Oops I did it again!

Lots of these companies actually come up on Gransnet and Mumsnet!

As another poster has already said, don't rely on Trustpilot for reviews.

It's where the expression "Chinese Junk" comes from

They are all Chinese using English names in Kensington something else closing down in Chelsea!
I bought two swimsuit and I got a confirmation email from an English sounding company & then when I queried something I got a response from a different named company!
When questioning and threatening to cancel they admitted being one and the same company based in China (but according to them using a UK warehouse!!!! Although it was sent from China?
Don’t trust any of them

[email protected] is another dodgy site. Not only are they asking for me to return the item to China but won't answer me. I bought a sweatshirt recently that I wanted to return as it was too big, the company hoodiesforheroes.shop has 2 addresses in London but wanted me to return it to USA so nothing left for a refund.

I rarely buy online but recently I bought two, items, clearly made in PRC, via amazon.
Both were rubbish but in each case I got a full refund from amazon & didn't even need to return one of the items (neither were more than a fiver).
Is this usual?

You can to a cetain extent limit this kind of experience if you look for a postal address and telephone number of the firm you are ordering from. These will either be at the foot of their homepage, under a menu point call Contact or non-existent.

If the last is the case, then do not order from the firm, as it is very unlikely to be in the same country as you are.

If there is a phone number, you can phone and ask where they source their goods. maaking it plain why you are asking this and which country or countries you do not want to buy good from.

Unless and until we, the consumers, take an ethical stance,
some firms will work on the assumption that we buy online because we want the cheapest possible goods.

This is far from being the case for all of us who habitually buy online, but most of us do need to be more critical of the firms we deal with online.

I recently bought some supposedly expensive shoes, apparently reduced to a reasonable cost. When they arrived I found the IDENTICAL pair on Temu, even down to the label on the tongue, of course very much cheaper. They were supposedly from an upmarket firm in Melbourne (I'm in Australia.) I've since found many of these "Firms" all using similar adverts with different names and slightly different ads, but if you check the item it can often be found on Temu. I asked ChatGPT about them and they said the firm was a new start-up, but pointed out several "red flags" so you really don't know what you are buying online. I think they dropship from companies like Temu and pretend to sell quality products.

I remember when Marks and Spencer trade mark was saint Michael and it said 99% made in the UK. How things have changed. I’m extremely suspicious of small companies purporting to be British.

This is partly why Amazon does so well, they take returns easily and delivery is very quick!

Has anyone divorced late in life and was it worth it? I’m talking late 70s, early 80s.

Hello Geordiegirl welcome to Gransnet.
If you want replies to your post I suggest you start a new thread, ad as people will only respond to the Original Post here.
To start your own thread go to Forums, click on chat or whatever you prefer, and select Start discussion. You'll have lots of response I'm sure.

I recently bought some hearing aids for £145 from Smart Hearing. There are certain things you have to do before you can ask for a refund. Wear them for so long each day, try the different ear fittings etc. They were too bulky to fit into my ear canal, hurt & screeched. 20 or so emails later they've agreed to 75% of the refund. One reason for not giving me the full refund was that I had opened them & tried them .... hygiene etc. £10 to cover postage but they insist on recorded delivery costing £10.99. I later found some independent reviews & everyone said the same. Some refused a refund. Most got 30%. Just a warning. Don't buy hearing aids from Smart Hearing.

A lot of the ads I see on Facebook that seem to be making too good to be true offers, so often have ‘classy’ sounding business names, and give a U.K. location as their base.

One current one that surely must be a scam, features a highly respectable and affluent looking older couple - supposedly Brits - who say they’re closing their business (evidently a common scam ploy) so they’re giving away their entire stock of jewellery - you just have to pay the postage.
There are a lot of photos of all sorts of expensive looking rings, bracelets, etc.

I have no doubt that it’ll all turn out to be the sort of tat you might find in Christmas crackers. I do hope there won’t be too many who fall for it. 🙁

i check trustpilot if it is a company i do not know and see what the reviews are, i was scammed out of £900 a few years ago, lucky my bank stopped it and i got the money back.

I bought from a French company, and it said returns were to a UK address, so I thought it was safe, but it took weeks to come and the return address was Chinese.

I contacted them as they had got around EU law by sending something, even though it was not what was advertised, so it comes under "not as described" so return postage was included, all the way to China. We threatened them with fraud charge and they gave us 75% back.

As for Temu, I bought one of those snuggly sofa hoodie things for my niece, but she specifically wanted one that she could tuck her feet up into. Now she is 5ft 2, and this said "long up to 6ft, so I thought I was safe - it just covered her bottom, so I complained Temu gave me a full refund and did not want the item, so I ordered a similar one with a buyer note about the length - perfect, and she gave the other one to a friend for her daughter's Christmas box.
I have bought a few things, but you have to be really careful about size and description, but their refund activity does seem to be prompt.

Definitely check the company on Trustpilot first - an important lesson I’ve learnt!