative feedback about bad email response, late goods and absent goods but they also had a lot more positive feedback. For this reason I held my breath that they're just disorganised and the goods would come eventually.

I have since moved house (in October) and I have contacted them several times to inform them of this change of address but with no reply or interest or amendment to my account.

After receiving a spam email from them promoting a sale it rekindled my hope because they are obviously trying to gain more custom and possibly therefore maybe more obliging. Still received no reply. So I phoned them yesterday. The guy said "there is no tracking available over the phone" repeatitivly when I tried to get him to discuss my order with him and seemed keen to take another call and I agreed to hold. The phone went dead not long afterwards so I rang back and was on hold for a while before the line went quiet and then, again, died. So I rang back a third time and spoke to the same guy who gave me an email address for the shipping department who haven't replied either.


Any suggestions as to how to resolve this situation would be greatly apprieciated as I don't know what to do :( . I would prefer to receive the goods I ordered but I would gladly accept a refund if the goods are not obtainable for any reason.

I live in the West Midlands, England and the company is based in Marietta, Georgia if that information is of any use.

Thanks, Alex

Hi, Alexandra,
I live in the United States, and personally have been to Marietta, Georgia; but not in many, many years.
Here is a phone number:
Better Business Bureau 404-688-4910, located in Marietta, Cobb County.
Also, here is a link to the Cobb County Chamber of Commerce:
http://www.cobbchamber.org/

If you do not wish to call the above number, then perhaps use the website to email and ask for help.
Usually, the Better Business Bureau can help you, or guide you to the appropriate organization that can.
I do wish you the very best of luck.

Hello Alex:

You've been scammed. I guess you know that by now, but hope reigns supreme. File a complaint with your credit card company. At least you'll get your money back (if you haven't waited too long). Pay Pal? File a complaint with whomever you paid through.

excon

I doubt my bank does that but I'll investigate. Payment method was PlugnPay if that makes a difference. Also, on the site it says...

"Any dispute relating in any way to your visit to <site> or to products you purchase through <site> shall be submitted to confidential arbitration in Marietta, Georgia, except that, to the extent you have in any manner violated or threatened to violate <site>'s intellectual property rights, <site> may seek injunctive or other appropriate relief in any state or federal court in the state of Virginia, and you consent to exclusive jurisdiction and venue in such courts. Arbitration under this agreement shall be conducted under the rules then prevailing of the American Arbitration Association. The arbitrator's award shall be binding and may be entered as a judgment in any court of competent jurisdiction. To the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, no arbitration under this Agreement shall be joined to an arbitration involving any other party subject to this Agreement, whether through class arbitration proceedings or otherwise."

Does that mean they won't allow the 'dispute' to go through Better Business Bureau only American Arbitration Association?

Also, if I file a complaint with BBB and they forward it to the company could the company use it against me in some way? I'm scared about getting myself into trouble in some way.

Thanks for you time and help :)

Hello Alex:

Stop being a wuss! (that’s an American word meaning weakling). YOU got ripped off! Get mad! Go after the sob's who took your money! YOU get in trouble?? Come on.

The terms you cited were from the company who ripped you off. Those terms aren't bad for you, because if you ever get in front of an arbitrator, you'll win handsdown. File your complaint with the crooked company. Send it in writing, certified, return receipt requested. Demand, IN CAPITOL LETTERS, that they give your money back. Find out who the American Arbitration Association is, and send them a letter, certified, asking how a complaint is to be filed - and then DO IT!

All the above actions, have NOTHING to do with trying to get your money back from Plugnpay. I've never heard of them. Go after them. Send them a certified letter, demanding payment.

Next. The BBB doesn't help you collect money. All they do is keep a record of the complaints. Who cares about adding to their crappy record? So, a complaint to the BBB is just a feel good complaint. Go ahead - you'll feel better.

Next. Write a letter, certified, to web site through which, you got ripped off. Demand that THEY pay you back, or you'll sue them.

Next. If you wrote a check to Plugnpay, write a letter to your bank, and demand that they credit your account.

Next. If you can think of anybody else who had anything to do with this transaction, write a letter to them too.

Finally, don't lay down for anybody, Alex. You'll get stepped on.

excon

HI,
I fully agree with excon.
You have NOTHING to lose! You have already lost your money.
All you have now is possibly a chance to get it back.
Best of luck.

K well afaik PlugnPay is the act of paying via my debit card so yeah that probably makes little difference. As far as I know my bank doesn't reimburse for payments made online where the goods were not delivered, but after college on Friday I'll go to my local branch to speak to them.

According to their website BBB relay complaints to the company and enquire as to how the company intends to rectify the situation etc, and that's what I would like to happen. What I mostly need to know is do I have to act via AAA or can I proceed via BBB?

We use wuss over here too by the way, but that's irrelevant, I'm not being a wuss I'm being apprehensive because I don't want to put myself in a situation where I have violated something I previously agreed to by engaging in the transaction with them. I don't really understand much of anything and I just want to ensure I don't give them legal ability to sue me for slander or something like that.

I have left it almost a year but I did phone them up repetitivly last night *****ing for them to sort something out and I am on here because I refuse to get screwed over, I'm simply ensuring I don't make matters worse.

Thanks for all the help :D

Hello again:

They have nothing to do with each other. YES you can proceed through both.

I stand by my earlier advice. However, let me go into a little more detail. As I said, the BBB does not help to collect your money. They’re a bureau. Bureau’s are a keepers of data. Yes, it’s true, they’ll write a letter to the offending company and ask them to respond. If they do, and the response is satisfactory to the BBB, then the BBB will remove them from the negative column.

Didn’t you say earlier that they have lots of complaints? Maybe you didn’t, but I’ll bet you dollars to doughnuts that they have a file a mile long. Ask yourself this: If a company isn’t going to ship goods it promised to ship, do you think they’ll answer a complaint from the BBB?

Listen carefully. I’m telling you the truth. Beyond keeping a record of all the bad deeds this company did, the BBB has NO enforcement power whatsoever. It CANNOT help you get your money. Crooked company’s don’t care a hoot about their BBB file.

The AAA, on the other hand, CAN get you your money. Well, it can at least get a judgment against these crooks, but you’re going to have to collect on the judgment yourself. That’s another problem. Ask me how to do that once you have a judgment in hand.

excon

Omg I'm soooo happy now :D:D:D:D:D just was checking my email for email notification of replies to this thread and there was an email from the shipping department of the company (who I emailed yesterday evening) saying

"We apologize for the delay in shipping your order. We discovered that your order had been misfiled. It was a good thing you brought this order to our attention. Since the order is from April we will contact our supplier and see which items can be shipped and which items will need to be refunded. Rest assured now that we have found out what happened you order will be shipped."

I'm sooooo happy *dances*

Thanks for all your help, both of you :D