not sure if got scammed

not sure if got scammed

Romelda
Tourist
4 0 2

Hello, I ordered a bag from e-shop called Essence Lane. It said it was a Europe-based shop and I didn’t really search more additional info. Then ut said it would be delivered by USPS, later on I found out it’s and american delivery system. I’ve already paid and it says that the account I sent money to is from Hongkong. I tried to reach them for some information but I’ve got no response. The mail is store+89586762075@t.shopifyemail.com – it’s been 13 days and still no email or anything. I’m starting to think it is a scam site. A could get a refund but I’m still not sure if the bag will come or not and I don’t know how much more should I wait. Could you please help me with this?

Replies 6 (6)

Bundler-Manuel
Trailblazer
636 30 77

Hello there @Romelda  13 days without a reply is way too long to keep waiting. If there’s a way to process a refund, you should definitely hop on that process. As for the store, I’d need to have a look at the store URL page to be sure if it’s a scam or not but you should probably share the details of the store with the Shopify support team. 

Emmanuel
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Romelda
Tourist
4 0 2

This is link for that page, if you could tell me something about it, I’d be very glad yet thank you very much for your response. I think I will start trying to storn my payment and get my money back.

Laza_Binaery
Shopify Partner
325 60 88

Hi @Romelda 

 

Well, it could be a scam site. There are a few red flags but still, it is not definite answer as it could be a regular shop. 

First, for me lack of contact information is a big red flag, no business info, address, or phone clearly displayed. There is just

a gmail email which is not a good sign for me. There is at the end of the Privacy policy mention of the address in Hong Kong "50 Stanley Street, SUITE C, LEVEL 7, WORLD TRUST TOWER, 50 STANLEY STREET, CENTRAL HONG KONG, Central, KL, HK."  And if you search that address there are several businesses there but it could be a big building with a lot of small companies. And I saw that address in one other suspicious website recently. Check topic 

https://community.shopify.com/c/shopify-discussions/is-this-shop-legitimate/m-p/2908239

That site had a lot of 50% products but one thing that stood out is the Company Name: Neo in the Matrix Un Limited  🙂 So not a good sign.

 

Essence lane domain is just 2 months old so opened just before the holidays. THat also could be a red flag, targeting a lot of customers and easier to market big discounts. Email you got is from a deafout email from Shopify when a store did not set-up email correctly. Some store owners struggle with that but still, you would like a full domain so customers do not get scared.

 

I checked a few products and they could be found on ALi express or other similar marketplaces so products could be from some dropshipping app. Still, this does not mean it is a scam. 

 

I would not buy from that store as I can not be sure it is 100% legit. But for you, I can not tell also it is a 100% scam site. Try again to contact them on Gmail or TickTok maybe, but if you already did and have no replies like you said do report the issue with an order to Shopify on 

https://www.shopify.com/legal/tools/report-an-issue/report-a-merchant

For a refund do prepare, contact your bank or PayPal.

 

Good luck and let us know how it goes.

 

Kind regards
Laza
www.binaery.com
Romelda
Tourist
4 0 2

Hi, thank you very much. I am going to report the site but I came to a conclusion that wanting a refund will be useless. I paid 30€ and I’m not very happy about it but I’ve done some research and my bank would charge me 16€ just to send an request for refund to a foreign country and they can charge me some money as well so in the end, I woule maybe be given back around 5-10€ and I can live without them. If it was more money, I’d request it but these are just more problems for me. I am pretty sure that the report would do in this case. However, great thanks to you, who helped me through.

Romelda
Tourist
4 0 2

Hello again, so I received a mail from the company today that my order is on its way. It’s strange because it took so long and it was impossible to reach any response from their account or gmail and I was a bit surprised but here we go. I’ll wait if the order will really come but let’s just say that even if it’s not a scam site, I wouldn’t recommend buying from them.

R.

Laza_Binaery
Shopify Partner
325 60 88

Thank you for the update, hope you do get what you ordered. 

Kind regards
Laza
www.binaery.com