Bite Radius

I don't know if I'm allowed to post a 'negative' thread, so somebody let me know if I go too far. I will not list the name of the online company which scammed me. Can I list the name of them? It starts with as "S" and ends with the letters "hipstore.com".

Anyway, I purchased a boat item online from what I thought was a popular online store 2 months ago. They quickly billed my credit card, but never confirmed the transaction with an email. They never responded to my four email inquiries. Also, the "inquiry box" on their website to contact them does not work. They do not answer phone calls.

I "googled" them by searching their name followed by the word "S&*%s" and found a common theme; they bill people for items but don't deliver the items. I went to the Better Business Bureau website and found that this online store is not accredited by the BBB and, in fact, the BBB gives them an "Unsatisfactory" rating for several faults, including the thing they did to me, as well as poor efforts to resolve complaints, selling faulty/broken items, etc.

I got scammed by their very legitimate-looking website. Hopefully, my credit card company will take care of it.

I apologize if this is considered to be a smear tactic. I consider it a public service announcement.

Here's what the BBB says about them:
Upstate New York: BBB Reliability Report

Here's a post/comment on the company's very own website. They didn't even remove it.
ShipStore.com Blog: Mayor's Cup 2006

Possum

Well, I got snagged by something similar a number of years back, and now only buy from places I KNOW are legitimate. It almost looks like they're not in business by the website, as many pages are missing, not responding, and the latest date I can find on the site for information from them is 2006.

Good to know, avoid that place.

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Scup

Bite Radius, I almost missed reading your thread as I am from the Northeast and am typically only concerned with the things happening up here. When it comes to web sites, there is no geographical boundary. One of the more useful purposes of this form, as I have found out, is the sharing of information about fishing both good and bad. Your thread is useful to all fishermen/boaters.
In addition, I am a part time West Marine Associate. Should you see something on any web site that you need at an attractive price, print out the page and take it to your local West Marine Store. While the acting store manager cannot always match the web site price, the manager knows a sale will be lost if something is not done for you price wise. At least, you started a process where you just might get what you wanted and at a price that you can live with. While sometimes my customers complain about boating prices, who doesn't, I do not ever recall anyone ever complaining about anything else. Today, one has to be very careful about what is being sold out there as large amount of inventory comes from China, and all of the large boating retail stores are moving in this direction as well as many web sites. I have found that in general, items imported from China are far cheaper in price and quality than the American made counterpart. At least when you purchase from a trusted supplier like West Marine, they have a no argument policy letting you return the item if it does not meet your expectations. There are a few obvious exceptions such as opened software, but even then, I have seen store managers bend over backwards to keep boating customers happy.

ChuckA

After reading your post.I hope your credit card company took care of the problem.I guess we should all be aware Not to useshipstore.com -Part of - ShipStore.com ™ for any online purchases .

Bob & Mag

A good reason never to use things like paypal etc and use a credit card for online purchases. A call and complaint to them would hold up any payment. I'd also be contacting your State Attorney General's Office regarding this.

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Due to recent budget cuts and the rising cost of food, electricity, gas, and oil, the light at the end of the tunnel has been turned off.

Smoke free 4 Months!

Special K

good advice from scup about approaching store managers seeking maximum price benifits.

a little off topic but last spring while in mystic westmarine the manager put his remaining sperry topsider shoes @ 80% off. he just needed to clear his shelves ...(unadvertised)
i left with 3 pairs......even if they WERE made in CHINA.

Scup

Special K,

The Mystic West Marine is the store I work in. They use me as an emergency fill in when their regulars cannot make it in. It is fine by me as I rather go fishing during the boating season but I also like the associates discount. The store manager is Steve Gibbs, and I never saw anyone go so far as to make customers happy. I remember that shoe sale you were talking about. What happened is a another store had closed down, so they sent all of their shoe inventory to us. We really did not have any place to keep the shoes as our back room is too small for storage. We just stuck them on tables and put up a sign to get rid of them. You had to find a size that would fit you, and with a style that you could live with, but West Marine took a big loss on that load of shoes. I jumped in on the sale as well as my associates discount could not even come close to the ridiculous low price they were going at. Every once in a while, a store manager has to take care of business one way or another, and these unadvertised deep sales are just about impossible to beat. The only way one can ever know about them is to work there, or just come on in and check out what is happening. You just might luck out!

Bite Radius

Regarding my original post (above), my credit card took care of the issue. I filed a report with the Better Business Bureau. I felt better doing it (kind of like that feeling I had a few years back when I filed a police report after someone stole my gas grill). I guess that's the end of it. I'll probably never hear another thing about it.

Philly Doug

You should report them to the Attorney General in the state where you live. That is the agency most likely to do something to prevent others from falling victim.

Scup

Because you went to the (BBB) better business bureau you may hear something coming back. A call up internet provider would not stop charging my credit card after I canceled my service. Finally I had to canceled my card to stop them (a real pain) but felt I should get back my money they illegally took. They maintained "no refunds under any conditions"! That was before I filed a BBB complaint form against them. The BBB kept after them until they finally paid back everything due to me and then I informed the BBB in writing that I was fully satisfied. The BBB is dependent on the state you live in. My service provider was out of California, so the complaint had to go to the California BBB but it was no big deal to do so. I am curious if you will get response from BBB so keep us informed. So far, I have a lot of respect for the BBB; they do not have any muscle but they do seem to follow up as much as is possible.