Do you shop online often? Shipment get mix-up and you have to pay extra to get it back? Beware!

Just read about this article in The New Paper online and I got a little worked up.

Why??

Do you believe I was once scammed by a seller on qoo10.sg?

*angry*

I'm not sure if anyone of you does online shopping, or rather i believe most of you have at least experienced shopping online once right?

So what exactly happened is that, a year ago, I chanced upon a seller selling an inspired Anna Sui Mirror hand-phone casing on qoo10.sg. Scrolling and looking through the page, and it slowly caught my eye because I was thinking of getting something for my sister-in law's birthday, and this was definitely a good gift, I thought to myself.

So I look through and even browses the review page by customers and the other important information of the seller as to where he/she is located, and it was all perfectly fine. So I decided to order (1 as a birthday gift for my sis-in law and the other 2 for myself :) )and pay for it.

 (It's standard procedure to pay and they'll proceed with the shipment and all.)

2 weeks passed..., a month passed...., no news!

I went to check back on my qoo10.sg account to see if there's any Qpost by the seller (notifying the buyer of the item statues). However, I was very shocked that it changes from 'on delivery' to 'Delivered' (on delivery means its reaching you soon, delivered means you as the buyer has received your item). 

But...No! I didn't receive any of it at all!

And the shock of my life was when I tried to go to the seller's page to get his/her email or contact, qoo10.sg prompted a message and stated that the product and seller I'm looking for is either out of stock or is no longer available anymore. The whole page was gone, no seller news, nothing!

WHAT?!  

Worse was when I tried to claim receipt from qoo10.sg, they said that I was late to do so because claiming of receipt has to be within 7 Days after the notification turned 'Delivered'. 

So when did it turned 'delivered'??

No one knows...

It costs me around S$60+- to get this lesson learnt! 

not much but it's still money!

And I hope the seller uses the money for good and not for bad. *argh...hmmppff*

Okay back to the topic,

Here's what I read on the article and find it useful for all of us:

"The scammers would entice victims through cheaper than usual online advertisements for smartphones, tablets and laptops on popular websites. Once baited, victims would be asked to make funds transfers to local bank accounts or remit payment to overseas accounts. Then, to cheat victims into parting with more money, the culprits would send emails telling them their shipments encountered various problems, and they would need to send more money in order to receive their shipment package.

Some of the claims scammers used included: 

• The items were held or wrongly delivered to another country and that additional payment is required to retrieve the items.

• The items were seized at the Customs and that additional payment is required for storage fees, and victims receive the purported “seizure notice” in the email for added credibility.

• Items faced courier/shipment problems faced – that there was a mix-up with other items from a different order. As the delivery could not be cancelled (one-way delivery), victims need to pay for the cost of additional items. Alternatively, victims are offered the option to return the additional items back to source, but need to pay an additional refundable guarantee fee.

• Items included in the package required minimum quantity / package was too light – the despatch manager could not authorise shipment as it did not meet the Minimum Order Quantity (MOQ), thus requesting victim to put in more orders and make subsequent payments."

and....  

(* Do read the rest on : http://www.tnp.sg/content/shipment-mix-beware-online-scam)

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Oh my gosh!

It's pretty scary not to receive your items already, yet they can scam you to pay more for delivering it to you and even though you paid more, I don't think the items will be send to you even. 

I'm still buying and shopping online even after my bad experience though.

I want to give other seller a chance and hopefully I can trust them to get my items safely and in good conditions.

So far *touch wood*, I've been shopping for snapbacks, cosmetics, clothings, shoes and even contact lens(not often) from other qoo10.sg's  seller and has since been good experience. 

Here's what I bought recently or 1st half of the year from qoo10.sg:

Hi-Top Converse Sneaker in Black.

Snapbacks..

Snapbacks...

 and more snapbacks...lol!

Cosmetics and skincare..

Korean mask..

Etude house products..

 Power-banks for my android and iPhone :)

Contact lens..

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And my latest purchase which I just ordered and paid for yesterday:

Hi-Wedge Sneakers (White) from Korea! :)

 Can't wait for it to arrive! woot!

It's better to be safe than sorry.
Check before your proceed with payments.

Buying or Shopping online is a 50/50 risk, just like Slot machines:
is either you win (you get your goods) or you lose (you lose the money and goods).

So do not buy over a certain budget just in case. 
 (a budget you are comfortable of losing, yeah it's crazy but just in case)
This is my learning! :)

Of course, the best is to ask question with the seller and get his/her email add just in case.

Hope you guys can take care and not get scammed by these scammers out there.

If you do have any ways to prevent from getting scam, do share with me in the comment box below! :)

Source: 

The New Paper: http://www.tnp.sg/content/shipment-mix-beware-online-scam

till then,

xoxo