Ordered a stove from this website on June 22nd, rang them today asking when it would be delivered. The person who answered the phone said that the website had stopped operating and shouldn't be taking orders. The reason it is still up is that it's operated by another company.
Absolute rubbish.
I payed by paypal and the guy on the phone said they'd eventually repay everyone who ordered. I just checked the website and it's STILL taking orders, so not to be trusted.
Please don't use this website, it's definately dodgy.
Oh yeah, money is safe, just tied up for a few weeks, paypal will repay it. Don't want to give the url but search for steves outdoor supplies and it's the 1st one listed.
Word of caution on paypal (though I could be wrong so it's worth checking out in case they've changed their policy).
They used to only fully cover/refund ebay purchases - but were more discretionary over other company placed purchases (i.e not made on ebay). Other sites were not guranteed like ebay was. This may have changed in the current climate however.
Just wanted to let you know in case you need to explore/chase further - as said I could be wrong now.
Either way hope you get your money back and thanks for letting us know - I was nearly going to order something.
No refund as promised on the phone Saturday. Today I called them again and was basically told not to be so impatient. I've now escalated my paypal dispute into a claim. I also rang the company hosting the website and they have not received any information asking for the site to be taken down. In-fact it's paid for up until the end of July. The site is still capable of taking paypal and credit card orders.
Thanks for the warning Warehouse- Just to let you know I have had an interesting experience with surplus and adventure! Ordered a coleman extreme coolbox on the 2nd June money debited from account on the 4th so assumed that item had been dispatched, waited 10 days still no sign of my friendly Fed-Ex delivery man. Emailed them to find out status of order -received a reply along the lines of- oh we haven't actually got any but hoping to get them in some time next week! The week has gone by so I cancelled the order on Thurs 25th... still waiting for my money back, apparrently it had to be passed to the refunds department lol ( probably a guy sitting at the next desk!).still waiting.................
NOW for the positive bit!!!
Outdoor Megastore are showing them in stock so ordered one on Friday 26th June .It arrived this morning Monday 26th at 8.45!!!!! Now thats service!!!!!
Guess where my first port of call is going to be when all things camping are needed again!
Oh and Surplus and Adventure are still promoting this coolbox!
Warehouse you've done the right thing escalating your dispute with Paypal. Had a similar experience last year. The company was not ebay. They found in my favour but the company had no money in the account so no refund. Visa were excellent and although under £100 they refunded my money and took it up with paypal themselves. We got the goods in the end.
We also reported the company to the Trading Standards in the company area and the national office. They contacted us months later to ask for details, saying a refund was pending.
Personally I would not pay by Paypal again unless I'm sure the company is reputable. I think ebay insure the buyer themselves against any problems re Paypal.
------------- What light? I'm still looking for the tunnel.
I just got a refund. Logged in to paypal to find that the paypal claim had been resolved because the seller had refunded the money. The seller added this note as well: BE PATIENT IN FUTURE WITH WEB TRADERS! PAYPAL TAKES LONGER THAN STANDARD BANK ACCOUNTS TO ISSUE REFUNDS!
Anyone who'se used paypal before knows that refunds are instant. I think they refunded because I'd not only badgered paypal and themselves, but also had been onto the hosts for their website to get information and warn them what was happening. I also filled out a scam website form at Paypal this morning as well as emailing the seller again, and was going to call them again this afternoon. There is a number for the shop so I called that today, and it's now a card shop, but owned by the same person???
Anyway, the website is STILL taking orders and the hosts STILL haven't been instructed to remove it. Please listen to bushey5 above, paypal is not a good way to pay unless you are 100% sure the company is reputable. As long as the website is still taking orders I'll bump this now and again to make sure it's known.