Introducing the "Drac in a box" scam - aka the gothic clothing scam.
I’m not really sure whether to call this the "Drac in a box scam", or the gothic clothing scam. The former because that’s the company that caught me out with it, or the latter because it is the uniqueness of that style of product which allows the scam to operate. But anyhow, here’s how it works.
Part 1. You start with a typical, legitimate, business with a bricks and mortar presence that takes orders of the Internet. They correctly advertise “secure purchasing”, and with a credit card as the payment method you should have some return from your credit card company should anything go awry. To most, this is normal.
Part 2. Build a website that mentions the uniqueness, rarity, and one-off-ness (if there is such a word) of the product. Indicate the 4-6 week waiting time for the customisations to take place, and so on. Most people err towards the 6-8 week period before following it up, just in case it’s lost in the post. (The fact that all goods are apparently shipped by recorded delivery means the “lost in the post” excuse can’t be used, but at this time the customer is unaware of that.)
Part 3. The credit card is charged immediately, and not at the time the product ships. On its own this is not unlawful, but since the credit card will not help you after 120 days have passed from the charging, the proverbial clock is now ticking.
Part 4. A couple of weeks after the order has been placed, and the money taken from your account, a confirmation email is received. This is time mis-direction, as you now believe it’s on its way, and start counting the 4-6 weeks. It also lulls the buyer into believing there’s a caring human on the other end. It also establishes email as the preferred form of communication, enabling the company to claim “lost emails” later on in the process.
Part 5. When you complain about the lack of goods, the scam company mentions supply problems, delays in sourcing quality materials, or whatever is necessary to keep you quiet. Again they highlight the uniqueness of the product, believing you’ll wait longer if there’s the promise of a better quality product at the end. This takes another 4-6 weeks. Each email will be answered within a week or so, adding to the total time taken, but cleverly hiding the extra weeks when nothing arrives.
Part 6. When/if the customer enquires again, the company will promise to look into the matter right away. You smile, and relax. You wait another couple of weeks. Again, the email delay trick (EDT) is employed here.
Part 7. On enquiring about why the post hasn’t arrived, you are met with a stony silence. The company refuse to answer emails, phone calls, and appear to disappear off the face of the planet. You give it a day or two – remember how slow the original emails where – and nothing happens. You call the credit card company…
Part 8. Upon totalling all the week delays for email, the two bouts of 4-6 delivery times, and the extra delays that have been artificially introduced into the pipeline, you are now complaining about a transaction that occurred over 120 days ago. The credit card people cannot (and will not) help. And, surprise surprise, the scam company don’t respond either.
Yours – very bitter about this,
Me.