Fishpond - Commerce Commission Complaint for Breach of Fair Trade Act

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Zombieworm13

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Wannabe Geek

#272860 21-Jul-2020 10:08

I have lodged a complaint with the Commerce Commission for breach of the Fair Trade Act (and possibly fraud - they promised a refund several times but, by their own admission in a email, never intended to refund). The complaint number is #542716 if anyone wants to contact the CC to add their voice, or you can contact me directly by responding to this post.

xpd

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#2526402 21-Jul-2020 10:47

I don't know how they stay in business... always claim they have stock when they don't, charge 3-5x what anyone else does for items etc etc.

Obviously making money though to stay in operation.....

Edit: Can see you're doing the rounds of review sites etc with the same post.... good luck.

Gavin / xpd / FastRaccoon / Geek of Coastguard New Zealand

LinkTree

Zombieworm13

6 posts

Wannabe Geek

#2526544 21-Jul-2020 13:56

They stay in business because people don't bother complaining to the authorities that have the power to do something about it. I have checked out a half dozen different review sites, and there are a ton of stories/complaints like mine. If even half of those people made a complaint to the Commerce commission, Fishpond would have been prosecuted and put out of business by now.

One complaint doesn't have a great chance of getting actioned, but the Commerce Commission keeps EVERY complaint on file, and when there are multiple complaints the chances are very high that they will launch an investigation into a business's practices.

Someone once told me when I was young "don't complain about a situation or circumstance, if you aren't willing to do anything to try to change it".

I have done what I can to try to hold them accountable, now it is up to others to add their weight.

Thank you for your words of support, it is appreciated 😊

dt

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#2526617 21-Jul-2020 15:33

I bought a book of fish pond many years ago and it never arrived, I followed it up and they said they would send out another, which they did.. then all off a sudden two of the same book arrived at the same time.. when I let them know I received two but only paid for one they never bothered responding... lol..

xpd

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#2526621 21-Jul-2020 15:40

Think it was fishpond we used at an old employer for some training material....purchased 2 books for lets say $100. 2 weeks later, still not arrived. I went onto Amazon, and got the exact same books, shipped for around $60. They arrived within 5 days.

Fishpond just need to stop drop shipping - oh, that'll put them out of business ? Lesson learnt.

Gavin / xpd / FastRaccoon / Geek of Coastguard New Zealand

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Zombieworm13

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Wannabe Geek

#2526637 21-Jul-2020 16:14

The issue for me isn't the drop shipping. My issue is the promises, lies, and outright fraud around their refund policy.

On no less than 4 separate occasions (for the same item), when I lodged a missing parcel claim and asked for a refund - which their site promises as part of their policy, and which is also law, they sent me emails assuring me that the refund would be processed in 1 - 3 days, but then it never was, and they never contacted me to give any explanation.

When I chased them up about it, they basically said that they weren't going to process that refund they had promised (and obviously had no intention of doing so when they sent the emails) because it would hurt them financially, but that if I waited a little bit longer and it didn't arrive, I could apply again and they would process the refund.

They continued to do this, saying that the refund would be processed in 1 - 3 days, not doing it, me chasing them up, them giving me the runaround, until the 60 day period for applying for a refund ran out, and now I can't apply for it.

muppet

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#2526655 21-Jul-2020 16:53

I had no idea they were this dodgy, so I'm glad I read this post!

Can't you do a CC chargeback or was it paid for some other way?

Zombieworm13

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Wannabe Geek

#2526659 21-Jul-2020 16:57

It is passed the time limit for that. The original purchase was made on May 6.

Sharesies

Trade NZ and US shares and funds with Sharesies (affiliate link).

snnet

1410 posts

Uber Geek

#2526722 21-Jul-2020 20:01

"Timeframes may vary depending on the circumstances, but in general queries or disputes on credit card transactions need to be raised by the card issuing bank within 120 days".

Have you tried it with the bank? In the past people have been told if the bank can't dispute it you can try go direct to Visa/Mastercard etc

Zombieworm13

6 posts

Wannabe Geek

#2526745 21-Jul-2020 20:04

I didn't realize that. I will look into it, thank you 😊

Zombieworm13

6 posts

Wannabe Geek

#2528318 24-Jul-2020 17:53

snnet:

"Timeframes may vary depending on the circumstances, but in general queries or disputes on credit card transactions need to be raised by the card issuing bank within 120 days".

Most banks (including mine) list the time limit as 60 days, which is why I didn't originally give this a try, but with you saying the time frame was 120 days, I called my bank to see.

A charge back, logically, isn't a simple matter of just saying "this dude done wronged me", and the bank saying "OK, we'll gives ya yer money back". It goes through a process, and is lodged as a dispute, to be reviewed.

Because the only reason I was over the 60 day limit was because FP had strung me along purposely to take me over the time limit, so that I couldn't apply for the refund anymore, the bank was willing to accept the dispute claim, and fortunately, having prepared the outline and collected together the email for the Commerce Commission complaint, that meant I had what was needed to prove my claim.

In less than 24 hrs, they came back to me - the charge would be reversed and the money credited back into my account.

Thank you :)

In the meantime, anyone else who has similar issues with FP - please consider submitting a complaint with the Commerce Commission. These authorities are there for us, the people. And they rely on us, the people, to let them know when a business is engaging in dodgy practices. There is no other way they are going to know, we need to tell them. The more complaints there are, the more seriously they take it.