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It was coming up to Christmas and Shaun and I were eagerly searching for the best pressies for our nearest and dearest. We came across Kensington Giftware and found this beautiful silver bangle. It looked like a decent UK-based company with a professional website and no negative reviews so we placed the order.

Christmas came and went. No sign of the bangle. Or indeed a response to our email communication sent via their ‘contact us form’ on the website. There was no phone number to be found anywhere on the Internet or indeed any kind of postal address. In hindsight, I admit, alarm bells should have been ringing.

We did some digging and looked into domain ownership via a Nominet WhoIs search. The domain is registered to Sole Trader named Chambers Retail registered at a London address at W1D 7LX. Unfortunately, there were a few companies with that postcode and none called ‘Chambers Retail’ so the investigation ended there for now.

Eventually, we contacted Nochex, the company we paid through. A bit like Paypal but not as well known. They were equally difficult to get hold of, we only ever got a voicemail and the responses to our emails weren’t particularly reassuring either. They kept telling us it was passed on to another department and we should wait another 48 hours, fraudthen contact them again. You will find that Nochex claims to be registered with the Financial Conduct Authority. I have no reason to believe this is untrue but it is just that, a registration. They are not authorised in any way by the FCA.

When over 4 weeks had passed, we contacted Trading Standards and also the Citizens Advice Bureau, both provided great advice and template letters/emails. And, we also took to Twitter. Kensington Giftware is on Twitter but their account is inactive. Nochex is on Twitter and they appeared to be helpful at first but then never replied to the private message I had sent. In my tweet I also referenced the Financial Ombudsman and said that this would be our next call. Low and behold we received an email from Nochex later that day saying a refund had been processed.

On the email, it said that the refund was from sales@chg-as.co.uk so we did another WhoIs search on Nominet which revealed that the domain currently belongs to, yes, you’ve guessed it, Chambers Retail, the same sole trader but this time with an address in Gainsborough, Lincolnshire, DN21 3DZ. Searching via the postcode, it turns out there is another company associated with this address, namely Chambers Home & Gifts. The majority of reviews on this particular website show that other people have had exactly the same problems. Item never received and no chance of getting in touch with the company. It wouldn’t surprise me if the few positive reviews were written by the company themselves or indeed their friends and relatives.

Putting two and two together, it seems that both these companies are taking money off people then fail to deliver the item. So, we’ve got our money back but it was a lot of hassle and one wonders how many people have already been left out of pocket. So, don’t buy from either website or indeed any other website associated with the above address at DN21 3DZ.

Have you had a similar experience? With one of these online retailers or a different one? We’d love to hear from you.

In summary:

  • Don’t buy from an online company that doesn’t provide a telephone number (and test the phone number doesn’t just ring out or go to voicemail).
  • In the absence of a phone number, check if there is a valid postal address registered to that company.
  • Do a WhoIs search on Nominet by entering the domain address, e.g. chg-ac.co.uk – this should reveal information regarding the type of business (e.g. sole trader) and also a postal address.
  • If you did get stung, contact your bank and try to reverse the transaction. If you paid through PayPal, contact them. If you paid through Nochex, good luck!
  • If this fails, go via the Financial Ombudsman and Trading Standards.
  • Above all… be persistent! These companies rely on people giving up because it’s too much hassle.