By Jo Best, 7 June 2004 11:40
NEWS The iPod mini is this year's must-have gadget, one that has silicon.com readers slavering. So when a site promised to deliver the slimline iPod ahead of its UK launch, at a not-unreasonable price, a number of readers were willing to flash their credit cards. Unfortunately, while their payments were taken, no iPod minis arrived.
silicon.com has been deluged by complaints from readers about Appleimports.co.uk and Appleimports.com. Many readers wrote to say they had paid for their iPods as far back as March and despite repeatedly contacting the company via email and phone they had yet to receive their goods.
One reader wrote: "I paid for mine and I was told that it would arrive on 21 April. They are now saying by email that it won't arrive until 11th May." Another said: "I placed my order, as many others did, early April and paid. Got given various lines about delivery but still nothing!"
Others were given dates promising delivery on 28 or 31 May. To date, none of our readers have received their orders.
Some became fed up with waiting and asked for a refund, only again to receive promises and no sign of the money.
silicon.com's own attempts to contact the company have met a wall of silence. Email and phone enquiries haven't been acknowledged.
And now it appears Appleimports has set up a sister site iPodimports.com featuring the same look and feel, as well as the same contact details.
iPodimports, however, bears the Kelkoo logo claiming the company is listed on the search and comparison shopping site. It's not.
A Kelkoo spokeswoman told silicon.com that neither website is among its listings and that Kelkoo has informed the company that since there is no relationship, it has no right to display its logo. Appleimports was removed from Kelkoo's listing following complaints from readers.
Kelkoo's own investigations into the company reveal the contact email address for the registered holder of the domain name doesn't work and the postcode appears to be false.
Both of the company's sites offer email and phone contacts but no mailing address. That in itself is a breach of distance-selling law, under which all ecommerce firms trade in the UK. Kelkoo won't include a company without one.
For anyone in the UK who has a complaint about an ecommerce site, the first people to talk to are typically local Trading Standards officials.
Trading Standards told silicon.com that when dealing with companies registered in the UK, as well as complaining to local authorities, consumers can ask for their money back through their credit card companies.
Several silicon.com readers have tried the same approach and met with success.
The Trading Standards spokesman said that if the government body receives enough complaints, it will investigate a company such as Appleimports and talk to its ISP but was unable to confirm how many, if any, specific complaints it has received to date.
A spokesman for ISPA (Internet Service Providers Association) said that until it is confirmed whether or not Appleimports and iPodimports has done anything wrong, the site will remain up ISPs won't remove a site without a 'burden of proof' being established.
Until either Trading Standards, the police or Customs and Excise prove whether or not the site is doing anything wrong, it seems the Appleimports and iPodimports sites will remain live and, no doubt, keep attracting orders from the iPod-hungry masses.
Have you an experience, good or bad, with either Appleimports.com or iPodimports.com? Let us know by posting a Reader Comment below.
Comments
There are 24 comments. Join the discussion
1. anonymous
Always pay by credit card - you are protected from dodgy traders and can get your money back if you complain to the card issuer.
They can then track the payment and take action against the "retailer".
2. Peter Harris
I paid for my iPod in April, promised delivery in mid May. When I chased them I got an e-mail saying they expected delivery 31 May and would ship within 24 hours with a free gift!
I contacted them again on 3 June.Response received from andy.smith@23v.com (where has apple imports gone?)says they have received a shipment and will be delivering in the next few days. I'm not holding my breath!! I have also requested a refund through the secure payment site they use.
3. Adrian Lee
I also placed and order with Appleimports.co.uk, got the same promises of it being delivered but that they were having problems with suppliers. Now they do not respond to any contact and I am about to contact my credit card company.
Interestingly, if you do a traceroute on the domain, it resolves to the IP address 66.139.79.35, relating to a win.psifx.net. If you then ping www.psifx.net, it resolves to the same address.
Perhaps its worth contacting this website and asking about this other site that appears to be hosted on their server. psifx.net claims to be a business serving the education sector, it would seem slightly dodgy for them to be hosting/running an apparently fraudulent company as well.
4. anonymous
Just read their Ts & Cs:
11. Availability Of Goods. By accepting an order iPodImports does not guarantee that this products is currently available or in stock. iPodImports imports products and/or purchases products from third parties and as such has not control over the availability of products. The Customer accepts any delay in delivery of an ordered product.
5. anonymous
i ordered mine 2 weeks ago
i m still waiting
but still hoping...
6. John Thompson
I just goes to show, too good to be true offers are usually just that.
Did none of these people know the first rule of using e-commerce sites? Always check they have a 'real-life' presence, and verify this if possible by checking the address is a real one.
7. John Wilson
So what about the credit card companies?
If I paid for goods using a credit card, I would complain to the credit card supplier. I have had to do this in the past, and received an immediate stay of the charge on the card and a very helpful approach.
If the goods aren't supplied in the promised period, it's breach of contract.
The credit card companies must have valid details for the supplier or they wouldn't be getting paid, so if nothing else cutting off their cash flow should provide some satisfaction if nothing else.
8. John Wilson
RE: Just read their Ts & Cs:
Just because a clause is in a contract, it doesn't mean that it's legally enforceable. The clause quoted is just mumbo jumbo, because it places no boundary on the delay involved which is nonsense.
I believe that in court, the company would be expected to be able to demonstrate that they had some genuine intention of supplying the goods within a reasonable period or refunding the money. Otherwise, I doubt the clause would be supported under English law.
9. Charles wood
Sad about the ipods. Now try and get downloaded music, you cannot if you live in the UK. Record companies are still having problems with the concept of a GLOBAL marketplace. They cannot screw you independantly in the Uk, at a different price to the USA.
10. David Rawle
I paid over PayPal and have recieved nothing in 3 months. I will be cancelling the order and trying to get my money back over the next 10 days or so.
11. Derek Hall
If they aren't able to ship immediately, why are they charging the credit cards? I always believed that on mail order / internet sales that the company is not allowed to charge until the items are ready to be dispatched. I've had this happen quite a few times where an item is not in stock and the retailer has charged me, once it's being dispatched.
Also, for those who bought using Paypal, you may have problems obtaining a refund as any complaint should be made within 30 days of the initial funds transfer (at least according to their T&C).
12. powerbook fanatic
can't understand why clearly intelligent people (buying Apple products after all) would fall for scams like this ?
13. anonymous
I have been caught up in the Appleimports "sting". On 14th April the company deducted £199 from my credit card, promising delivery of the iPod mini by 11th May. Despite several further promises of delivery, it's now June 9th and needless to say the item has not arrived.
I have written to AppleImports in the strongest terms, requesting cancellation of my order and a full refund. I will give them 28 days to arrange a refund (but I am NOT hopeful). After 28 days, I will attempt to recover the 200 quid directly from my credit card company, but it REALLY shouldn't be allowed to come to this.
I URGE the ISPA and silicon.com to have this company investigated right away.
14. anonymous
I too (foolishly)ordered an ipod mini from Appleimports.co.uk.
I managed to get a refund of my money by going directly to MyPaySystems.com, the site appleimports.co.uk used to take the money from my credit card. When no ipod mini arrived after three months of waiting and numerous excuses, I called MyPaySystems.com. This was the compnay that was listed on my credit card bill for the ipod. I called them directly directly in the US, (001-866-883-9040) and explained the situation fully to them. Within 10 days of my raising the request with them, I had a full refund on my credit card. I would advise this route to anyone who has been caught up in this. MyPaySystems were very professional and I was very pleased to get my money back!! I do hope that everyone else who has been caught up in this can do the same.
15. Adrian Lee
It would appear there is now a full business address on both the ipodimports.com and appleimports.co.uk sites, have a look at http://www.appleimports.co.uk/contact.php
I requested a refund and last Wednesday they replied saying it had been done, my credit card balance has not yet changed.
I've also sent an email to the company who appear to be hosting ipodimports.com to ask them to investigate and possiby pass details of the company on to the relevant authorities if they feel its bogus.
If I get my money back I won't be too fussed about it all, the MP3 player I really wanted has now been released in the UK anyway :D
16. Suzanne Hafezi
So, it is a scam! I ordered mine in March but remained hopeful that I might actually get it... Well, I guess now I know.
I also asked for a refund but have no reply as yet. I think I'll get on to my bank today, but as I paid by Switch through Paypal I'm feeling very doubtful.
17. anonymous
Well, this is hardly surprising. A quick WHOIS reveals that ipodimports.com is registered to a company in London known as Contrida. However a bit more digging reveals that contrida.com is registered to Underground Publishing Inc. in St Kitts (which must be nice for "Gareth Wright" with the incredibly dodgy email, undergroundhandbook@phreaker.net). When you see an offer that's too good to be trur, do a little digging first and be amazed by the info you turn up. If you fail to be sceptical about placing an order with a phreak who is using hosts in the DMZ of the Caribbean, then it turns out P.T. Barnum may have been right...
18. anonymous
The website IS now displaying the company name and address. However, Companies House have informed me that the company: CONTRIDA LIMITED was incorporated on 02/06/04 - AFTER my transaction. I am therefore wondering if the company has been set up to try to protect the scamming directors. I think, however, that they may find themselves personally liable.
19. Jean Eve
Feeling foolish. We got caught, too. London address is a mailbox only.
20. Andy Stokes
I ordered an iPod Mini in April from AppleImports.co.uk. £199 was taken from my Barclaycard immediately but it was 2 weeks later i was informed by an Email from Haden Thomas that the iPods were out of stock until May. I was told that to make up for the wait i would get a free gift and would have my iPod by the end of May. I waited and waited and tried to get a refund them on several occasions to no avail. I'm extremely angry about this scam as I've lost £200 plus intrest.I've had to destroy my credit card and I'm preparing evidence to make a claim. I'm disgusted by the actions of AppleImports as it's basically credit card fraud. I would hope that anyone who placed an order with them will pursue taking action against them because they should not be allowed to trade.
21. Chelle
I also bought an ipod mini back in March, all emails i have been sending to the company for the past month and a half have returned failed delivery, at the beginning of June I was asked if i would like a refund to which I replied yes they advised me on the to give it 10 working days to recieve my refund, on the 10th day I recieved an email to advise that I would have to reply with my order number etc before they could process the refund which I did and havent heard from them since. No one ever answers the calls, I have left several messages and informed them that I have contacted my local trading standards, I decided to purchase an ipod mini from them because there was a link from amazon.co.uk otherwise Id never have done this. I will be pursuing this further as ive seen been to the states and bought an ipod myself and need that money back. I so angry that I even wanted one that bad that I couldnt wait.
22. anonymous
I have also fallen claim to Apple Imports. Having paid for a mini-ipod back in March I have been emailing ever since and not recieving any response. I have tried to get a refund through MyPaySystems and they have not responded and my credit card copmpany Goldfish are saying I have told them too late and won't be doing anything. I feel completely left out in the cold and don't know what else I can try. To add to it I cannot produce the emails I have sent or the early ones that AppleImport sent to me because of a computer problem the IT company I used has wiped my Harddrive so there goes my evidence!!!!!!! Help!! Any Ideas...please.
23. anonymous
Has anybody managed to get a refund through their GOLDFISH credit card?
24. anonymous
I have been ripped of by AppleImports and I ordered quite a few iPod's. I have contacted HSBC about recovering my money, they were very helpful and at the minute I a pending a reply from them on a refund. I also purchased a couple on my Goldfish Card, I have been in touch with Goldfish and am awaiting a reply I will let you know what happens.
Furthermore, I am due in court on the 22nd November regarding the AppleImports scam, as I have managed to track someoen down behind the scam. I'm not very hopeful that they will tunr up or whether they managed to receive the court order at the address given, but I'll keep you posted.