About a week before Christmas I was in a very Christmassy mood.
I was watching some videos on YouTube and an add appeared. It showed beautiful furry winter gloves with cute foxes. The exact gloves are in the image above.
I wanted to buy them immediately and thought, YouTube probably checks companies who advertise on their site. I was so wrong!
I ordered the gloves and received an email from the merchant giving me a tracking number. After 3 weeks I got the update that the item was delivered.
Only the item was never delivered.
On the same day I received a small package with a very, very cheap costume jewelry ring in size 10.
My daughter was very disappointed. She asked me, how I, usually so careful, fell for a scam?
After getting over the rotten feeling of being scammed, I did some research. The website existed, but if you wet to "Contact us", there was no phone number and no email address.
They gave a physical address somewhere in Netherlands and when I plugged the address into the google maps, it couldn't be found.
Then I googled the store name and "scam" and the store was mentioned on a website www.scamwatcher.com, with a few people describing the same problem.
The signs were there, I just never checked them. Trusting Youtube.
What to do?
The return was out of question.
I called the credit card company, explained the situation and they emailed me a link to file a claim for order which was not received.
I also asked the credit card support person, if I now need to replace my credit card, since the scammers got my card number. I was told, most likely no. There was no fraudulent activity since the order was placed and I just should monitor.
On the online form, I described what happen in the appropriate field.
My explanation was very short, because the field was small. The form said that I will be contacted if they need more supporting information.
A week later the charges were refunded without any additional questions.
For the next time I am in Christmassy mood and want to shop spontaneously, my plan is following:
1. Don't just trust advertisers on YouTube.
2. Pay with Paypal, the process of refunding and reporting scam is easier and the scammers will not get your credit card number.
3. If the merchant appears suspicious, google if anyone had bad experience with them.
If something still went wrong:
Call the credit card company and explain. They will ask you if you tried to solve the issue with the merchant.
In my case I was not able to contact the merchant. That counted as a try.
Usually, if the merchant is legit, they will try to solve the problem if you mention that you will use charge back. They don't like chargeback, because of the penalties. The penalties for the merchant range from $15 to $50 per transaction and can even reach $100 if the merchant is considered to be high risk.
The charge back is used can be used for:
- an unauthorized transaction
- if you were charged twice
- being charged after cancelling a recurrent service
- you were charged incorrect amount
- you never received the item
- the item you received was significantly different from described
Submit your dispute to the credit card company in writing. Lately it is easier with the online forms. The claim must be submitted within 60 days with most credit card companies.
If your claim is rejected you can
1. Appeal the decision. You have 10 days for that.
2. If your appeal gets denied, file a compliant with the CFPB (Consumer Financial Protection Bureau). The company will have 15 days to respond after the CFPB contacts them regarding your complaint.
3. Last resort is to get a lawyer. This might be worth only with large ticket items.
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