Customers never receive the ordered goods which have been paid for by a credit card, they only get a notification that the purchased goods have been held up at the customs and that the provider is willing to refund part of the costs through a third party institution dealing with trade disputes www.sitecomplaint.com. This website however again requires the number of the credit card, so the money can be refunded.
Judging by posts at various online forums, a large number of people have had their fingers burnt dealing with this website. Today the website will not load, and no consumers have shared any feedback or experience regarding the website with either the Slovene Consumers' Association or the European Consumer Centre Slovenia.
Fake good get confiscated at the customs office
Goods of popular brands are quite often a means of carrying out internet fraud. Last year, we already dealt with problems regarding the online purchases of UGG boots. The cases we usually deal with involve either purchases made in fake online stores or purchases in real online stores, while the boots are fake, which is why the goods get confiscated at the EU customs and destroyed.
Request the assistance of your credit card issuer
Since cases of this kind usually have to do with online traders that are not based in the EU, consumers are left with practically no assistance, since the European Consumer Centres Network is unable to help them.
Consumers who encounter problems of this kind are advised to contact the issuer of the credit card used to make the purchase. Our experience has revealed that a purchase can actually be cancelled if a consumer is able to prove that they have made the purchase in a prudent manner (that it was for instance impossible to establish this was a matter of a fake online shop or fake goods). A positive outcome does however depend greatly on the bank and also on the stage of the transaction itself (i.e. whether the bank has already transferred the money to the fake trader).
What can consumers do themselves?
- Before making any purchases, check who the domain owner is – this can be done at the website www.whois.com.
- Have a look around the online forums and social networks – what kind of experience have other users had with the online trader you wish to purchase from?
- Where is the online trader based? Are the geographical address and a telephone number readily available? When you click the 'Contact us' option at the website www.uggbootseurope.com, only an online form opens up. This may very well be a sign that there is something fishy going on.
- If the online shop is based outside of the EU, you will also need to pay the customs fees.
- Before making any purchases, make sure you are providing your personal data through a secure and reputable site.
- If the price seems too low, it is very likely that some sort of fraud is involved.
