I-Store

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1937 posts

Uber Geek
Inactive user

#153548 2-Aug-2008 12:53

StevieB: EVERYBODY who says that www.i-store has some morals is wrong. We seemed to be the original 'scammed' people. We received used and fake ghd hair straighteners way back at the beginning of June. By reading posts, it seems www.i-store.co.nz? continued to say they weren't aware their products were fake for some time after that. honesty is not in their vocabulary. yes, we got our money back. But then they asked us to return the hair straightener so that they could RESELL it! Incidentaly, we still have the straightener. And it's still junk that's going in the upcoming inorganic. It can't even straighten hair!

You got your refund. What right do you have to dictate what should happen with the straightener? They want it back, and they have the right to have it back.

I'm not in support of them but you are completely wrong on this one.

BQuetti

1 post

Wannabe Geek

#153583 2-Aug-2008 14:40

I disagree I don't think they do have the right to have them back and sell them to another poor person to loose money like we all did. They are an illegal item and should not be returned to thieves hands not to mention it is also illegal to post them back anyway. I just wish they would refund everybody. The straightners are useless.

Patsy

3 posts

Wannabe Geek

#153679 2-Aug-2008 21:05

Hi there, this is an email I recieved from i-store NZ about 10 days ago

This is a reply to an email I sent them asking if their GHD's where the "real thing" as I had been stung before by traders on Trademe. I also sent a copy of this email to the "Jemella Group" who, according to these traders are the owners of the ghd trade mark and got nothing back from them. I think that if we all start bombarding the Jemella Co. maybe they may do somthing about this group of people who have been giving the REAL GHD"S a really bad name. Because at this stage I dont know which are real and which arent!!

Hi

Our item GHD hair straightener is from the Jemella Group of companies (JEMELLA),the owners of the GHD trademark,manufacturers and worldwide distributors of GHD hair straighteners and related product. They are 100% genuine with hologram tag(you can register it on their web) They come with 2 years warranty and in sealed box.
The GHD straighteners we supply in New Zealand market are all NZ model,the voltage is from 220-240v ,and the plug are all fit NZ OUTLET,no need any adapter.
If you have any further questions or if I can be of any further help please do nothesitate to contact us.
I look forward to see your reply!

Best regards

I-store Support

Torque

379 posts

Ultimate Geek

#153689 2-Aug-2008 21:18

Extremely unlikely there are affiliated in any way with Jemella.

You'd be best off trying the disputes tribunal or similar, and trying for a court order to get the details and account number that was paying for I-Stores webhosting - it's with maxnet here in NZ.

Patsy

3 posts

Wannabe Geek

#153695 2-Aug-2008 21:37

I know full well that the Jemella Group are not affiliated with I-store, but how dare i-store make out that they are. I havent been ripped of by these people but came very close to being "done over again" I was already to place an order with i-store, but couldnet find their home page . Its only by chance that i fould this forum!! I dont beleive for one moment that i-store dident know that the GHD's that they were selling were FAKES!

ahmad

1937 posts

Uber Geek
Inactive user

#153702 2-Aug-2008 22:04

Sounds like the thread could do with a timely

"Scam Alert" - Things to think about BEFORE handing your hard earned cash over

1. How much money am I saving?

As with most things in life, if it sounds too good to be true, then 99% of the time it will be. Also, generally, the more you stand to save, the higher the risk (risk/reward balance). Be prepared to lose all your money - does it still make the risk worth it?

2. Who am I dealing with?

Does the website look reputable? Does a Google search reveal any dark sides to the business? Does the website list contact details including an address and phone number? Can you pick up your order from a physical address? Be very wary if you live just around the corner but cannot pick up your order. Is the phone number valid? Think up a question about a product and phone to enquire - does the phone response ring any warning bells?

3. Can I pay by credit card?

Even the most modest webstores these days can offer credit card facilities. It doesn't cost them a lot of money to set up a basic PayPal account, and although you might have to pay 3% more, does that really matter compared to the risk of losing it all? When you pay by credit card, you are offered protections by your credit card company so if you wish to dispute the charges on the basis of goods not as described (or failure of delivery), it is a rather simple matter to request a chargeback (refund) from VISA/MasterCard/etc. You are not guaranteed to get your money back, but decisions are heavily weighted towards the purchaser rather than the merchant. Keep records and evidence to submit to your credit card issuer.

If credit card payment is not offered, let that be your warning!

-----
There are of course other things to consider that are important, but I think that the above should cover most of the basics. I'm not trying to sound insensitive here, but going through the basic priniciples above led me to NOT purchase an iPhone from them for under $500 (saving of around $300-400). It was a fairly basic decision as the above questions were not answered satisfactorily by I-store (1. Massive saving; 2. No contact details except email, domain registration phone number invalid; 3. No credit card facilities).

nikkiandrichard

54 posts

Master Geek

#153711 2-Aug-2008 22:57

I am pretty sure jemella are aware of this, as when you try to register te serial number, it doesnt work, and asks you to contact them with details etc, so most people would have done that. It is also easy to tell the difference from a real to fake, the fake while had the exact same packaging, the main body had light rippling in the casing, black marks scattered over it, and more obviously, spelling mistakes. The manuals were unpackaged the the disc so badly scratched it was unreadable, and of course it could not be registered with the serial number on the ghd website. So you will know if it is fake. I managed to get a genuine as I sold my old one for this supposed genuine, from a salon , and it is a much higher quality. I am one of the few who managed to get my money back, it took nearly three weeks, and two refund amounts, as they only refunded $120 the first time, so was $80 short. I contacted them immediately when I recieved it with photos, they told me they would get back to me in 5 days with an answer. That for me was not suitable, so added the website to the rip off forum, 5 days later they offered me a $80 refund and to keep the fake. I declind and told them I simply wanted my money back, as the site stated "money back gaurantee" a couple of days later they gave a return address, and 5days later I got $120, then a few more for the rest. I think two others who have spoken on this forum have bee refunded. Apparently the PO Box number for return is full of these returned packages, that they refuse to pick up. Some people they don't reply at all to, some say they are still sending them, some are being refunded. As they were a sponsored website with google I made a complaint to google the next day they site was suspended. It was very suss I admit, no credit card, contact details etc, i asked prior to buying if it was genuine, they confirmed, then asked again re plugs as the pics showed two different power cables and plugs, they confirmed suitable for nz. I guess when you want something and don't quite have enough for it, this scheme does seem the perfect answer. lessorn well learnt now though. I hope eveyone else gets there money back, Im sure the nz commerce commission would be looking into them at some stage too, as im sure we have all put in complaints to them, some to the police too, so I wouldn't think they would be up and running doing it again anytime soon, realistically, as they have refunded some of us, which seems genuine, but of course not to everyone whih certainly doesn't. I don' think they are outright con artists, or anything like that, perhaps also incredibly niave, as this type of site is sold with set up drop shippers, so you technically run the store, and take the percentage between wholesale and retail, but the items are drop shipped straight from a factory. They were also selling lots of other things, which so far no one has complained they were fake too. Its a very weird situation. I hope everyone else is as lucky as the few of us with the money back, and hope it does not happen to anyone else again. I have learnt my lesson well I think.

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Patsy

3 posts

Wannabe Geek

#153723 3-Aug-2008 00:24

nikkiandrichard,
Thankyou for taking the time to reply !!!

churley001

36 posts

Geek

#153946 4-Aug-2008 09:20

Anyone get a refund over the weekend? Nothing for me!! I'm still emailing them but unsure whether the gmail account is even still active.

I think that maybe its time to give up as they don't seem to be picking up the parcels at the post office, nor are they replying to emails. Don't think anyone has heard from them in a while so maybe they have just cut and gone.

The website is still suspended and I have searched other sites as it appeared they were running businesses under other websites but nothing.

I will perhaps give it until Wednesday and if nothing give up. I have wasted so much time on this but I hate being ripped off and it really @$%$#@ me off that they had conned me. I don't care whether they are innocent and been scammed themselves they should do the right thing and refund money to people.

They advertise goods as being genuine and follow this up with emails and then the goods are clearly FAKE.

Well perhaps time to move on. I certainly won't be scammed again and think that I have learnt an expensive lesson but not too expensive that I am broke.

Good luck to everyone trying to get money back.

StevieB

13 posts

Geek

#153955 4-Aug-2008 10:26

Dear Ahmed,
Accept that not everybody is as familiar with online shopping as you are.
True, I wouldn't have bought from www.i-store.co.nz as i always thought it was a scam. But perhaps not everybody in my family is as suspicious or informed as you or I might be. Also, save your moralistic judgements 'o' great one! We haven't sent the used, fake hair straightener back to www.i-store.co.nz because they haven't paid for the return postage OR emailed us a return address. Plainly, they aren't going to to that - perhaps because they are scum that are afraid of the police catching up with them??? . So I'm throwing the junky clutter out. If you feel so compassionate about it, perhaps you would like to send www.i-store.co.nz some flowers?:) Of course, you'd need an address from these elusive snakes to do that. Good luck:)

nikkiandrichard

54 posts

Master Geek

#153968 4-Aug-2008 10:57

I returned mine and got $200 refund. They wouldn't refund till it was returned, it only cost $6.90 to send to them, and I was moe then happy to pay $6.90 to get $200 back, so you may be doing yourself an injustice by not returning,as they may refund you like the others like me who have, just an idea. Id far rather have $200 back in my pocket for only $6.90 lost. I haven't had any emails, but they were getting mine, as they only refunded $120 first go, so emailed asking for the other $80 and they put that through, so they must be getting th emails and reading most. I hope you get your money back too. Oh and Here here for the omments re ahmed, I think some o what he has said is vry offensive. Especially as he has not been affected by this personally. We live we lear, but we don't need other people rubbing it in our face because we were all too trusting.

StevieB

13 posts

Geek

#153971 4-Aug-2008 11:21

Hi nikkiandrichard,

We received a full refund way back in June - every last cent. I'm surprised that they gave you their return address though. Was it a PO Box? I bet a lot of people on this forum would like to turn up to any physical address you might like to share?

nikkiandrichard

54 posts

Master Geek

#153974 4-Aug-2008 11:30

I was only given a PO box, and I listed that address earlier in the forum, no physical address unfortunately. So did you get all your money back without returning it? I only got $200 so lost $7 for postage to get here and $6.90 to return it, but far happier to loose $13.90 over losing $200

karaka23

22 posts

Geek

#153984 4-Aug-2008 12:11

You know what, right now I would be totally stoked with even 25% of my money back I paid them. I have no straightners and am now $220 out of pocket. Would love to be in your shoes nikkiandrichard!

nikkiandrichard

54 posts

Master Geek

#153988 4-Aug-2008 12:26

Karaka, did you keep the reciept with tracking number for when you returned it? just email them, say tracking has been confirmed it has been returned, so now you have no money or item, which is then theft so the police can look into that, thats all I said when i was waiting for the refund. And it came through next day, though a littl short, so then emailed again and said I would lay a complaint with the police and nz commerce commission if they didn't give the remainder back, as they have the product so are not allowed to withold payment now the goods were recieved. Try that. I hope you get your money back soon.. Im imagining you would eventually, as a few of us now have, so you should too. Its a very very weird situation. We have all learnt to be less trusting, which isn't always a good thing, but certainly won't be buying from another website like that, and hopefully with all our combined efforts with fair go, commerce commision ete etc, no one else will be ripped off again.

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