Online clothes company that keeps changing its name

Sorry that should be 'its name' (the heat strikes again)

The Chinese curse strikes again!
I should know better, I DO know better but I have fallen for these too.
Why didn’t I check Trustpilot?
I am now very wary of clothing /handbag/shoe companies which sound VERY British, often with a place name in their name, or claiming to be an old family business reluctantly ‘going out of business’
Caveat emptor was never so relevant.

These Chinese scammers have been featured on Watchdog a few months ago and more recently on the consumer prog with Gloria Hunniford and two other female presenters.

At the moment there’s a firm calling themselves Harrington & Co advertising mens caps. All the reviews are fake and have daft names. If anybody posts a negative review they disappear immediately. All made in China not England and mass produced not individually made and very poor quality.

I ordered something from MASIRA.co.uk.
Took 3 weeks to arrive . . . From China.

Caveat Emptor indeed. Scrutiny of the photographs can be illuminating. If the head of the model has been edited out, then be suspicious. It may have been incorporated from a different site, with no connection to the firm or the product described.

I was had too, a couple of years back, I can't remember the name of the company now but no doubt it has changed several times since then.

I ordered 2 t-shirts which had bees on them and were supposed to be in support of bees. They looked great quality but when they arrived they were absolute tat. Also delivery took about 2 months as they were shipped from China which I was given no indication of, or I wouldn't have ordered.

I only order from companies I know.
The price often gives away these faux companies, ‘you get what you pay for’ my Dad used to say.

I fell for one advertising sandals with stretchy uppers as I have swollen feet. When it arrived there’s no give in the fabric at all. I can wear them, but they dig in to my feet by evening.

I’ve also been a victim of buying a dress from Studio Loreni that looked exactly what I wanted for my holiday, only to find when it arrived that is was made of cheap polyester and was absolutely huge. I complained and asked for their returns policy, to be told that it would have to be sent to their warehouse in Zhejiang Province, at my expense. So I opted for a 20% refund and took the item to a charity shop. Lesson learned.

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Reported

Facebook is awash with ads that more or less scream ‘Scam!’ The items are offered at amazingly bargain prices. There will often be a highly respectable looking person or couple, saying that ‘sadly we are having to close our much loved family business…’
Etc,. and very often there will be a classy-sounding U.K. location for the business.

So often it’ll turn out to be cheap, nasty Chinese tat.
IMO, if something sounds too good (cheap) to be true, then it almost certainly is.

I’d just add that a neighbour ordered some dresses from ‘Made By Jessica’ and was extremely disappointed with the quality. She tried to return them - to China - but it was so much faff IIRC she gave them to a charity shop.

Some decent looking dresses seem to be marketed online by about five different firms, all with traditional sounding names. Makes me very suspicious.
I prefer to shop in person.

I never buy online without checking reviews You can easily tell the ‘firms’ to avoid that way
Unfortunately I can’t buy personally as we only have Peacocks and M and S and don’t like MandS s clothes or prices all that much.
We won’t even sell Shein at the charity shop 🤣

I was caught by this once - but only once!! Lesson learned!

How they get away with advertising in the UK with its Trades Descriptions Act I do not know!

I am always puzzled by these lovely designs - why does someone not actually make the real thing? Or maybe they do but at outlets that are way out of my budget!

Too risky this distance buying esp for clothes.
Go to a shop.
See what you're getting.
Feel the quality.

The business operation you describe was featured recently on BBC Radio 4 You n Yours.
It's a well known scam.

Wellbeck you can’t go to a shop if there aren’t any left in your town

If you no longer have easy access to "proper shops" there are still reliable online outlets. These are established firms based in the UK. Reputable online retailers deliver quickly and offer free returns if you don't like what you have bought. You can usually read customer reviews about what you are looking at before you buy.

I found that the "scammy" sites are usually quite easy to spot.

I think the temptation lies in the fact that these sites often offer some really attractive garments that cannot be found elsewhere. If M&S sold them I would be on it like a shot!

BlueBelle

Wellbeck you can’t go to a shop if there aren’t any left in your town

Agree and when I venture to our nearest big town I can never find anything I like. Everything is flouncy, baggy or too long and just looks like tat. I’m only ever left with Seasalt and the like but you can spot it a mile off when someone is wearing it. It would be nice to be different but classic.

That’s because of customs in China, things can be held up a couple of weeks there.
Having said that I order lots from Temu and it usually arrives in around 10 days.

Sadly I think most of us have been scammed by these companies - all chines- all the same!
I know I have and even when questioning the customer services the used ‘English’ first names😡
It makes me so angry