Yeah...

Stupid me.

Ordered an item from a slightly shady website (I should have checked references before). Now they tell me they might not longer be able to source this item from their supplier, so they might not be able to deliver it, but they will issue me "wallet credit". We're talking almost 300USD here. Obviously I'm not interested in buying any other item from them if they don't have what I specifically ordered firsthand.

Anyone has dealt with such a situation before? Might be the first time in 20 years I'll have to instigate a chargeback trough my CC company.

EU Customer Law is crystal clear on this, and thankfully they charged my card trough their EU Subsidary/Letterbox Office which should clearly make the deal fall under these laws.

Annoying as hell though.

Wallet or in store credits are the pits and total bs, hopefully you resolve it man.

Thanks Ajay.

Well, I like playing hobby lawyer...

The company is registered primary in Canada, and charges the card trough a subsidary in Cyprus. Both Canada and EU have customer protection laws that clearly state a right to refund on non-delivered items.

Now, in their T&Cs they try to make it sound like they are only a broker for items ordered from "contractors" or "suppliers". But, the invoice they sent me only lists them as contact, and they do not provide any direct contact (outside their website) to the "contractor" (unlike for example Amazon Market Place that requires each shop to list their actual location, phone etc.). So, that pretty much makes them the storefront, and whatever problems happen in the supply chain can't be releagated to customer.

Besides, they are actually missing vital information on their site required by Canadian online retailing law.

I have a mailchain now where I explain all that to the guy and insist on a refund, and I honestly believe my CC company will make short work of this. I guess the annoying part is really how these people try to get away with playing lose and fast with the laws - it's not like they are operating from Nigeria or something.

I too went through something similar around 20 years ago - except no offer of "store credit" even.

Thankfully that was only around 40 dollars, and my bank took care of it via charge dispute.

I actually vowed to never buy anything online again after that, but ten years later I did end up with an Amazon account...

These days, if it ain't coming from someone major (Amazon, Walmart, etc) or personally recommended (I've bought motorcycle merchandise from bikebandit several times based on such) I'm DEFINITELY doing some homework first...

I'll pay a higher price to do business with the "majors" rather than get ripped off, or deal with a hassle to correct a ripoff...

But sometimes I need something that isn't for sale via the majors and have to "sit back and make a decision"...

I definitley bought on a whim here, it was just what I was looking for on a sunday morning with some ideas in my head, and having previously bought something similar from a major company and being disapointed, I thought this was "luck" to get a better item at an even lower price...

So yeah, on a monday evening, with a clear head after a day working in IT, I might have been more careful...

Still though, first time in 20 years someone blatantly tries to rip me off.

Online or not - it's good to have a "waiting period" before pulling the trigger on most purchases. Obviously once in a while you have to do so immediately for a deal, but that's the exception rather than rule...

I imposed that policy on myself around 15 years ago, and I know I've saved thousands of dollars that way...

Either by realizing it was something I didn't truly need, or finding a better alternative...

Hundred bucks? 3 days minimum between impulse and actually pulling the trigger...

Thousand bucks? 2 WEEKS minimum...

Oh, this is about ShakeWeights (with misting option), Yul Brynner Chia Pets, Solar Powered Metric Clocks, or some other weird thing one might buy while surfing the web, and not what first came to mind.



https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=nf0oXY4nDxE

Care to share the website or company name? Us Canucks might be able to give you more dirt, hence ammunition to use against them

Dispute with the CC company.

Small update...

Seems I got it escalated to the Service Manager, and after giving their supplier a few more days to get going, they have now agreed to refund to card.

Still, a lesson for me, for any future purchase online, to check where a company is registered, and what kind of laws apply there.

I'm glad to hear you are getting your money back!